Castle Walker is now available for Xbox One and Windows 10 amongst other platforms. This 2D pixel action-adventure title was created by Desert Water Games LLC using Game Maker Studio 2. Not much is known about this studio/developer at this point but I’m sure this is just the beginning of their creative future.
This pixel side-scroller game takes me back to the golden years of gaming, it feels like a cross between Ghosts N’ Ghouls and Castlevania but with a very simple concept and structure, unfortunately though it doesn’t quite live up to either of those two historically relevant titles.
Castle Walker comes with just one game mode which is a single player campaign.
Visually this game is a basic pixel game, however the images, backgrounds and characters all look good and do their job, some of the backgrounds in the later levels I really liked and they set the atmosphere for this magical adventure.
Achievements are available in Castle Walker and if you’re an achievement hunter you’ll either be super happy or super frustrated because these achievements are very easy to get with no real challenge involved.
The controls for this game are very basic and gamers of all levels will pick it up and be able to play straight away. The sounds fit perfectly within the game and its theme; I wouldn’t say any of the music or sounds particularly stood out but that’s not an issue because the sounds and music felt very native.
The story is quite simple, we see a young mage battle their way up through the castle stages to save their companion after an earlier encounter with an evil overlord of kinds, well that what I got from playing through. The truth is there’s not really much of a story to get through as the game is very short. I think around six levels or so, none of which are that difficult and none of them contain any additional story content, so if you’re looking for an engaging story then this isn’t the game for you.
The price I feel is a little on the expensive side for the size of this game, I feel around $3.50 would be more realistic but at present the price will be $4.99.
My overall conclusion for Castle Walker is that there will be a lot of people who really enjoy the nostalgia kick it brings. Others will either like or dislike its overall simplicity and the retro themed graphic design.
I discovered some issues with this game which I found quite frustrating, firstly the fact you can’t jump, move and attack at the same time can make some of the levels really tricky. Additionally, I felt there was a need for faster movements, I know the game is called Castle Walker but I personally found its slow pace took away from the overall experience. The attacks on this game are just two directional either firing to the left or the right, I felt that it would have worked much better with 8-directional firing so enemies above and below could have been better targeted.
I enjoyed this game for its simplicity and the easy to grasp controls and mechanics. The story was a little too short and progression didn’t really feel like it was getting more difficult. I think this game is perfect for achievement hunters or younger people trying to get into retro gaming, I look forward to this developer's future games as they have a brilliant foundation to build on.
Overall rating 5/10 - Average Experience
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