Tower Of Guns Review
I have spent most of my gaming life playing some kind of shooter, whether it’s a first person shooter like Call of Duty and Borderlands, a third person shooter like Gears of War or even games like Resident Evil and Metal Gear. It is safe to say that the shooting genre is my preferred choice of game and while I do have other interests within the computing world there is a special place on my hard drive for them.
It is no over exaggeration to say that the marketplace is flooded with these games, I mean they are a big money maker for developers so it’s only natural that many studios pump these games out time and time again. The problem with this system is that in order for a shooter, especially an FPS, to shine, it needs to have something special, some standout feature or mechanic that makes it distinguishable from the rest of the heard.
Tower of Guns is the 
new First Person Shooter from developers Terrible Posture Games. It borrows elements from the roguelike genre but ultimately fails to have the same endearing charisma of that style of game. Tower of Guns starts off on a strong footing, but it doesn’t last long.
The basic setup of Tower of Guns is simple in the extreme. You have to play through procedurally generated levels, there are a couple of modes available to play, one will see you battle through five layers of the tower, if you succeed then you complete the game. The other main mode is to play endlessly. Tower of guns starts off unbelievably strong, its huge number of level layouts has an allure that I found almost irresistible, the first few rounds that you play are the best the game has to offer with challenging encounters and what seems life infinite possibilities. This particular bubble burst for me after about a half hour of gameplay. The enemies that you will fight are too limited to offer much in the way of diversion, they will either be stationary turrets that fire an assortment of attacks at you, flying turrets that do exactly the same thing, or smaller enemies that will either fly at you and explode or take pot shots at you from a distance. The lack of enemy variety really cut the enjoyment time of Tower of Guns for me and while I may be a little harsh in this regard, it is only because Tower of Guns started so promisingly only to drop the ball at almost the first hurdle.
That’s not to say that Tower of Guns is completely lacking any kind of enjoyment. The often fast paced gameplay put me in mind of Quake, dodging incoming cannon balls, spike launchers or explosive barrels feels responsive, and once you have levelled up your jump and speed skills by picking up buffs in the game, it really does give you some freedom of movement that you don’t have when you start. The flip side of this function is that it can sometimes be difficult to get exactly where you need to go. The hang time on your multi-jump feels like an eternity in the fast paced environments of the tower and in contrast can make the freedom of movement seem sluggish. I know, that is the dictionary definition of a contraction in terms but it’s true, mind boggling though it may be.
The buffs, upgrades and “levelling up” are all gained through pick-ups in-game, you can unlock kiosks with coins gained from defeated enemies, some will be dropped as you destroy enemies while others are hidden away in secret areas. Each zone will have a number of secrets to find, these will usually be behind false walls (I found my first one by accidently walking over a section of floor that I fell straight through). It does encourage the player to explore the environments but it feels kind of flimsy, it put me in mind of games like Duke Nukem and Soldier of Fortune for the exploration, old games that were excellent at the time but they can’t hold a candle to more modern releases. Even though Tower of Guns launched on April 10th 2015, it has that same feel, a game that came too late.
There are plenty of weapons available but you are going to have to work for it. To begin with you will have access to the Pea Shooter and a gun that fires a buzz saw blade. In order to get access to the other half dozen weapons, you will need to complete various tasks like destroying so many of a certain enemy type, completing the game, finding five secret areas in one mission, things like that. The weapons are really the main method of diversity in Tower of Guns and depending on what weapon you have, you will have to play the game a little differently. It’s nothing ground-breaking but it does add replay value in conjunction with the procedurally generated levels.
You can level your weapons up by picking up blue chips as you play, each weapon can only be upgraded to a maximum level of 5 but the firepower that you can command is impressive. If you take hits it will actively lower your weapon level meter giving you an extra incentive to not get shot (other than the obvious death and game over that is).
I think Tower of Guns is a pretty decent game, Terrible Posture Games have clearly thought about how to take their game and make it stand out even if they haven’t exactly knocked it out the park. I was delighted to have a surprise visit to Caketown, a special zone that the game will load up for you at the start of certain runs. It is an enemy free zone that threw fistfuls of upgrades at me. It is a really nice addition and I think will help players that may not have the reaction time to dodge the barrage of enemy fire that most levels pummel you with. It helps to provide an edge, a helping hand that I respect greatly.
There is a story in Tower of Guns but even after hours of gameplay, I’ll be damned if I know what it is. The story is provided through text boxes that appear at the top of the screen, in the quiet, non-manic/death defying moments of the game, I was able to read them and the humour really struck a chord with me. The problem is that when you are in one of the many rooms that have more guns than you can shake a stick at, all firing at you, there’s simply no time to read them. It’s disappointing as I feel that I may have inadvertently missed one of the best aspects of Tower of Guns.
The only other issue of note that I had during my time with the game was in one “endless” run-through I had the most horrendous frame rate drop. There were a tonne of enemies on screen and it reduced the experience to damn near unplayable. I have to say that this was only one room out of dozens so it wasn’t the end of the world but it was the moment that I made my mind up on Tower of Guns.
There’s nothing inherently bad about Tower of Guns, it has its flaws but it also has some great aspects. I like the roguelike vibe it has flirted with and with a good selection of weapons and starting perks available it does open itself up for a fair amount of replayability. Tower of Guns just doesn’t feel right, it almost feels like it is a game out of time. If this had been released even a few years ago I’m sure that it would have praise heaped upon it, but with such an oversaturation of the shooter market, I’m not sure it does enough to make itself unique. There is enjoyment to be had, just don’t expect any kind of shooter revolution.
The post Tower Of Guns Review appeared first on MOUSE n JOYPAD.