(Castle Storm does have a multiplayer mode, but unfortunately I have been unable to find any other players at the moment. As such, this review will focus on the single-player aspects of Castle Storm.)
Castle Storm is a fun little title that came out over the summer. It is funny, creative and is a good time waster if there are no other games on your radar at the moment. I would describe it as a combination of Angry Birds and Tower Defense.
The story is your typical “knight must save the day,” but the presentation is funny and does a good job at poking fun at itself. The basic gameplay revolves around having a castle and defending it from invading troops. Using a combination of various projectiles, powers, and allied soldiers, you must prevent your castle from collapsing or having its flag stolen, while inflicting the reverse upon your opponent. The campaign, to its credit, has a lot of content and does a good job of keeping things mixed up to avoid monotony. Some missions will have you defend your castle against waves, while others will have you play as a single hero defending against the hordes. Some missions even have boss fights which require some creativity on your part in order to beat them. About halfway through the campaign, though, you end up switching sides, from the “noble” Knights to the “vicious” Vikings. I found myself enjoying the Vikings’ units and abilities more, which helped keep the campaign fresh.
The game also has a fairly substantive castle builder and leveling system. Winning missions gains you money from which you can buy upgrades and build your own castle, fitting it with different rooms that provide bonus or new units on the battlefield. The game does encourage you to complete the side missions and attempt to complete bonus objectives, making the difficulty curve much steeper toward the mid-to-late game, and you will need your powers and units to be as strong as possible.
The biggest problem in the campaign, and this is actually a problem of the gameplay itself, is that it is trying to do too much. Having to juggle different projectiles, powers and troops gets very hectic and leads to a great deal of irritation. Additionally, some of the levels, especially the single hero combat levels, can be more frustrating than fun.
Beyond the campaign are a few single-player options: a skirmish mode, where you can play against the enemy; an A.I. survival mode, where you have to defend your castle against waves of opponents; and finally, a hero survival, where you play a single hero battling waves of enemies. These add some replay value, but are more of just a time waster than anything else.
Castle Storm is a charming game in the end. You are not going to remember it very strongly after you are done, but it succeeds in delivering a fun, funny and fulfilling experience, and that is all that matters.
(On PC and Xbox Live)
