CastleStorm isn’t half bad on the Oculus Rift

Only for newcomers

Modern VR hasn’t taken off as much as a lot of industry pundits thought it would. Most people can’t afford it, and those who can are still on the fence. Developers are bonkers over it and are doing some cool things for sure, but the general public is oblivious.

PlayStation VR could push it over the edge (that remains to be seen, really), but for now, it’s a niche hobby with some pretty neat little projects. One of of those is a CastleStorm port for the Oculus Rift.

After loading it up I was utterly confused by its “theater seat” viewpoint, but quickly realized that it was just a neat way to show off cutscenes. The entire shebang is presented very similarly to Defense Grid 2‘s Rift port, with a wide-angle view of everything, where a focus is only a head tilt away. It’s comfortable and perfectly centered, as I didn’t need to strain myself in any way to see specific points of the map.

For those of you who haven’t played CastleStorm yet, it’s one of those fort defense games where players battle against an opposing force, sending in units to either capture a flag and return it for a win, or topple a rival castle entirely with an Angry Birds-esque catapult system. It’s very, very fun, and the lengthy story mode has enough upgrades, twists, turns, and level variety to keep people busy.

There really isn’t a whole lot to say about the Rift port. Yes, it’s CastleStorm, and yes, it’s good. Yes, you will have to start all over again from square one, which a lot of you won’t want to do. But if you’ve never played the series before, this is probably the best time to do it. VR is pretty fun for me right now, even if the major “system-selling” experiences aren’t out yet in full force.