Just like the member 'punktiegie_press' the game Clastle reminded me to Prince of Persia, but in 2D. I don't really understand why the tag action has been put into the categories, because you won't clash into a fight.

The game is pretty cool, but sometimes you'll see some roughness around the edges. It's an indie game and it doesn't cost that much.

I would only recommend this if you would go mad when saying 'Prince of Persia 2D with no action, just puzzle' otherwise you could probably spend your money on a better way.

Personally, I find this to be a fun and challenging indie puzzle platformer, It feels quite Prince of Persia styled gameplay wise, and the unreal engine creates some great lighting effects for the game, however, certain models in the game look bad alongside with what seems to be unfinished textures.

Clastle is a puzzle platformer from indie developer Rocket Launcher Interactive. It stays true to the classic formula: the player runs, jumps, and hits the occasional switch to avoid traps and hazards and make it to the end of the level. Checkpoints and the ability to continue from your most recent level remove some of the pain of the inevitable deaths by impalement, drowning, burning or falling which the player is bound to suffer.

And suffer you will.

Clastle is unforgiving, and features some very challenging levels which demand surgeon-like coordination and steely nerves.

Clastle uses the Unreal engine, and boasts fairly impressive lighting effects for an indie title with such retro sensibilities. Textures are fairly detailed, but there is noticeable texture lag that is strange to see given the modest requirements of the game. Overall, the quality is uneven; some models and textures look unfinished, while parts of the environment are quite striking.

My first impression - Prince of Persia in 2D. And witohut combat. My second imporession - nice arcade game. My third impression - nice game but not polished. Why? First - we dont know nothing about our hero. He is running with two flashlights(?)on mystery island but for what? We dont know it till the end. We also don't know who is storyteller - we see comments on walls. But gameplay is really nice and graphic is amazing - it looks like 3D and a little bit pity it's only scroller. Is it worth to spend less money? Yes. And my gameplay is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F-nnhq7DmY&feature=channel_video_title

While Clastle is not a terrible game by any means, it seems worse than it actually is because of how close it comes to being something special. It has an intriguing sense of atmosphere and an interesting (though sparse) story. However, there are a few major flaws with this otherwise sound run and jump platformer.

The main problem is the controls, which for pretty much any platformer spells death. The game controls fine with a game controller...except you cannot crouch. 90% of the time, this is fine, but it is necessary to switch to a keyboard when the odd puzzle arrives that requires you to duck. There are no setup options for controls to speak of, so you are pretty much stuck with the keyboard or semi-functional controller. Neither of which work on the menus, I might add.

The environments generally look very nice, and as I mentioned, they can be quite atmospheric. Sad that the main character has about three frames of animation. Even odder is that he carries two glowing knives in a game with no combat, and that instead of grabbing a hold of various poles and bars, he simply bounces off of them. That is, assuming you get the frustratingly nitpicky hit detection to register that you are actually touching said pole or bar.

While this may sound all doom and gloom, there's actually a fair bit of fun to be had here. While it's on sale for half price, I can still cautiously recommend this title. For the $5 standard price - even as cheap as it is - I would have to recommend a pass.