WiiWare Games: Defend Your Castle (Wii)
Defend Your Castle, the second in our daily reviews of the six launched WiiWare titles, originally began life as a free Flash-based PC game. Requiring only a mouse and a click of the left button, players would defend a singular castle from an endless horde of invading soldiers. For the WiiWare adaption, developer XGen Studios has retained the addicting gameplay of the original while making numerous enhancements to the graphics and audio for a more enriching console experience.
Perhaps “enhancements” may not be the most suitable term. In an effort to give the game a more distinct look from its basic black and white original, XGen has changed the aesthetics of the game to reflect a crude, almost amateurish approach, like a kindergartner’s illustration of an epic war. Approaching enemies are depicted as high spirited stick figures, the titular castle appears to be made of construction paper, the clouds are held by strings. The sound effects, from explosions to death knells and even the title screen’s melody are all performed by nothing but a person’s voice. Perhaps this change in style was intended to mock Nintendo’s typical family friendly policies (all blood that was present in the original Flash game has been removed), but the tongue-in-cheek approach definitely helps it stand out from the rest of the WiiWare launch titles.
The objective of Defend Your Castle is self explanatory. Players must keep their castle from being completely annihilated from a seemingly endless army that charges toward the gates, wailing on the castle walls until the “Helth” bar is fully depleted. Enemies attack in four types: Barehanded soldiers that frantically pound the castle gates with their fists; Soldiers using Popsicle sticks as battering rams; Slow moving enemies that casually roll an explosive that can vaporize anyone within its vicinity if detonated early; Finally, monstrously large enemies one eyed enemies that cannot be defeated through the conventional method.
The method in question is the use of the Wiimote to pick up enemies, then dropping them from a high enough distance that they will splatter onto the ground below. While this approach is sufficient for the first wave of levels, the increasing enemy numbers will become too demanding to rely on the Wiimote alone. This is where points come into play.
After surviving each enemy wave until the paper sun sets, players will be awarded a number of points that can be used to fortify the castle walls, as well as purchase new abilities for added defense. The most useful item is the Pit of Conversion; Any enemy that is dropped into the pit will be converted into an ally after a few seconds, and can be assigned to one of the four remaining defensive parameters; The Archery Range houses archers that will periodically fire arrows at the enemy; The Demolition Laboratory will allow one ally to be sent at a time carrying an explosive, serving as a Kamikaze strike against all surrounding enemies; The Stone Masons Shop will periodically restore the castle’s Helth once damaged; Lastly, the Institute of Magical Arts will allow players to cast spells assigned to the D-pad of the Wiimote, each incantation affecting the enemy highlighted by the reticule: the eraser icon will remove the enemy instantly, the converting icon will add the enemy into the allies stock, and so forth. The more allies assigned to each tower, the greater the effect and speed of that tower. Stacking allies to the Magical Arts tower will eventually unlock new spells to further combat the stick figured forces, adding them to the Stone Masons Shop will repair the castle much quicker, and so on.
In order to deal with the increasing number of enemies per level, players must quickly and strategically use these five resources to maintain the castle’s Helth, along with continuing to flick enemies high into the air like flapjacks. The most useful tactic, however, is to keep allies in reserve, then send them out as a suicide bomber to take out the hordes of fist pounders and cyclops monsters that are huddled at the castle door. Other wiimote users can join in the massacre at any time, racking up individual points but ultimately working together to defend the castle from the stick figure army.
Despite the quick and addicting gameplay and charming presentation, Defend Your Castle is lacking a bit to keep players drawn in; All of the defensive towers and converting pit can be purchased with a half hour’s worth of points, leaving future points to be strictly used to fortify the castle as well as repair any damage taken from the enemy. Additional magic spells can be earned after stacking allies to the Magical Arts tower, but no new abilities will be earned from stacking them anywhere else. The frantic flinging of the Wiimote to dispatch enemies can also become taxing after a while, so it is recommended that players take frequent breaks, or players may face a greater enemy than the stick figure army: cramped wrists.
Despite the repetitive gameplay and physical discomfort, Defend Your Castle is still an addicting and frantic experience, and with four players joining in, this is one war that the whole family can enjoy.
