Cataclismo is a real-time strategy (RTS) title coming from developer Digital Sun, they are known for developing well known indie titles like Moonlighter and The Mageseeker: A league of Legends Story. Cataclismo is their foray into the RTS genre and has already received high praise from players and reviewers alike as they sit with a “Very Positive” review on steam. It was officially released on March 20th of this year, before which it was in early access.
Gameplay Overview
The overarching story is set in a post-apocalyptic world that is overrun with horrors beyond our imagination leading to a fight for humanity’s survival. The gameplay reflects this as during the day we are tasked with gathering resources from the land however we can to build up our fortresses and maximize our defences.
As night approaches we will have to have hordes of these monsters as they attempt to break through the defences we created. The actual gameplay of setting up our defences is an extremely pleasant experience, where we can click to build up individual walls, towers and are able to tweak their every setting for setting up their height to choosing the material with which to build it.
Kind of like building our own Lego set of a fortress and as night approaches we can see which parts of our fortress hold up and which parts aren’t. This level of customization and build freedom maximizes replayability as players will only be held back by their own imagination.
Variety Of Play
As mentioned in their Steam Page, there are three main ways for players to enjoy this title, there is the standard single player campaign mode. A skirmish mode that features the developer’s own hand crafted maps for players to explore and play and finally the endless mode which is those wanting to test their mettle in procedurally generated maps and increasingly difficult hordes.
This is no doubt a great feature to have as it allows veteran RTS players to just jump to the action without worrying too much about any plotline or story. At the same time those who want to follow a linear experience aren’t left behind as they can choose to play the campaign.
The game also has an extensive map editor for players who want to contribute to the ecosystem by adding their twists to the map pool that anyone can download and play in. This also helps in building up the community as players will eventually download popular player-created maps and may even want to contribute their own.
Gorgeous Artstyle
The artstyle is a unique mixture of cell shading and a comic book aesthetic that looks gorgeous throughout and since the game doesn’t require that much of a demanding system everyone can enjoy the beauty of the landscapes that the game presents.
The fortresses look extremely appealing and have satisfying animations for when we start fleshing out the defences. The colors and design of the fortresses really add to the dark fantasy horror environment that the developers were aiming for.
The distinct color palette also helps in locating the knights we’ll eventually have to control in order to defend their post against special beasts or difficult hordes if and when they manage to break through the initial defences.
Conclusion
Digital Sun have truly shown their skills with Cataclismo as the game features an extremely in-depth and impressive build system that encourages players to use their imagination in building their vision of a fortress.
The 3 modes that the game features is more than enough to keep any player whether they are casuals or veteran RTS players entertained for long hours. Add to that the map building system which allows players to design a map right down to each individual block is just a cherry on top.
Cataclismo is another example of a game where developers knew what they wanted to make from the very beginning, the game doesn’t stray far from what it has to offer and whatever it has to offer is well polished and tested. This game is a unique mixture of landscapes, aesthetic gothic architectures and gorgeous artstyle making it standout in the RTS space.
