Steam Game Review: Caster

Steam Game Review: Caster

     As many avid gamers out there know, Steam is an absolute must have when it comes to buying and/or sharing games and gaming experiences. There is an innumerable amount of content on Steam that can tickle the fancy of pretty much anybody out there. Among these games, is that of "Caster."

     First, let's start with the basics. Pretty much any sale that Steam advertises on their 'Store' page, features this game. It's no more than a quarter (25 cents) every time a sale happens, so with that said, there really isn't too much reason NOT to get it. Let's face it, 25 cents really doesn't get you a whole lot nowadays as it is... You're lucky if you can get a giant gumball for that price at your local grocery store.

     Caster is a neat little game that was developed by Elecorn, who is in turn an indie developer. With this said, one should definitely take into consideration the fact that the graphics won't be up to "par" as say a major developer's game (Bethesda, 2K Games, Activision, etc) would be. That's not to say that graphics are everything, however. The game does a great job of launching the player into this world that could be described as styled after an old Nintendo 64 3D platformer, much like Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. Keeping this in mind, a controller adds to this nostalgic feel as the camera angles and movement work in much the same manner. Once the player goes through a brief tutorial mission, explaining how things work, the game then takes the player on a journey through a very outlandish world. It incorporates a rough combat system that puts a slowly unlocked arsenal of various lasers at the player's disposal. Each of these weapons serves a purpose on each level, and it's up to the player to use that noggin of theirs to figure out how each weapon applies to the current mission.

     With the mention of weapons, and missions, there is a neat little "leveling up" system that happens as well. With each mission the player can destroy enemies and shoot trees to gain an in-game currency, which in turn let's the player upgrade various abilities as well as the lasers. These abilities include the ability to run faster or jump higher, for instance. Cool right? In fact, once some of these abilities are upgraded, the missions become a flatout breeze to go through in some instances. This could be looked at as a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on who the player is. That said, I'll leave that up to interpretation.

      While nostalgia, loads of money to grab, and fun ways to outsmart the enemy are fun... This game falls short, and detrimentally so, in a few other, more crucial areas. First off, there is no real "story." This is absolutely key when it comes to immersing the player. Without a story... there's very little that will actually make the player feel as though anything is getting accomplished.

     Another big problem with this game is the fact that the enemies are almost static in a sense. They have no real movement styles and the ability to decimate them by the thousands is absolutely comical. There's no real combat mechanics that the player needs to acquire in order thwart the enemy and whatever threat they pose in this distant place where nobody seems to know what's going on. This, in and of itself, can absolutely destroy the experience.

     So... we have lots of guns, a "leveling" system, nostalgia that is offset by lack of story and no real challenge. The bad can offset the good, or vice versa. And maybe it wouldn't be all that bad if that was all there is to the story, however, it's not. Speaking of "all there is to the story," this game, above all things, is NOT COMPLETE. Judging by the looks of things, it won't ever be completed by the developer. This poor little gem of a game has been left incomplete for quite some time now (years, in fact) and the developer has yet to blink an eye at it. It's really quite a shame too, because there is so much potential here. All it needs just a little TLC and just a bit of polishing and this game could turn out to get the recognition that it (potentially) deserves. But don't hold your breath.

     On a sidenote, however, I would like to include the fact that the developer was courteous enough to include an actual mission editor and level designer that allows players to fill in holes or create a whole new world. I have tried the editor out, and while it is somewhat wonky at first, I am highly appreciative that Elecorn allowed for the followers of the game the ability to take things into their own hands, if need be. In fact, there is also a section on the Caster/Elecorn website that allows for community submissions to be downloaded by the public to play. So... at least the "DLC" is free.

     Taking ALL of this into account, I enjoyed my time with the game. And for only 25 cents, I enjoyed it even more. Given that it might take some imagination on the player's part to keep things going, it's well worth the small donation to try. That is... if you are willing to overlook the terribly awful state the game was left in.

(Here's to hoping that at some point in time Elecorn revisits this 'pound puppy' of video games gives it the attention that it deserves.)

For more information on Caster or download the game, please visit:

http://www.elecorn.com/caster3d/index.html

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