Cataclismo review - An RTS built on solid stone (Early Access)

Cataclismo is developed by Digital Sun and published by Hooded Horse. It can best be described as a siege defense RTS (real-time strategy). You, the player, are in charge of the safety of your people. Gather resources, build defenses, and hold steadfast against the horrors of the Mist. Use Lady Iris' skill and wit to push back the creatures and live to see another sunrise. The fate of Hogar is now in your hands.

Cataclismo: First impressions and gameplay

The start of something beautiful (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

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It is hard to put into words how brilliant Cataclismo is. From the first exploration tutorial to seeing Iris do everything in her power to save The Sola Gate, words fail to describe just how beautifully crafted the game is. It took me around 12 hours to complete the main storyline, but I wish it didn't end. I did not want it to end. I wanted another 12 hours to spend in-game, building, gathering resources, and defending Hogar.

Suffice to say, I was hooked, and the minutes flew by just pausing and building my defenses. Truth be told, I wish I could forget everything just to replay the storyline again. I truly did not expect Cataclismo to blow my mind the way it did. But enough about me bantering about how great the game is, it's time I tell you what makes the game great.

Resources and defenses

With Cataclismo being a siege defense RTS game at its core, I was eager to get started on gathering resources. There are four primary resources as of now: Oxygen, Wood, Stone, and Minerals.

One good thing about the game is that resources are not finite. As long as you have a clear path to your Citadel, your Quarry and Sawmill will keep sending you resources every minute. This is great as there is zero micromanagement needed. Once things are set up, you are free to explore and plan your defenses. This goes for Oxygen as well. Once you have Air Filters set up, Oxygen will keep pumping.

Oxygen is a must to survive (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Secondary resources include Citizens and late-game Misfuel. Citizens basically are needed to operate tour infrastructure and are needed to recruit troops as well. I want to talk about Mistfuel, but at the same time, I think players should discover what it does as they progress through the storyline. I'm sure they will be delighted once they figure out what it is used for.

As I said at the start of writing this review, CataclismoI is simple and brilliantly so. If you have never played a siege defense RTS, this is a great place to start. However, I must state that as you progress down the storyline, more buildings become available to build.

I won't say that I got confused about the many choices, but I did get overwhelmed, in a good way, that is. This brings me to the pièce de résistance - building defenses.

Build your walls high (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

There's not much to say about building defenses, except for the fact that I would pause my game, and meticulously planout what I wanted to build and where. I swear that out of the 12 hours that I've played, six or probably seven were used to pause and build. Suffice to say, Cataclismo indeed stays true to it's claim of being a siege defense RTS.

On that note, building defenses requires two basic resources, Wood and Stone. You do require minerals as well to build certain defenses structures or upgrade things, but it's rather a late-game feature. Coming back to defenses, I had a blast building them. Pieces snap into place, and with the great camera angles, you will not miss out placing pieces exactly where they need to go.

Nothing fire arrows to eliminate the Mist horrors (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

There are different types of defensive pieces you can use, and as you progress and achieve higher levels of Prosperity, new pieces become available for you to use. The list includes Primary, Secondary, Stairs, Advanced, Roofs, and Tactical pieces. There are Special Boosts and Traps as well. Truth be told, I was completely overwhelmed by the options, but again in a good way.

The freedom to build your defenses as you see fit, and fortify them is truly invigorating. On that note, perhaps my only complaint would be that the days felt a bit short to truly try out everything in the main campaign mode. I feel each mission could have had an extra day added to it, which would have allowed me to build more elaborate defenses. Then again, as it stands, the element of fun and the thrill of it all is still there.

Lady Iris and her troops

Lady Iris (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

To whoever wrote Lady Iris's character, you truly have my gratitude. Despite only playing 12 hours of Cataclismo, as a player, you feel a strong bond with Iris. Her quest to explore unknown lands and put Hogar first is truly admirable. The character has this amazing charm about her. Although during battles, I found myself not relying on her much, it was nice to see the protagonist fight alongside her troops on the walls.

I did use a few of the spells that were available to her, but more than anything, I looked forward to her story arc that unveiled as the campaign progressed. It's simple and yet it manages to captivate you and capture your attention effortlessly.

On that note, I wish Lady Iris was a bit more powerful. But I suppose if she was too overpowered, the need to build proper defenses would be rendered moot and that would take away from the game's core experience. Did I mention that Lady Iris can revert time? You're going to love how her abilities even influence the game's save and loading system.

