CATASTRONAUTS Review for PlayStation 4

Intro:

Attention, calling all fast paced strategic game lovers! Come and visit the deep depths of outer space to battle it out in Catastronauts by developer Intertia Games. You have to use teamwork and literally outmaneuver the evil galactic space tyrant that wants to rule the universe, as you attempt to save your galaxy. This never ending story mode is full of countless stages and consist of an ongoing rising difficulty within these stages. Be prepared to fight and also maintain your own spaceship for each stage battle, in this all out multiplayer game.

First Glance Aesthetics:

At first glance I didn’t really notice to much substance to the game. It’s a very small game file, with few animations and detail. However, being depicted in space it gives the gamer that sort of futuristic out of this world feel. Overall, I wish more efforts were put on the outward appearance of this game. This is mainly because it seems like this game put more efforts into appealing to a very young audience (perhaps 7-14) even though it has potential to be entertainment for all ages. It’s very easy for me to envision another consumer in my shoes that would be hesitant to buy this Catastronauts, but at the same time satisfied if they took a chance and got it. Due to the fact that this game is such a small file, if there was a way to give users the option to more sophisticated characters and different themes for the gameplay, that would be very beneficial to have those options at our disposal.

Gameplay:

Upon playing I feel as though the most noteworthy aspect of this game, is the unbelievable disparity between playing solo and playing multiplayer. I began playing with one of my roommates – we both very enjoyed the fast paced strategic play. This game forces teammates to work together in order to conduct the best plan to success, and that’s exactly what we did. And I found quite pleasure from the intensity and having to coordinate together in order to win. But, I must say the difficulty between some stages rose very rapidly, leaving us taking numerous attempts to proceed to the next chapter. In order to advance you must scramble all across the stage to obtain materials to repair your own spaceships health and fire weapons to deal damage to your opponent. However, when playing single player I had a whole different experience. Due to the fact that I was playing by myself, my workload on missions increased, and the developers try to compensate this by offering an automatic friendly bot that helps. However, you can only control 1 at a time, which leads to one of the characters at all time to be at a standstill, which was very frustrating through the game. The overall gameplay concepts seemed somewhat basic and redundant over time. Although, I did still find this as an interesting and quick play game, even with these simple gameplay features.

Verdict:

Catastronauts is currently the smallest game file on my on my PlayStation downloads (680.2MB) and I’m very satisfied due to how much space it takes up. I would recommend somehow converting this game into an app so users can play on the go, due to its small size. I think more detail and animation needs to be incorporated, especially if trying to appeal to a younger audience, that’s seemingly fascinated with visuals. The most animated scene you get is when you blow up the enemies ship which, last only for a quick moment. Also, I would like to see more from the story mode, since that’s the only game mode on the game. It lacks a clear storyline and narrator, which is important in telling the objective of the game. But overall, this was a very enjoyable quick hitter game, that can definitely be the life of the party, when having friends over.

Pros: Small game file, Few loading screens, Quick Strategic Game, Good camera view, Space themed, In game instructions, All ages 

Cons: Better multiplayer, Weak Graphics, Unappealing looks, Limited Character Movements, Limited Narrator & storytelling, Some objects are hard to see

Check Out the CATASTRONAUTS Gameplay Teasers: