Click to see more screens from Defend Your Castle
The browser game that many of you have tried at one time or another has been revamped for Wii and launched alongside WiiWare earlier this morning. After spending a good bit of time with the game, we're confident that we can present a decent review of the title. With a price point of 500 Wii points, as well as a fairly addictive game just lurking beneath that small admission price, we're happy to report that Defend Your Castle is a good game and well worth your small sum of money.
First of all, we should explain what exactly the deal with this game is. If you haven't been paying attention, the object of the game is to defend your castle from the ridiculously large onslaught on invading armies that try to take it down day after day. While defending your castle during the daylight hours, you'll gather points, which can then be used at night to strengthen your castle or expand its plethora of assets. These assets include things from just strengthening walls (the castle's overall health), down to building a Pit of Conversion, which allows you to take enemy soldiers and convert them into followers that will do their best to protect your castle.
Click for larger image
The Mage's Tower is the coolest ability in the game, because you can call on a variety of spells to dispatch the enemy troops. You can call on the pink eraser to automatically eradicate one foe, as well as a nice Instant Conversion technique that provides you with a new troop, yet isn't affected by the annoying wait time that comes from using the Pit of Conversion. And, once you get into the thick of it later on in the game, you're going to be depending on the Mage's Tower to get you out of a tough spot.
Visually, the game looks great. Small touches like the changing weather, as well as the unit variations, come together to make a very visually appealing package. The game has a lot of charm here and looks like the imagination of a 4-year-old child. If there's any landscape we wanted to pay home to our exploits of defending a castle from countless hordes of enemies, it's here.
For a 500 Wii Point game, you'd be insane not to give Defend Your Castle a download. The game is fun, very accessible and has almost no learning curve. We can't comment on the mutliplayer, but if the single-player is any indication, it will deliver there, too. XGen Studios have created a great WiiWare offering and we're sure your life will be better for having downloaded Defend Your Castle.
Final Score: 9/10
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-12-2008 @ 2:12PM
Matthew said...
I agree with the review. I would have given it a 10/10 if there was music added, earlier stages I feel would benefit since the action is slow. Meh, it's worth the download, load on up.
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5-12-2008 @ 2:13PM
Jeremy said...
I already know this game rocks just from playing the flash version. That is also the reason I am holding off on this game right now. If you are going to be reviewing all of todays Wiiware titles please, please let FFCC or Lostwinds.
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5-12-2008 @ 2:18PM
Jeremy said...
Sorry I fudged up that last post. First I don't want to sound like I am coming off as a d!ck I have played the flash version of Defend Your Castle so many times and I love it and it sounds like there are many great improvements to the game.
Also the last sentence of my previous comment was "If you are going to be reviewing all of todays Wiiware titles please, please let FFCC or Lostwinds." and it should of been "If you are going to be reviewing all of todays Wiiware titles please, please let FFCC or Lostwinds be next. I am waiting for a review of them before I start downloading."
5-12-2008 @ 2:32PM
David Hinkle said...
I wish I could review all the games, but I probably only have one more in me. It should be one you all want to hear about, as well. :)
Look for that tomorrow!
5-12-2008 @ 2:45PM
Joshua said...
Ah, you can do it. Just review one per day. You don't have to play them to completion or anything. :P
5-12-2008 @ 2:13PM
Good_Bytes said...
From the video I saw on Nintendo Channel, I say it looks like any ordinary free Flash games that you can find on the internet. So, meh, not worth 5$... at 1$ yea sure, but no more.
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5-12-2008 @ 2:27PM
Beanie said...
Hey, are these WiiWare games in 16:9 480p?
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5-12-2008 @ 2:52PM
Jeremy said...
All I know is that the video previews of Lostwinds and FFCC are both in 16:9 while the videos of the others are standard. Now as for 480P I read about a month ago that FFCC was not.
5-12-2008 @ 3:18PM
PieMaster said...
The official site for the game says that it supports 480p, not sure about widescreen though.
5-12-2008 @ 6:23PM
SWAT Kats are back! said...
I always figured 480P was something that was controlled on the hardware side for Wii titles, the only things i've seen so far on Wii that DIDN'T function in 480P were Neo Geo games (i had a hell of a time figuring that out)
5-12-2008 @ 11:12PM
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! said...
Defend Your Castle is decidedly NOT widescreen. At least, not naturally....
5-13-2008 @ 1:31PM
Timerider said...
It's not widescreen? That sucks.
5-12-2008 @ 2:33PM
Garst said...
Can you win at this game? Or is this a never-ending mind-numbing game? I've played the flash version, but unless you can beat the game, I'm bored with it.
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5-12-2008 @ 2:50PM
sunday_times said...
LOST WINDS is awesome. i completed it a few hours ago and it was definately money well spent for a fresh puzzle/platformer. We'll surely be keeping our eyes closer on frontier games after this excellent release!
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5-12-2008 @ 3:08PM
Nigeria said...
You sound like a bad copywriter.
5-13-2008 @ 12:25AM
sunday_times said...
thanks...lol
5-13-2008 @ 12:51AM
iofthestorm said...
Wow, it's that short? I just got it and played for like half an hour. I'll probably take my time with it though.
5-12-2008 @ 2:52PM
Michael K. said...
I played the flash game and it was fun for like 5 seconds and I doubt some graphical improvements could make that much of a difference, this is probably a game that I would play once and never touch again, I think high scores are given out too fast nowadays
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5-12-2008 @ 3:02PM
Joe H said...
It sounds like besides graphics, nothing has changed? I'm not sure if I'll download it for that reason. I played this a ton a few years ago in college but it got boring after a while because after you get enough archers the game just plays itself.
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5-12-2008 @ 3:03PM
coleduke said...
One thing that's being overlooked is the fact that the controls are far superior to using a mouse. The fact that you can just flick your wrist to fling the little guys is great. That alone makes it worth 5 dollars, not to mention the fact that you can play it on your TV instead of a tiny little window on your monitor. Definitely worth $5.
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5-12-2008 @ 3:10PM
SoshiKitai said...
Geez, so many negative bashers on this game. How lovely that they're so quick to judge without even trying it out for the Wii... If you think it's a waste of time, fine, then don't waste your time reviewing it without even trying it. :P
I loved Defend Your Castle... and yeah, after like 11 minutes in - I HAVE to do something else... but think about it: Need to kill 5-10 minutes and feel like battling massive armies of stickmen? This game is perfect for the Wii. I'll definitely be giving this game a go. Not immediately, however, since I'm low on cash and have to pick and choose games. Maybe later on this month, or the next month, I'll get this game.
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5-12-2008 @ 3:10PM
Blue_Falcon said...
I have a question:
Just recently I played the flash version of the game. I had set up the archery and one level I put all of the guys I captured in. But then after the day was over, and the next day started, I lost them all. I'm not sure if it was a glitch, or if it was intentional.
Does that happen in this game too, or can I save them as I go through each level?
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5-12-2008 @ 3:15PM
PieMaster said...
The WiiWare game definitely saves all your units between rounds. I've already got several hundred archers, they mow down units but there are still so many...
5-12-2008 @ 3:12PM
PieMaster said...
In a word: multiplayer!
That's the killer feature of the WiiWare version for me. Also, the devs have indicated in interviews that there is at least one completely new unit type (which I assume comes later in the game).
Also, controlling the game with the Wii Remote feels great.
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5-13-2008 @ 12:30AM
CPFace said...
AGREED. It's too bad that it's not touched on more in this review. Any human being who walks past will pause to watch the carnage. "What in the hell are you doing?" they will ask in a mixture of fear and awe.
Stick figures fly across the screen and splat. They giggle. They sit down to watch.
A few rounds go by. "Can I try that?" they ask.
"Sure," you say, pointing to the remote on the coffee table. "Just pick it up and start playing."
