Ludography
66/100
Critics9 reviews
Wreckateer cover

2012 · Iron Galaxy Studios · Puzzle

Wreckateer

Xbox exclusive

Featuring Avatar FameStar! Wreckateer uses the Kinect to put you in control of a massive castle-wrecking Ballista. With the help of Wreck and Tinker, use 6 magic projectiles to travel the land and destroy 60 castles.

Released
25 July 2012
Platforms
Xbox 360
Genres
Puzzle
Developers
Iron Galaxy Studios
Publishers
Xbox Game Studios
Perspective
Bird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionHistorical
Engine
Unreal Engine 3
Country
United States
Age ratings
ESRB E10+

About

Wreckateer is a puzzle video game developed by Iron Galaxy Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. Set in a fantasy medieval era, Wreckateer casts players as part of a demolition team tasked with destroying various structures. Players use the Kinect motion sensor to launch projectiles from a ballista and then guide them in-flight to their targets.

Keywords

  • kinect
  • medieval
  • achievements
  • high score
  • explosion
  • digital distribution
  • challenges
  • goblins
  • kinect support
  • destructible environment
  • avatar support
  • secret achievements

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In Wreckateer, the player is the newest employee of the Wreck & Tinker Destruction Company, which has been hired to demolish castles and other structures that have been infested by goblins. The player is armed with a ballista that launches various enchanted projectiles, and the object of the game is to destroy as much of the structure as possible using the provided projectiles. After the projectile is loaded, the player readies and aims the ballista by pulling away from the Kinect sensor, then launches the shot by spreading their arms.

Many shots can be nudged in-flight by swiping at them in the desired direction, while some have special abilities that can be activated when the player spreads their arms widely above their head. For example, a Bomb Shot will explode on command, a Split Shot will break into four smaller, linked projectiles, and a Flying Shot will sprout wings, allowing the player to fly the projectile into a target.

Development

The game was announced in 2012 with an announcement trailer. The game was more formally unveiled during Microsoft's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012. A spokesperson demonstrated the gameplay stage, complete with motion gestures.

The game was released as a part of the Xbox 360 Summer of Arcade series.

Reception

Wreckateer received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Chris Watters of GameSpot lauded the game's "enjoyable score-chasing and good Kinect controls", while Mitch Dyer of IGN said the game "falls just short of 'irresistible addiction' and instead settles for 'amusing distraction'."

The Digital Fix gave it a score of six out of ten and said, "With no real story to speak of, and little variety in the levels besides the occasional addition of snow or a waterfall, this isn't the kind of game you'll play for hours. In fact, Wreckateer is highly reminiscent of a smartphone game, the kind of thing that is a lot of fun, but only in short bursts." The Guardian similarly gave it three stars out of five and said that "as good as it is, The Wreckateer [sic] won't win over anyone who isn't already convinced by Kinect. It looks like players may have to wait for the next generation of consoles before that's even possible. Metro also gave it six out of ten and said it was "the closest thing so far to a 3D Angry Birds game, but although the Kinect controls are fine it's the gameplay and visuals that need adjusting."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Xbox 36025 July 2012North America

Games like this

Collections3 collections

Platform libraries

Publishers

Years

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.