CastleStorm: Definitive Edition (PS4) Review

Jack of all trades, master of none.

You know those games that are difficult to define? The ones that have so much involved you really don’t know how to categorize it? That’s exactly how I feel about CastleStorm. It does so much that it ends up tripping on its own feet, and becomes a game that is both confusing and a chore to play at times.

CastleStorm has players taking control of Sir Gareth as he mans a ballista, trying to hold off hoards of Vikings that are trying to destroy the castle. Players must aim the ballista at the enemies and try to take them out before they reach the castle doors, or before they begin a barrage of ranged attacks that will damage the castle’s fortifications.

The chaos can be fun.

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, 360, Wii U, Vita
MSRP: $9.99
Price I’d pay: $5
Multiplayer: Co-op and Vs.

Shooting everything and the kitchen sink at them.

This is just a small portion of what players will actually be doing while playing a level. Players will also unlock troops to command that can hold off the enemy for a while, allowing Gareth to shoot them with the ballista. There are different units to summon, and each act differently while defending. Gareth has multiple types of projectiles he can fire during a level. These can be the standard arrow, a spike ball that can do some major damage to fortifications as well as advancing enemies and even an exploding projectile for knocking down enemy castle walls. In this sense, it feels very much like Angry Birds.

On top of all that, players unlock the ability to actually teleport Gareth onto the battlefield and control him while hacking and slashing the line of enemies himself. It’s a decent way to get rid of some of those pesky ranged enemies.

Players will constantly unlock new projectiles to fire, new troops to command and new magic abilities to utilize. In between the missions, players can also upgrade everything they have unlocked to make them even more powerful, as well as upgrade their castle to house more troops and relocate specific rooms.

Much to do. Almost too much.

It’s a lot to take in, and gets rather daunting, especially in the heat of battle. Since everything is mapped to its own button on the controller, knowing what to hit and what to select can be a dexterity check. One of the bigger problems is that many of the ballista’s projectiles have a cool down, and after using them, it doesn’t default back to the standard arrow, so I would have to constantly switch projectiles using the top bumpers. It got annoying, especially when timing is of the utmost importance.
The biggest culprit of the problems is the actual aiming reticule. It has a nice, while line showing me where the ballista is going to fire, but it only goes so far and disappears. This is especially annoying when trying to hit enemies across the map. It ends up with me blind firing to see where my arrows will land, and then readjusting from there.

But the execution is lacking.

There is a multiplayer mode as well that is basically most of the story missions but with another player doing the same thing I was. It is this nice tug of war that goes on for a bit too long in the end. Plus, with the already frantic nature of the game, with others it becomes a full on brawl. It was actually kind of fun now that I sit back and think about it, but still, the games take a while to complete. There’s also a co-op mode that allows players to take on waves of enemies as well as a hack n slash mode that has the game play out in the character controlling mode.

CastleStorm has a ton of things to handle while playing, and while it’s never a bad game, it feels like I was having to juggle too much at one time and ended up fumbling with the controller more times than not. Multiplayer is the standout of the entire package, and even then, it is a frantic melee that can result in the same confusing session I had with the single player. It is an ambitious title that some will find enjoymable. For $9.99, there’s a ton of things to see and do in CastleStorm, but as they say, too much of something can be a bad thing.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Fun multiplayer modes
  • Tons of unlocks and content
Bad
  • Too many mechanics
  • Sometimes too frantic
  • Aim reticule is not helpful
  • Interface issues
5.5
Mediocre
Written by
Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.