Chris Trottier on Nostr: Released in 2009, Caster is a third person shooter (TPS). Imagine if Earth Defense ...
Released in 2009, Caster is a third person shooter (TPS). Imagine if Earth Defense Force was mashed with Megaman and Sonic the Hedgehog. Give it all a Nintendo 64 aesthetic and you have Caster.
You play a caster, and your job is to rid the world of insect-like creatures called “flanx”. Not much more is explained beyond that.
But really, to me, this is all about the gameplay. And Caster is bloody awesome!
Imagine running through a map at supersonic speeds, blasting bugs away, executing a big mega-jump that allows you to jump over mountains, and then changing the terrain entirely with your different weapons. And to boot, you have terraforming abilities. That’s Caster!
What I love about this game is you can you pretty much play as you like. For example, if you max out your running abilities, you can run on water and lava. You can decide to spend the whole level just collecting orbs, or you can destroy each and every flanx you come across. Don’t get me wrong, each stage has a goal, but how you accomplish that goal is entirely up to you.
Caster has both keyboard + mouse as well as controller support. But trust me, keyboard and mouse is much better since aiming and looking is so much better. I was about to get the gamepad working with my Steam Deck, but I found using the right analog stick to be such a major pain in the ass that I just didn’t use it.
It’s funny, when this game was released in 2009 there were many complaints about the dated graphics. Little did those complainers know that many devs now aspire to those “dated graphics” nowadays. You see, just like the 2010s often fetished 8-bit and 16-bit sprites, you’re now seeing many games that try to mimic the low polygon PlayStation One and Nintendo 64 era of gaming.
What fascinates me, though, is how good the graphics are considering the resources Caster demands. This entire game was made by one guy, and he did quite a lot with very little. I’ve seen “retro” 16-bit-style games demand no less than 2GB of VRAM. How much VRAM does Caster ask for? 16MB. That’s right, not gigabytes but megabytes.
The sound is nice. The sound effects are vivid. In terms of music, it reminds me of some of the trance I’d hear at raves during the late 90s. And that is so on point for what Caster is.
While I might be singing Caster’s praises, I do have a big complaint: the game lacks polish, and is unfinished. Now that it’s almost 15 years since it was released on Steam, I don’t think Caster will ever be finished. This doesn’t stop me from playing the game because it is a lot of fun. And more to the point, it provides tremendous value.
Any modern PC can play Caster. You need a 800Mhz single core CPU, 64MB of memory, 16MB of VRAM, and 32MB of space. Caster has native compatibility with Windows and Mac, and can be run on Linux via Proton. I was able to play the game on Steam Deck, though I think it’s far better on a regular PC.
In addition to PC, Caster has been released for iPhone and iPad. It has never been ported to a console platform.
There’s no micro-transactions, nor is there any DLC.
Elecorn developed Caster. Elecorn is (or was) a one-man studio run by Michael D. Smith. While he no longer makes games as a solo developer, he’s worked on State of Decay 2, Crucible, and New World.
On Steam, Caster has a 79% positive rating based on 3,386 reviews. Universally, this game is described as “fun”. Sure it has detractors. Some describe it as a glorified tech demo. But even those folks say it’s perhaps the most fun tech demo they’ve ever played.
Another way to look at this game, though, is that if it were released in 1997, it would be seen as a classic. You can do so much with Caster, and the fact you can do it all with 32MB of space is impressive.
I mean, really, how many games let kill insects like Earth Defense Force, acquire different gunning abilities like Megaman, run around like Sonic the Hedgehog – and let you do terraforming to boot?
Man, I wish the dev completed Caster. There was a community that cherished the game, and they would have loved a final episode. Hopefully, someone comes along to do a spiritual sequel because Caster simply has too many good ideas to be ignored forever.
Caster sells for C$1.99. Even unfinished, I definitely recommend the game. I have spent $5 on shareware titles with one episode. Therefore, I have no problems spending less money a game that has two episodes.
You play a caster, and your job is to rid the world of insect-like creatures called “flanx”. Not much more is explained beyond that.
But really, to me, this is all about the gameplay. And Caster is bloody awesome!
Imagine running through a map at supersonic speeds, blasting bugs away, executing a big mega-jump that allows you to jump over mountains, and then changing the terrain entirely with your different weapons. And to boot, you have terraforming abilities. That’s Caster!
What I love about this game is you can you pretty much play as you like. For example, if you max out your running abilities, you can run on water and lava. You can decide to spend the whole level just collecting orbs, or you can destroy each and every flanx you come across. Don’t get me wrong, each stage has a goal, but how you accomplish that goal is entirely up to you.
Caster has both keyboard + mouse as well as controller support. But trust me, keyboard and mouse is much better since aiming and looking is so much better. I was about to get the gamepad working with my Steam Deck, but I found using the right analog stick to be such a major pain in the ass that I just didn’t use it.
It’s funny, when this game was released in 2009 there were many complaints about the dated graphics. Little did those complainers know that many devs now aspire to those “dated graphics” nowadays. You see, just like the 2010s often fetished 8-bit and 16-bit sprites, you’re now seeing many games that try to mimic the low polygon PlayStation One and Nintendo 64 era of gaming.
What fascinates me, though, is how good the graphics are considering the resources Caster demands. This entire game was made by one guy, and he did quite a lot with very little. I’ve seen “retro” 16-bit-style games demand no less than 2GB of VRAM. How much VRAM does Caster ask for? 16MB. That’s right, not gigabytes but megabytes.
The sound is nice. The sound effects are vivid. In terms of music, it reminds me of some of the trance I’d hear at raves during the late 90s. And that is so on point for what Caster is.
While I might be singing Caster’s praises, I do have a big complaint: the game lacks polish, and is unfinished. Now that it’s almost 15 years since it was released on Steam, I don’t think Caster will ever be finished. This doesn’t stop me from playing the game because it is a lot of fun. And more to the point, it provides tremendous value.
Any modern PC can play Caster. You need a 800Mhz single core CPU, 64MB of memory, 16MB of VRAM, and 32MB of space. Caster has native compatibility with Windows and Mac, and can be run on Linux via Proton. I was able to play the game on Steam Deck, though I think it’s far better on a regular PC.
In addition to PC, Caster has been released for iPhone and iPad. It has never been ported to a console platform.
There’s no micro-transactions, nor is there any DLC.
Elecorn developed Caster. Elecorn is (or was) a one-man studio run by Michael D. Smith. While he no longer makes games as a solo developer, he’s worked on State of Decay 2, Crucible, and New World.
On Steam, Caster has a 79% positive rating based on 3,386 reviews. Universally, this game is described as “fun”. Sure it has detractors. Some describe it as a glorified tech demo. But even those folks say it’s perhaps the most fun tech demo they’ve ever played.
Another way to look at this game, though, is that if it were released in 1997, it would be seen as a classic. You can do so much with Caster, and the fact you can do it all with 32MB of space is impressive.
I mean, really, how many games let kill insects like Earth Defense Force, acquire different gunning abilities like Megaman, run around like Sonic the Hedgehog – and let you do terraforming to boot?
Man, I wish the dev completed Caster. There was a community that cherished the game, and they would have loved a final episode. Hopefully, someone comes along to do a spiritual sequel because Caster simply has too many good ideas to be ignored forever.
Caster sells for C$1.99. Even unfinished, I definitely recommend the game. I have spent $5 on shareware titles with one episode. Therefore, I have no problems spending less money a game that has two episodes.