Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Katapult starts with a wonderfully scrappy premise—an argument at the pub has escalated into homemade artillery—and wisely treats that as an excuse to get four vehicles blasting each other across a compact battlefield. Every map fits on one screen, so there is little downtime. You can see where danger is coming from, where a useful crate sits, and where an opponent is trying to escape. That immediacy is the game’s strongest asset.

Driving matters as much as shooting. Moving your catapult around obstacles and toward power-up boxes gives the matches a restless, opportunistic rhythm that separates Katapult from artillery games built around stationary firing lines. The best moments come when you make a dash for a crate, survive the return fire, and turn that small advantage into a finish. With two to four combatants, the arena can turn from a tidy duel into a messy scramble very quickly.

The money system gives victories some welcome weight. Destroying an enemy earns cash, then you put it toward better weapons, ammunition, or armor. That creates a pleasing loop: land hits, improve your loadout, and try to stay ahead before the next fight. It also means a rough round can sting, since a better-equipped rival becomes an even bigger problem.

Katapult is at its best with human opponents, where the short arenas and shifting alliances make each match feel like a small argument carried out with explosives. Computer-controlled rivals keep the game playable alone, but the real pull is the shared-screen competition and the satisfaction of outmaneuvering someone who can react to your habits. The included map editor is a meaningful bonus, especially if your group wants arenas tailored to its preferred brand of chaos.

Graphics

The top-down view keeps the whole battlefield in sight, making vehicle positions, obstacles, and collectible boxes easy to track during a crowded four-player fight. Its single-screen maps suit the game well: you are watching the arena rather than scrolling after the action.

Story

There is no grand dramatic burden hanging over Katapult. Its story is the joke in the setup: a pub dispute has gone far beyond fists, and the participants have answered with catapults.

That light framing fits the game’s tone. You are not here to follow a long campaign or unravel a mystery; you are here because an absurd escalation is a fine reason to start firing artillery at your friends.

The more memorable tales come out of the matches themselves. A desperate escape around an obstacle, a contested power-up box, or the moment a well-funded opponent finally goes down gives Katapult the kind of anecdotal story that multiplayer games wear well.

Overall Experience

Katapult is a compact, lively artillery brawler that understands the value of keeping everyone in the same immediate space. The combination of driving, crate collecting, destructive combat, and post-battle purchases gives it more movement and momentum than a basic turn-and-shoot contest.

Its limits are also part of the deal. Small single-screen maps make rounds direct and fast, but they leave little room for slower tactical buildup. If you want sprawling battlefields or a heavy single-player progression, the focused arena format may feel slight.

Bring friends, though, and the game’s rough-and-ready premise becomes its charm. Katapult is worth a look for anyone who enjoys old-school artillery games but wants to actively steer through the battlefield instead of staying planted in one spot. The map editor helps it remain a game you can return to once the stock arenas have become familiar.

Retro Replay Score

7.2/10