CastleStorm

 PC
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

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  1. 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 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 hardenedCastleStorm 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.    … Expand
  2. askewreviews
    Oct 15, 2013
    8
    A pleasant surprise. CastleStorm didn't strike me as appearing particularly unique, but it proved itself to be a surprisingly compelling game, with tons of content and a charming visual style. It plays like an well-developed evolution of the classic flash games that seem to have inspired it and everything it tries to do is done solidly.
  3. daliindica
    Aug 16, 2013
    7
    Its a good little game, something like a tower defense game but with a little twist. Its simply enough for anyone, with enough depth to keep you interested. The storyline that follows the campaign is quite nice as well, although I ended up skipping parts because I was simply interested in the gaming. Its one of those games you will go back to from time to time, very good little game indeed.
  4. 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 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.
  5. 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 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    It'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....    … Expand
  6. GameFans
    Oct 31, 2013
    9
    This game reminds me about the old-day of flash games, with something to shoot to defend your territory, and to spend your resource wisely to spawn units to destroy enemies' fortress.

    I think this game is a hybrid of shooting, strategy and resource management, which is not the same as the angry birds mentioned by other reviewers.

    Anyway, the art style is great and attractive.
  7. Kazzier
    Jul 29, 2013
    1
    Not too much to say other than the game feels like a child's game. Cartoonie graphics with a none serious element. Gameplay is simple and gets rather dull quite fast. In all honesty there are much better tactical games out there.
  8. rodericrinehart
    Jun 6, 2015
    7
    SCORE: 6.7/10

    It is definitely what everyone says: Angry Birds + Castle Defense. I'm giving it a light recommend, but only at $2-$3. I would not recommend it at full price. This is a mobile game at its core, and as such, the price should match. It just isn't for me, but I can see how people would like it. It takes parts of two popular genres, melds them effectively, and has a    SCORE: 6.7/10

    It is definitely what everyone says: Angry Birds + Castle Defense.

    I'm giving it a light recommend, but only at $2-$3. I would not recommend it at full price.

    This is a mobile game at its core, and as such, the price should match.

    It just isn't for me, but I can see how people would like it. It takes parts of two popular genres, melds them effectively, and has a nice art style and humor.

    I think I got it in a bundle which resulted in it being $1 or less, which is about what it is worth imo.    … Expand
  9. Deschain89
    Aug 24, 2013
    3
    This game combines both, Angry Birds with some of the "defend the rush" flash games that used to flood Newgrounds some years ago. It is quite entertaining on it's own, but it is a formula that has been overdone, and that will keep on piling on it's own until there is no more room in IOS devices.

    It looks cheap, it plays OK, and will hold up a mans interest for an hour or two. For ten    This game combines both, Angry Birds with some of the "defend the rush" flash games that used to flood Newgrounds some years ago. It is quite entertaining on it's own, but it is a formula that has been overdone, and that will keep on piling on it's own until there is no more room in IOS devices.

    It looks cheap, it plays OK, and will hold up a mans interest for an hour or two. For ten dollars on Steam, one can get much better games for less. For what it is, I have played carbon copies of this game on Newgrounds for the very reasonable price of FREE, so I would honestly pass on this one, it is a time waster who's time is long gone.    … Expand
  10. Valleymsx
    Nov 3, 2013
    10
    I discovered this game today... Thank you Barbie and Zen Studios team.
    EXQUISITE game. A funny large campaing and excelent gameplay.