Man the walls to hold back the horrors (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

With regard to troops, I love how unique they are. Unlike other games where you place units atop of walls to defend them, in Cataclismo it's a bit more complicated. I love the fact that each unit has a certain height requirement to ensure that they function to the very best of their capabilities. Keeping them all atop a high wall and out of each of the horrors is not in your best interest.

Some units, like the Lobber, need to be kept between a height of 0-4 meters to function properly. If you place them any higher, they will still function as intended, but you lose out on boosts. This is one of the reasons it took me so long to learn how to build proper defenses. I went from placing a wall of 6-7 meters in height with Merlons, to tactfully building atop of Windows where I could place Lobbers and Captors (both low-ground troops).

Understanding how and where to place troops that had different height requirements was challenging and fun. It took me as few tries to find a basic layout to house troops of different requirements, and make them function as one cohesive unit. I could honestly go on about how this simple requirement makes you think before you place defenses, such a great idea for Cataclismo, but it takes a few more paragraphs to explain things in detail.

Crowd-control from long-range (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

However, to give you an idea, once you build your defenses and make allotments for troops with different height requirements, you then have options for tactical assets as well. You can place Banners to increase the damage output of troops. Bowman and Hunters could be given Fire Arrows. This is truly just the tip of the iceberg. As I said before, it would take a few paragraphs to explain everything.

Once you start building up your defenses, take into account that walls are not the only thing you need to build. Instead of creating 1x1 walls with a rampart and stairs giving your troops access to them, plan ahead and take into consideration tactical assets you can place on your walls. It will radically change your defensive capabilities, and help you deal with the horrors of the night more effectively.

The Night and its Horrors

Heavy units are great for AOE damage (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

The final part of this elaborate puzzle that is Cataclismo is the night-cycle and the many horrors that accompany it. Once you've gathered enough resources, built enough defensives, and trained troops, the only thing left to do is to defend your base from the horrors that roam the land at night.

At first, the waves of horrors are very small in nature. Sure, they might seem like they are about to overrun your defenses, but in reality, once they are pinned against the wall, your troops will make short work of them. If you have taken the time and planned out your defenses well, they will not make it past the first layer of your wall. Your walls should have over 700 hit points with ease. If you invest in research, this number will be considerably higher

The horrors from the Mist (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

That said, things get progressively more intense. As time passes, the horrors increase manifold and larger, more fearful horrors are tossed your way. Using heavier units such as Cannoneers and Ballista will make them easier to deal with, that's if you unlock them in time.

For the most part, I relied on Bowman and Lobbers. They are basic units, but you can upgrade them quite a bit both by doing research and unlocking new skills for them. However, by the time day three approaches, if you do not have AOE units in place, you can expect your walls to be overrun. I learnt this the hard way and had to restart the final campaign mission.

All said and done, the horrors are manageable if you plan things in advance. Remember to pause while building to make sure you do not miss out on important developments. Yes, this will take a bit of time, but it made my playthrough much easier.

Performance and sound

Cataclismo, provided by Hooded Horse, was played on a system having the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: RTX 3070 8GB
RAM: 32 GB

Throughout my Cataclismo playthrough, I encountered no issues at all. The build is as stable as it gets, and there was zero lag. In terms of sounds, the satisfying background score and sounds of different in-game assets were perfect. From the sounds made by buildings to units, it all comes together beautifully.

In Conclusion

The photomode is pretty rad (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Cataclismo is one of those games that catches you off guard and gets you involved in the story without you realizing it. Before you know it, you’re hooked. I was eased into every aspect of the game, and with tutorials to learn as you go, it's truly a perfectly crafted siege defense RTS (real-time strategy). Perhaps my only gripe with the game is that I wanted more. More campaign missions, more units, more of everything because it's just that good.

I was honestly saddened when I realized the campaign had come to an end. I understand Cataclismo is in early access, but I don't want to be left hanging. I need to know what happens to Lady Iris, the city of Hogar, and where things go from here on out. I was so invested that when I was brought back to the campaign table, I felt a slight pull on the heartstrings knowing that I'll have to wait to see how this adventure unfolds.

Hogar shall stand (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

That said, I will not be rating the game as of yet, but I will say that Cataclismo is truly a genre of its own. I wasn't just mindlessly building and defending my base, but experiencing a story being told and watching it unfold through my actions as the player. The game is simple to grasp and understand, and as a person who loves a good RTS experience, I would highly recommend keeping an eye on this one.

Cataclismo has my heart, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store. I look forward to the updates that are planned and new content that will likely be added as time progresses. With that being said, I'll now get back to trying to survive in Endless Mode. Let's see if my luck holds out a while longer.