CastleStorm

 PC
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. DarkStation
    Sep 16, 2013
    80
    At its core, CastleStorm is a game about variety, and every mode and mission offered in this robust package is executed with style and precision.
  2. Machinima
    Aug 15, 2013
    80
    CastleStorm is a great idea that just doesn’t click.
  3. Hooked Gamers
    Aug 5, 2013
    85
    CastleStorm isn't a perfect game but it's definitely a good one. It may not have been the successor to Zen Pinball 2 that we expected, but it is definitely one worth our time.
  5. COGconnected
    Jul 31, 2013
    75
    CastleStorm takes the tower defence genre and adds elements of physics destruction, real-time strategy and role-playing games, making for a very interesting mix that works quite well. It is a casual yet complex game experience that is delightful to play, alone or with a friend, something that this tower defence hater truly enjoyed.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 70 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 70
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 70
  3. Negative: 7 out of 70
  1. Bigtao
    Jul 29, 2013
    9
    A funny game,lovely graphic with cartoon rendering。There is no difficulty to finish the game but not means you will delete it from your steamA funny game,lovely graphic with cartoon rendering。There is no difficulty to finish the game but not means you will delete it from your steam quite soon---customizing your own castle and put it into the battle on Internet sometimes you need keeping busying as playing Starcraft 2，no kidding.… Full Review »
  2. SoulMyst
    Jul 30, 2013
    10
    It's exactly the light hearted comedy, awesome graphics and cannot-stop-playing-this-game fun factor I hoped and prayed ZEN Studios wouldIt's exactly the light hearted comedy, awesome graphics and cannot-stop-playing-this-game fun factor I hoped and prayed ZEN Studios would deliver after I pre-ordered and watched the trailer and making of movies...

    and... I LOOOOOOVE IT!!! absolutely love it and I sat with a big grin from the intro right through to the actual first encounter and said stuffit, coffee can wait I need to continue on!

    10/10 for graphics
    10/10 for music and sound
    10/10 for making it seriously not so serious funny game too everyone can play and enjoy (this will be so good playing against someone else I cannot wait now)

    10/10 for running flawlessly fast and smooth on a laptop with a GT555m using quality AA settings.

    now back to blasting castles an impressing my king....    … Full Review »
  3. AbyssionGaming
    Jul 31, 2013
    8
    CastleStorm is Angry Birds for those of us who like our projectile-based arcade games served not with bad tempered cardinals, but rather withCastleStorm is Angry Birds for those of us who like our projectile-based arcade games served not with bad tempered cardinals, but rather with enough Viking beards to put The Hobbit trilogy to shame. With startling aptitude, it cracks jokes while juggling elements of tower defense and real-time strategy, and enough depth exists beneath its seemingly casual game-play to endear it to hardened strategists.

    The plot involves a knight’s humorously epic quest to steal back a crystal from an evil Viking plotting to rule the world, but really, the heart of this game is in building a castle and then using its standard-issue giant ballista to fling projectiles like exploding apples and boulders that split into three boulders to bring your opponent’s fortifications crashing down. At the same time, you have ground units you can send out to try to weaken the enemy’s defenses.

    Suffice it to say that there’s a lot going on here, and it’s a credit to CastleStorm’s beautiful design and gentle learning curve that it never gets out of hand. Almost without realizing it, I eventually found myself taking full advantage of the gamepad, jumping from Y to sort through magic abilities and then to X to summon new units and then jumping to A to fire projectiles. In each step, I made transitions between up to 15 units and spells with the use of the right bumpers, occasionally finding the time to tell my friendly-fire prone ground units to duck out of the way of incoming projectiles with the B button.

    You typically have two ways to beat a level in CastleStorm. You can either destroy every room in your opponent’s castle or send your ground troops across the battlefield to knock down their gate and capture their flag. One of these is far more satisfying than the othe. But CastleStorm also includes an editor that you can use to design your castle. You unlock new rooms by playing through the 12 levels of the campaign; in addition to barracks for your ground units and aeries for your flying beasts, you can also slot in special chambers that do things like make your troops do more damage or grant you bonuses to the gold you collect for taking out your opponent’s forces.

    Multiplayer is inevitable in a game like this, and Zen has made some very interesting decisions with it. You have three modes to choose from, the most obvious of which is a head-to-head fight in which you and your opponent race to destroy each other’s castles or, less interestingly, capture one another’s flags. But CastleStorm also includes two cooperative game types that are actually more fun than their single-player counterparts. Last Stand is a 2D brawler mode in which you and your partner each control one of the Hero characters. These are powerful melee fighters who are typically only available for a limited time in the campaign. But the most interesting of the three is Survival, in which one member of your two-person team controls the castle’s ballista and sends out troops while the other controls a Hero character on the ground. Co-op Survival is a fun exercise in coordination and communication that gives both parties plenty of interesting and useful things to do.

    The Verdict?
    CastleStorm draws from a seemingly unmanageable array of inspirations and thoughts including real-time strategy, tower defense, and Angry Birds, and does so with remarkable creativity and humor. Touchy ballista controls may cause troubling gameplay on occasion, but the charms of CastleStorm’s multiple gameplay modes, varied campaigns and units, and quirky presentation keep the action on track.    … Full Review »
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