Cataclismo Preview
I love tower defense games, but it seems like the genre is relatively under-represented. Maybe what I enjoy about them is the chess-like strategy. You know what might be coming, but you’re not certain, so you have to plan for many scenarios. Cataclismo, coming to Early Access on July 22, is a genre-bending blend of tower defense, real-time strategy, and city building. It’s also like playing with Legos.
Developed by Digital Sun, Cataclismo’s post-apocalyptic setting has a more engaging, substantial narrative than most games in the tower defense genre. I mean, it’s largely ignorable, too. Basically, your hopefully not-too-humble settlement is the last, best hope against hordes of Horrors, varieties of monsters that have ravaged the world. Your power comes from a mystical orb called Perla, and a powerful woman named Lady Iris. Lady Iris helpfully guides you through the tutorial and is an essential force for your survival.
Of course, the still-unfinished campaign shares the same mechanics as the game’s other modes. The difference is that the campaign structure provides a bit of momentum and variety.
Brick by Brick
Cataclismo’s basic gameplay loop isn’t too hard to grasp. You collect stone and wood and build walls, platforms, and other structures to keep the Horrors at bay. There’s a nice push-pull balance between the resources. Stone is strong but wood is cheap and quick. No matter what material you use, planning defenses at varied heights is an essential strategy. Your units — all fighters are recruited from citizens and trained up — each have an optimal position. Archers need to be high. Heavy damage dealers need to down and dirty with the enemy. Each battle is a scramble to build on the fly because no amount of planning is perfect.
Like a city builder or a set of Legos, you have a large number of pre-fab pieces to creatively make use of in raising your castle. Building is not just focused on military might. You need housing for citizens and buildings to process resources. The building process is obviously central to Cataclismo, and it’s a lot of fun. But unfortunately, it’s also where I was most frustrated. The overall grimdark aesthetic and a camera that never quite showed me elevation changes resulted in a lot of misplaced blocks. I spent at least as much time zooming, rotating, and fiddling with the camera as I did laying down bricks.
Cataclismo has an interesting day/night mechanic. Horrors primarily attack at night, so you spend the daylight hours preparing, resource collecting, and building. However, you also need to venture out into the world to explore and gather resources during the day. There are Horrors out there, too. Sending a scouting party to their potential demise is another risk/reward element.
Modus Operandi
In addition to the campaign, Cataclismo offers a few other ways to play. There is a Skirmish mode, which includes all the base-building action minus the narrative complication, and and Endless Mode, which is just like it sounds. The Skirmish mode is engaging but a bit limited in the choice of environments. Like any task without an ultimate purpose, skirmishes can feel a little arbitrary.
I love RTS or tower defense games that include a level editor, and Cataclismo has a robust one. Like in most, you can change elevations on the map, lay down resources and enemy spawn points, and add details. Of course, it’s all with Lego-like blocks.
Cataclismo has a moody art style that sticks mostly to a subdued, earth-tone palette. Even in the more benign sections of the forest, there isn’t a lot of bright color. Aside from the frustrating camera, I liked the overall visual vibe of the game and the subtle Lego-like look of both characters and structures. I liked the monster designs, too. The Horrors are varied, creepy, and cute all at once. Any enemy that attacks in swarms is terrifying.
Path to Victory
Cataclismo is a three-legged stool that’s well-balanced. The tower defense mechanic drives the base building, which in turn drives the resource collection and population management aspects. Nothing feels underdeveloped, which is a major accomplishment. Aside from fleshing out the campaign, I’d love to see some changes to the camera that would make precise building less time-consuming. The first few hours of the campaign drag a bit, too, with each mechanic being very gradually introduced.
Aside from those relatively minor quibbles, Cataclismo is an original and engaging blend of genres and I look forward to watching it move towards its final form.
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