CastleStorm DLC crashes down on XBLA this week
Zen Studios has rallied the troops and is set to administer another dose of fanciful siege warfare to its Xbox Live Arcade offering, CastleStorm. Dubbed From Outcast to …
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CastleStorm review (XBLA)
CastleStorm was developed by Zen Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released May 29, 2013 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
In CastleStorm you’ll sometimes shoot sheep. Out of a ballista. Into a castle. It’s made possible by a unique propulsion technique: rainbow excrement. Zen Studios’ CastleStorm is obviously not a game that takes itself seriously. It has a story, but it’s intentionally dumb. There are blue guys. There are red guys. The red guys steal a shiny object of immense power from the blue guys, and the blue guys, somewhat reluctantly, go to war in an attempt to retrieve it. Cutscenes filled with overtly cheesy and occasionally humorous jokes frequently interrupt the tower-defense-meets-Angry-Birds gameplay, but the joy of launching projectiles, which are only occasionally weaponized beasts, out of your ballista and towards enemy castles and opposing forces marching on your own castle will keep you coming back for more.
Here’s what we liked:
Plenty of options — At first, CastleStorm will seem simple to a fault. You have a castle. The enemy has a castle. You have a ballista. The enemy has a ballista. You have soldiers. The enemy has soldiers. It’s a feeling that quickly evaporates as you progress through the campaign and unlock an impressive variety of unit types, ballista projectiles, magic spells, castles — including those you build yourself — and upgrades. Though you will encounter the occasional mission objective that changes things up a bit, most levels involve you defending your castle and flag while electing to either capture the enemy’s flag or tear their castle down to its foundation. Thanks to the numerous tools of destruction at your disposal and those employed by the enemy, this formula never gets old. It’s challenging and satisfying to implant arrows in troops’ heads, crash down gates with flying quadrupeds and blow castle rooms to smithereens with bombs. Good thing, too, because success in later levels is achieved only by nimbly managing your war assets. Fail to do so, and you’ll be overwhelmed as the no man’s land between the safety of the opposing castle gates quickly becomes the enemy’s land.
CastleStorm fires on to XBLA tomorrow
CastleStorm, the medieval 2D physics-based destruction game from Zen Studios, will be launching on XLBA tomorrow. Built on the fond childhood memory of building and destroying Lego castles, CastleStorm …
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Zen Studios details CastleStorm’s multiplayer modes
Although CastleStorm is due to release next month, little has been made public about its multiplayer offerings. However, in a recent blog post, Zen Studios has lifted the lid on this unknown quantity, explaining CastleStorm‘s 1. vs. 1 split-screen mode, Survival Co-op and Last Stand Co-op modes.
According to Zen, multiplayer progression will be kept distinct from that of its single-player campaign, with players leveling up and earning experience separately in each. Each of the three new multiplayer modes can be played locally or online, and players can even import their own, custom-made castles into multiplayer matches.
The 1 vs. 1 split-screen mode sees players simply attempting to destroy an individual opponent’s castle — the first to do so emerges victorious. Survival Co-op requires two players to team up in order to repel waves of enemies, with one player manning the ballista while the other assumes control of the ground forces. Finally, in Last Stand Co-op Mode, both players assume control of a single hero unit and must stay alive as long as possible while battling increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
Zen has also released a new gameplay trailer that demonstrates CastleStorm‘s newly revealed multiplayer modes in action.
CastleStorm crashes onto XBLA in April
Zen Studios’ tower-defense title CastleStorm is set to release on XBLA in April after a year of development, Joystiq reports. The game is a 2-D physics-based defense puzzler (think Angry Birds) with tower defense elements – Knights defend castles from raiding Vikings, who attack with ranged weapons. Online multiplayer and castle editing will also be available.
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CastleStorm: Know Your Characters compilation
Over the course of the past month, Zen Studios has released a new blog post each week detailing the various character types players can expect to see in the upcoming CastleStorm. With the final entry posted last Wednesday, we’ve compiled all four entries right here for your convenience. Be sure to check the links to each blog post to learn more details about these characters and even tips on how to use them in-game.
CastleStorm Karaoke trailer unveiled
In releasing the latest CastleStorm trailer – complete with its own karaoke-style theme tune – Zen Studios invites players to submit their own karaoke videos for the #CastleStormSong competition. …
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New CastleStorm screens released
A new batch of CastleStorm screenshots have been released by Zen Studios for your enjoyment. The game is being described as “medieval castle vs. castle warfare physics based destruction real time strategy game” or “2D strategaction game” as our Guide Co-ordinator, Todd Schlickbernd, preferred when he got to see the game in action at this years E3. Zen has also released some free CastleStorm desktop wallpapers for you to download and kit yourself out with in preparation for when is published on XBLA later this year by Microsoft Game Studios. Head over to the official website for the wallpapers or hit the jump for the new screenshots.
E3 Hands-on: Forecast for CastleStorm shows torrent of arrows
Few things are more impenetrable than the mighty castle. Around the 10th century or so, major countries defended their population from sieges with these massive stone structures. Typically castles were constructed several miles apart in strategically superior locations. In CastleStorm, they’re right next door to each other.
Perhaps the real estate was good at the time or maybe the world of CastleStorm is just ridiculously crowded but things get cozy in this 2D tower defense. Your castle has a massive ballista on the front of it, which you use to mow down waves of ground forces and lay siege to the enemy castle. If the one-size-fits-all weapon weren’t enough, you can also dispatch your own forces and use magical abilities to affect the battlefield. Destroy the enemy castle or capture their flag to secure victory.
Real time strategy and the second dimension have blended before with games like Grim Grimoire and Swords & Soldiers, but it’s not the most common of sub-genres. That said, CastleStorm blends the RTS with even smaller genres including artillery shooters (Worms) and tower defense. The resulting smoothie is not only delicious, it offers a unique flavor. Read More
Zen Studios announce CastleStorm for XBLA
Pinball moguls, Zen Studios have announced their newest intellectual property, CastleStorm, and gamers will be interested to here that there’s not a flipper in sight. The game is being described as “a new breed of 2D archery projectile warfare and 2D physics-based structure destruction”. Set in a colourful medieval world, CastleStorm is set to bring a challenging mix of real time strategy and resource management to XBLA. Players will make use of a medieval ballista and launch an assortment of explosive weapons including Morningstars, Apple Grenades, Homing Eagles, and even flying sheep, as well as training a fearsome ground attack in the form of swordsmen, knights, and donkey riders, to defeat the onslaught of enemies trying to capture your flag and destroy your castle.