In what could be the most straight-to-the-point descriptive
titles of all time, Terrible Posture Games have come up with something a little
bit special! Tower of Guns, is a tower filled with guns! It’s a 3D FPS Roguelike.
Roguelikes are games that have a combination of permanent death of your
character, procedurally generated levels and are usually turn based.
Randomisation comes in to play with power-ups and abilities becoming either
fantastic or awful and normally will lead to a great run or a poor run, before
your untimely demise. Tower of Guns fills its Roguelike requirements well, each
of the maps are randomised to a certain extent with varying amounts and different
enemies on each run, it has permanent death for each and every one of your runs
and the power ups and abilities are pretty much completely randomised. There’s
plenty of Roguelike games on the market and what sets Tower of Guns apart from
its competitors is its 3D nature and 1st person perspective.
Roguelikes are traditionally turn-based 2D strategy games,
there’s been a few more recent advances into the action RPG genre. For example,
Rogue Legacy and Binding of Isaac. Both very good titles, both 2D. Terrible
Posture Games have taken a chance on procedurally generated 3D maps for an FPS
and they have worked out a treat. Although some rooms will be similar in layout
and design, it’s still impressive that they are able to link together with
ease. They aren’t completely procedural, I’ve had a few rooms appear twice but
the enemies are always randomised. Roguelikes have been around for a while, but
they seem to have become more popular in the last few years, as such, it’s nice
that it has the feel of an old school FPS. Developed on the Unreal Engine which
obviously helps, but the texture work and the colour palette are what brings
back the nostalgia graphically. Speaking of graphics the options for the game
are solid. An FOV slider on a game developed by one person is superb and the
graphics options on a whole are pretty in depth.
For each run you are given a choice of guns that can be
unlocked by completing various feats within the game. For example, destroying
250 cannons over the course of several runs will unlock a new weapon. Dying
horribly a couple of times will also unlock a new gun. It’s a trait of the
genre. Although each run cannot be replayed, you still contribute to the
progression system through the game, unlocking more powerful weapons and traits
as you become better at the game. The trait system is also a nice addition to
your loadout. Selections vary from triple jumping to reduced difficulty to
immunity from environment effects and each has their own benefits during the
game. Having reduced difficulty will help you ease into the game slowly but
being able to triple jump might let you get up to that ledge that’s just out of
reach. Somewhat frustrating considering that ledge is highly unlikely to be
there when you come back on your next game!
The gunplay is where the real nostalgia kicks in. This game
is fast, really fast. To the point where if I stopped to pop a quick screenshot
I was risking death. Every. Single. Time. Jumping from platform to platform whilst
annihilating your enemies and collecting health in the form of pick-ups has a
certain Unreal or Quake feeling. A blast back to my early teens and when I
should have been working harder at Uni. Every part of this game adds to that
feeling of nostalgic comfort. From the loot drops, to the sound effects, to the
music and right down to the unlimited ammo! If you even slightly enjoyed old
school FPS, you know, before Modern Warfare ruined the genre then get this!
Apart from being scared of being blown back to the Stone Age at every corner,
you can level your weapon as you kill enemies. Blue energy will push your level
up, giving you more power to your punch, but taking damage can drop the weapon
level. Do you risk killing all the enemies in the zone or try to run past? It’s
a lovely little risk/reward function that isn’t often present in Roguelikes and
adds an additional thought to your playstyle for each and every run.
Tower of Guns wasn’t a game I enjoyed to begin with, but after
a few runs and becoming a bit more familiar I started to become immersed in the
title. It’s a game that I’ve kept coming back to over the last week or so and
will probably continue to play over the next few weeks! It’s incredibly
difficult but rewarding title and will have you yearning for simpler times when
Team Deathmatch with Insta-Gib was enough for a full night’s entertainment!
Written and published for Universal Gaming
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