And just like that, it's turned into a party game. You don't need to interrupt your campaign in progress -- you don't even need to pause. Extra players can enter and leave at will.
The overall campaign is cooperative -- you're all defending the same castle -- but every round, the player who earned the most points for the castle is crowned King, and only the King can decide how points are spent.
This is the first game I've played that has convinced me that our household needs a full compliment of Wii remotes. It'll suck you in before you know it.
5-12-2008 @ 3:48PM
bc said...
"For a 500 Wii Point game, you'd be insane not to give Defend Your Castle a download" ... except that I'll have to delete VC games just for FFCC. Would willingly get more of these games IF I had room. Broken record and all, but Nintendo, please, storage solution!
Blog staff: can you compile all these comments & mail to Nintendo? Hit them en masse?
I'm hoping WiiWare, with its massive space demands, will fill up lots more people's consoles, and so bring the problem to a head.
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5-12-2008 @ 3:53PM
SoshiKitai said...
Tons of sites have sent complaints about "NO HDD in Wii" to Nintendo en masse...
And let me tell you, it's like signing a petition: It doesn't do anything other than tell them that you want it - and guess what? They already know that! And guess what? They're already trying to figure something out! So stop suggesting to clog up their emails with repetitions!!!
Petitions do crap.
5-12-2008 @ 4:23PM
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! said...
Never heard of Defend your Castle until all the WiiWare talk. It seemed like an interesting concept so I avoided the flash version so that the WiiWare version would be new to me. So far, it's the only WiiWare title I'm interested in. Maybe Dr. Mario. But, maybe not.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:14PM
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! said...
Follow up: Defend Your Castle is fun and cheaper than dinner! =]
5-12-2008 @ 5:06PM
Tristan said...
This sounds great, nice score, though I would have to say that I probably will pass it on. I think i will just stick to the online flash versions for now. Though I do have 500 points I want to see what is coming in a few weeks.
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5-12-2008 @ 5:16PM
Maattp said...
This game is ok. I don't see much advantage over the flash version though. I am looking forward to dr. mario and spogs racing for wiiware
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5-12-2008 @ 5:39PM
Mrblonde said...
Now the wiiware service has launched, they need to change the point buying system. I don't want to pay ten bucks for a thousand points when i only need one or two hundred points. They need to make it where you can select how many you want to buy. It works out too cause a hundred points is one buck . I know alot of people are with me on this.
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5-12-2008 @ 5:58PM
Joe H said...
I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but maybe its because of the credit processing fees? I'd think Nintendo would just suck it up, but I know there's a lot of places in my area at least that don't take credit card purchases unless they're above a certain price.
5-12-2008 @ 8:35PM
Mrblonde said...
Yeah, but still it would be easier on the consumers. I just hate being left with leftover points that I cant use to get something else and having to pay another ten bucks when I need just like two hundred more points.
5-12-2008 @ 11:12PM
Joshua said...
It's probably done for business purposes.
As you said, many people probably only need a few hundred more points, but if they're forced to get 1000, then after they buy what they want, you'll still have some leftover points, and you'll want to buy more things.
Or, you'll just end up with points you don't need, but Nintendo will still have your money. :P
5-14-2008 @ 10:07AM
Timerider said...
Exactly, I'm always left with a couple hundred points I can't use until I buy more and then I still have stuff left over.
5-13-2008 @ 5:31AM
Nmaster said...
I haven't been able to put this game down all day. I've played the flash version, this is superior. Worth $5 and then some. WONDERFUL, MUST BUY.
Wait, IT HAS MULTIPLAYER!? WHERE?!
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5-23-2008 @ 10:45AM
Julien said...
Play with 2 remotes !! The master of the castle, its-a-me !!!
5-13-2008 @ 6:29AM
Ethan said...
I was sad that the castle didn't explode!
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5-13-2008 @ 8:19AM
Mikevanman Dagger said...
Great game! Reminded me very much of the early 80s Activision games.
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