Cataclismo review - An RTS with heart, soul, and horrors from The Depths

Cataclismo is a siege-defense RTS (real-time strategy) developed by Digital Sun and published by Hooded Horse. As the player, you will be in charge of the safety of your people. The goal will be to gather resources, train troops, build defenses, and prepare for the Night cycle as Horrors from the mist will swarm you. Thankfully, you will not be alone as Lady Iris will be there, a herald of the light, and champion of her people.

Cataclismo: Final impressions and gameplay

I had the absolute pleasure of reviewing Cataclismo (Early Access) back in 2024, and I'm delighted to report that it is ready for full release and is brilliant in every way. The many gameplay elements overlap to form an amalgamation of features that keep you on your toes as you play the game.

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However, the main aspect of the game that you (and I) will have to spend ungodly hours behind, is the building. Ensuring that your defenses are up to the mark is going to take away hours (from your life - which is a good thing). Ensuring that the Horrors crash against your walls and perish will be the ultimate delight.

The Citadel must now fall (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Between the storyline and the gameplay mechanics, there is so much heart and soul packed into this experience. If you were to ask me how long it took to complete the game, I truly wouldn't be able to answer, as it will be a personal experience.

At times, I've overbuilt my defenses, spending nearly 30 minutes on a simple mission. So, it is going to be a personal experience, depending on how long you spend building. That said, let me talk about some of the things that make Cataclismo a brilliant game in every way.

Resources and Defenses

One of the first things you will have to learn is how to maximize and prioritize resources. Some are more important than others (depending on what you need). For defenses, you will require an abundance of stone, while wood will be essential for buildings.

For Troops and Research, a lot of Oxygen and Minerals will be required. Once you make it to the end-game, Mist will also be needed to build/create advanced Troops and Buildings. They will be vital to stop the Horrors on higher difficulties of gameplay.

Resources will ensure strong walls (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Fret not, while this may seem all too much, the game teaches you as you go. Each new element of gameplay is introduced to you naturally. Nothing is piled atop and left for you to figure out. However, over time, you will need a bit of micromanagement to ensure your resource flow is positive (as resources are used in real-time to upkeep Buildings/Troops).

Once you get a hang of resources and how they work together, the next major part of gameplay to master will be building your defenses. This is the primary gameplay mechanic of Cataclismo, which in many ways is the glue that binds everything together.

Build tall and wide to ensure multiple layers of protection (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

There is so much to do when it comes to building your defenses; each piece of Stone placed will dedicate what you're allowed to do next. Knowing how to use physics will ensure that even if foundational blocks of Stone are destroyed, your Troops up above do not fall alongside the segment of the destroyed wall.

I'll be blunt here and state that learning how to build a proper defense will take time and will be frustrating. Unlike in the movies, a simple Stone wall with parapets will not suffice. Many factors need to be taken into consideration and accounted for.

You won't necessarily fail a mission if your walls come crumbling down, but it will be annoying having to rebuild that portion of it. On that note, what makes building defenses all the more complex is the need to place troops atop and within them.

Lady Iris and her Troops

Lady Iris is powerful versus weaker Horrors (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Lady Iris is at the center of the Cataclismo storyline, but I will get to her in just a hot minute. First, I would really like to talk about the Troops and how they fit into the defense mechanics.

Troops can be placed atop walls and they will fire their projections at Horrors. However, if you want (and will need to eventually) to make the most of each unit, knowing where to place them on walls will make a huge difference.

For instance, Lobbers, get a bonus when placed atop walls that are between 0-4 meters in height. Anything higher, and their bonus is gone. The opposite is true for Bowmen, who need to be placed above 6 meters to receive a bonus. This is all just the tip of the iceberg.

Place Troops atop walls to keep the Horrors at bay (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Numerous other mechanics come into play when troops are in question. There are different Building pieces that provide buffs such as extra damage, increased range, and everything in between. Again, don't worry as Cataclismo doesn't dump everything on you at once. Things are spaced out giving you time to learn.

Next on the list is Lady Iris. I will not spoil her origin story, but I will say that she is at the center of everything, and her ability to rewind time is part of everything that Cataclismo has to offer. She's also a ranged unit and can be specialized (using Spells) to deal AOE damage of focus down a single unit.

In short, Lady Iris' backstory and overall role in Cataclismo is one of the key features of the game. As I mentioned in my early preview, to whoever wrote Lady Iris, I say this again, you have my heartfelt gratitude. To the person who voices her, please, never stop.

The Night and its Horrors

The Night comes with Horrors; which is a mild way of putting it if you crank up the difficulty level. They range from scrawny Feeble Vermin: The Swarmer to Sirena: The Annihilator. They each have their quirks and learning how to deal with them when together is going to be the main challenge.

Don't be fooled by even the smallest of Horrors, as they can easily overrun your defenses if you leave the walls undefended. Once they create a breach, there is no way to stop them unless you have enough Troops to deal with them. Although Horrors can be annoying to deal with (especially if you are new to the genre), they are in a way vital to what makes Cataclismo so good.

The Horrors are unrelenting (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

Thankfully, you will not have to deal with them during the day (unless you plan on exploring for resources and/or Lost Pages). But come night, you should be behind walls as soon as possible. Ensure you have a mix of AOE Troops and focus-fire Troops to stem the tide.

I could go on about Horrors in Cataclismo, but to truly experience them, I would personally suggest playing Survival Mode. The waves start small and then become greater as each night passes. They will attack multiple fonts, making this the perfect way to learn about and how to best counter them.

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

The game runs as smoothly as you'd expect. There is no lagging, no stutter, no crashes, and everything works as intended.

In Conclusion

What do I say in conclusion that I haven't already said throughout the review? Cataclismo is a shining example of Tower Defence and RTS done right. From the get-go, it pulls you in and keeps you there until the very end. With the mechanics overlapping to form a labyrinth of options, there is so much to see and do.

By my rough estimate, you can look forward to around 15-20 hours of solid gameplay for the campaign itself. That is if you want to collect Lost Pages and take your time to meticulously build your defenses for every mission (even when it is not needed - like I did). This also involves a lot of trial and error (mostly error).

The Tower is lost... (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

You will likely tear down defenses once you figure out a better way to create a wall. You'll again go back to the drawing board and get to designing things from scratch. It will be very addictive, and worth every minute that you spend.

Once you're done with the Campaign, that is not the end of your adventure. You can try your hand at Survival Mode. Pit your skills and stay alive against the endless Horrors of the night. If you're looking for a quick game, Skirmish is there. Sandbox as well if you just want to experiment.

Prepare before the Night arrives or the Horrors will break down your defenses (Image via Digital Sun/Cataclismo)

With everything said and done, I look forward to what comes next. Maybe a new protagonist that picks up after Lady Iris or perhaps a new faction from a distant land. There is always the possibility of new Horrors, and while this may be a bit of a stretch, melee units would be fun to play around with as well.

But I'll stop here for now. Cataclismo will be entering 1.0, and for the time being, that is more than enough. I'm eager to see what the team has in store, and what new additions we could see in the near future