Okay, I’ll admit that I’m far from a fan of top-down shooters, mostly because I don’t have the twitch reflexes like I used to when I tried playing them in the arcades. That said, every now and then I find myself compelled to try out one just to see how I fare against the relentless swarms of enemies trying to kill me. Which is why when Benitosub contacted me to see if I’d like to try my hand at the latest alpha build for Tower 57 I most definitely said yes. And frankly I haven’t found myself disappointed in the experience.
What had originally made Tower 57 catch my eye was the steampunk inspirations. While the game sections that I played didn’t evoke a whole lot of nostalgia towards this beloved genre, the destructible environments did bring back some memories of playing games like Bioshock, albeit in a much more pixelated and intense sense. And I realized just how much I still suck at these types of games. Thankfully it seems like you’ve got unlimited lives which is just as well because if they were limited I wouldn’t have been able to get past the first few waves of enemies.
During my quickish playthrough I chose Abraham Lincoln…um, I mean the “Diplomat”. I’m honestly not sure what the difference between each of the playable characters are so I just picked the one that seemed the most outlandish. That said, I did enjoy some of the quirky quotes spewed forth by the guy and I’m finding myself wondering what the others have to say about their predicament in Tower 57. I will point out that I didn’t get through the entire game that’s there so far. Partially because I got fed up dieing all the time and partially because I needed to stop to write this article.
For fans of run-and-gun shooters with seemingly endless waves of enemies coming for your ass I can safely say that you won’t be disappointed with Tower 57. Even in the early stage it’s in it’s still a fun fragfest that has you mowing down weird monsters with flamethrowers, shotguns, and pretty much any weapon you can get your hands on. Money drops constantly and you can save up and spend it in shops to get more ammo, health, and even arms that sometimes fall off when you take too much damage. Frankly, I’m just glad that you respawn relatively close by where you perished so you don’t have to wade through the trash again and again. Even so, through the two levels that I did play through I found myself being relatively able to hold my own.
In my time playing the Tower 57 alpha I do have to say that despite my aversion towards the shooter genre I did find myself strangely compelled to continue on. Maybe I’ll eventually try to make it to the end, but what little I did see shows promise for an action game. If this build is any indication the final release should be tons of fun for those who just want murder and mayhem. Now if you’ll excuse me I think I’ll try out the other characters.