    Incredible what you have done with 379 MB.
    AWESOME. I will purchase all of the next Zen Studios games.
  11. Hepsmith
    Dec 28, 2013
    9
    The game has lots of variety, and even accommodates for different play styles which you wouldn't expect from a game such as this. Lots of fun, I can only hope i can convince my friends to buy it.
  12. Voyou
    May 17, 2021
    5
    Cute, repetitive, grindy, repetitive, grindy. Should have been made to run in a web browser.
  13. ackmondual
    Nov 29, 2015
    10
    INTRO
    Fun game. I first encountered this at a convention, on a Wii U as a download. Using the analog sticks and Wii U gamepad wasn't bad, but was pleased with the way the controls translated to mouse and keyboard. The game also lets you rebind keys. In hindsight, I could've been more patient and gotten this + both DLC campaigns for $4 during a sale, but I jumped the gun at $15. I'd    INTRO
    Fun game. I first encountered this at a convention, on a Wii U as a download. Using the analog sticks and Wii U gamepad wasn't bad, but was pleased with the way the controls translated to mouse and keyboard. The game also lets you rebind keys. In hindsight, I could've been more patient and gotten this + both DLC campaigns for $4 during a sale, but I jumped the gun at $15. I'd rather not do that with EVERY game (I honestly could stand to save the $$), but I can't say I have regrets

    FOR THE CASUAL GAMER
    play a few levels to beyond the 1st campaign. See if you like it. Do it on Normal mode or even Casual mode. Try out multiplayer

    FOR THE AVERAGE GAMER
    at least play through the entire campaign. Go back and get more stars. Try out other modes like Survival, Hero Survival, and Skirmish. Grab about 80% of the Steam achievements. Play even more multiplayer games

    FOR THE HARDCORE GAMER
    5-star all of the campaign levels. Try out the other modes in more in-depth. Earn all Steam achievements. Go crazier with MP games. Go back to SP games and try out other ways to beat levels.

    PROS
    -90% of the music complimented the game well.
    -sound FX are solid
    -During the FMV and nonFMV cut scenes, there are generic voiceovers, which surprisingly did the job for me
    -controls are intuitive enough
    -keyboard keys can be rebinded
    -There were meaningful choices in which equipment to upgrade, and when
    -other meaningful choices like prolonging the level until you get the bonus objective, or letting more enemy troops on the screen so you can activate Shooting Frenzy and get more damage done to the castle

    -campaign humor was there
    puns, cultural references, and even references to other video games.
    -engaging storyline, with characters that stood out
    It was enough that for reason I couldn't finish the game, I'd go online to see how the campaign ended
    -variety of game modes...
    --some levels require you to capture the flag. Others to destroy the castle. Others let you do either
    --Then there are levels you play as the hero. Some levels restrict certain types of equipment (e.g. no troops, no castle, or no use of Ballista)
    --others have it on "hpyer mode" where the cooldown for Ballista shots significantly reduced, letting you go hog wild

    -getting all the stars on campaign mode wasn't a pushover (due to the last 5%), but was still doable
    I had to either replay about 10 levels immediately b/c something slipped, come back to it after unlocking a new Equipment, or after having some $ to level up making it much easier to do so. There were 2 or 3 levels, I did replay multiple times till I finally got all 5 stars.
    And yeah, I have quit games out of sheer frustration in cases where it was stupidly hard with virtually no margin for error.

    CONS
    -4% of the time for the music... it got "meh" or even repetitive
    -every time you boot up the game, it defaults back to "Normal" difficulty. You need Hard to have a shot a 5-starring levels
    -some portions of the game got repetitive
    For example, destroy castle. Next level, destroy castle with the same setup. However, to be fair, the game's relatively simplicity doesn't seem to allow that much ways to stray from this

    DUNNO
    -I have yet to try multiplayer    … Expand
  14. brodiee
    Sep 17, 2019
    10
    Pretty fun little TowerDefense game. Good if you can get it on sale. Shame the DLC isn't include in a base edition.
  15. IdleSpace
    Apr 14, 2022
    7
    Очень приятный таймкиллер, чисто перевести дух между серьезными играми. Минус балл за парочку кривых миссии ну просто с нереальными условиями выполнения на 3*.

Critic Reviews

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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.
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  2. Riot Pixels
    Aug 26, 2013
    72
    The single-player campaign is just there to unlock units and ammunition, and earn money for upgrades. Skip the boring story and the dumb AI – playing against real people is much more fun.
    Read full review
  3. Machinima
    Aug 15, 2013
    80
    CastleStorm is a great idea that just doesn’t click.
    Read full review
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