Dwarfenstein
- March 11, 2022
- AlexDjenkov
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreFight your way through countless enemy waves in this story driven mix of First Person Shooter and Tower Defense. Bring death to various creatures in different worlds. Kill, collect crystals, level-up, die and revive again.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Dwarfenstein offers a fun and engaging gameplay experience with a unique blend of FPS and tower defense elements, making it enjoyable for fans of action-packed games.
- The colorful cartoon graphics and vibrant atmosphere enhance the overall experience, creating an appealing visual style.
- The game provides a good sense of progression with unlockable skills, weapons, and perks, allowing players to customize their playstyle.
- The game suffers from balance issues, particularly with weapon effectiveness and class differentiation, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- The narrative is underdeveloped, with minimal story elements and forgettable boss encounters that fail to engage players.
- Replayability is limited due to the linear level design and lack of variety in gameplay mechanics, making higher difficulty runs feel monotonous.
- story21 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The story in *Dwarfenstein* is set in a colorful sci-fi dwarf universe, featuring a semi-linear campaign with twelve levels and a survival mode. While the game begins with an impressive cutscene and offers a humorous narrative, the overall plot is simplistic and lacks depth, with minimal engagement throughout the gameplay. Despite its story-driven label, many players feel the narrative does not significantly enhance the experience, leading to a preference for the more action-oriented survival mode.
“Its use in cutscenes ties up the backstory and links up the acts and levels of story mode in a logical way.”
“It has a campaign and a story and is pretty funny.”
“[i]dwarfenstein[/i] is about a lone dwarf in space; and like most, if not all, games about dwarves in space, this one is a story of jumping from planet to planet, robbing them of precious minerals and annihilating their populations in the process.”
“Despite a brilliant opening cutscene and equally impressive chapter-ending ones, there won’t be many story events upon which Dwarfenstein elaborates at any point.”
“In spite of the game being described as a story-driven experience, the narrative in Dwarfenstein amounts to the aforementioned introduction, the twist at the end, and a one-note plot stringing them together: there’s a bubble of text from the game’s only character, other than yourself, at the beginning of each level, but these are kind of jarring when compared to the tone established by the cutscene earlier.”
“Outside of a bit near the end, which comes as too little - too late, the story doesn’t inform the gameplay nearly enough for the experience to be considered story-driven.”
- gameplay16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay features around a dozen replayable levels set across four landscapes, emphasizing wave-based mechanics that blend FPS and tower defense elements. While the gameplay loop is described as energetic and satisfying, with a sense of progression, it suffers from a lack of diversity in maps and dynamic elements, leading to a somewhat repetitive experience. Players noted that the integration of multi-genre components feels disjointed, and while the visuals improve over time, the gameplay remains the primary focus rather than a cohesive story-driven experience.
“Gameplay encompasses around a dozen replayable levels, each across four different landscapes.”
“Experience energetic, challenging, and enjoyable wave-based gameplay that requires the kiting of maps.”
“Interesting, satisfying gameplay loop with a good sense of progression.”
“With a dozen levels for the story mode, the maps are not diverse enough, nor do they have any dynamic or supporting elements to contribute to varying gameplay to any degree.”
“The multi-genre gameplay elements don’t feel cohesive with each other.”
“Outside of a bit near the end, which comes as too little - too late, the story doesn’t inform the gameplay nearly enough for the experience to be considered story-driven.”
- graphics6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game features vibrant, cartoonish graphics set in a sci-fi dwarf-themed universe, which many players find appealing and fun. While the visuals are generally well-received, some users caution that performance issues may arise if the graphics card isn't up to spec, particularly in later survival mode waves. Overall, the graphics enhance the gameplay experience, though initial impressions may vary.
“Replete with colorful cartoon graphics, it is set in a sci-fi dwarf-themed universe that consists of a linear story and endless survival modes.”
“Bright, colorful cartoon-like visuals.”
“Really fun game, nice mix of FPS/tower defense gameplay, and I like the graphic style.”
“Just ensure your graphics card is up to spec or expect severe lagging in the latter waves of survival mode.”
“This kind of shaky start might lead you to believe that the game is a barebones abomination of store-bought assets, but by the time you’ve finished the tutorial and played a couple of levels, the visuals will have started to grow on you, and the gameplay will reveal itself to be the focus.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers a dozen replayable levels across four landscapes, emphasizing replayability despite its limited content. While some players appreciate the balanced design and low price that enhance replay value, others find the linearity of the stages reduces the incentive to replay, except for experimenting with different classes. Overall, opinions on replayability are mixed, with some praising it and others noting its limitations.
“Given its replayable content, balanced design, quality of build, and very low price, Dwarfenstein is a good example of a game that surpasses the sum of its parts.”
“Content is on the small side for a game of this type, with an emphasis on replayability.”
“Replay value is low, given the linearity of content and not much point in replaying any stage at all, except to test out a different class if needed.”
“Gameplay encompasses around a dozen replayable levels, each across four different landscapes.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game features a pulsating soundtrack that enhances the overall experience, complementing the exciting gunplay and action-packed gameplay. Players appreciate how the energetic score adds to the fun atmosphere.
“It has a throbbing soundtrack and some amazing gunplay.”
“Music, dwarfs, guns, and fun.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a campaign and story that are noted for their humor, providing an entertaining experience for players.
“It has a campaign and a story, and it's pretty funny.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight a significant emotional impact stemming from the game's class system, which is perceived as misguided and contributes to a heartbreaking experience for players.
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -300 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers consistently highlight the impressive attention to detail in the game's atmosphere, noting that it creates an immersive experience that enhances gameplay.
“I jumped in and was surprised by the atmospheric details.”
“The game's atmosphere is incredibly immersive, making you feel like you're truly part of the world.”
“Every sound and visual element contributes to a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that keeps you engaged.”
“Jumped in and was surprised by the atmosphere details.”
