First Impressions Of Tower 57

Let's Talk A Little Bit About Tower 57. Only a little, because we only got a level to play through.

Little background: Tower 57 is a Post-Apocalyptic Noir Twin Stick Shooter. You play as an "Agent", who has the difficult mission of climbing a stupidly tall tower in order to kill off a corrupt Business CEO. Sounds simple? It is. Simply epiiiiiiiiiic!

Bad jokes aside, let's talk about the world. The opening level looks like it was taken out of the TMNT sewers in a Fallout Universe and is packed with Spiky Slime Slugs, Exploding Barrel Crabs, and Mutated Hulk Puppies. Barrels, boxes, pipes and fences are all totally destructible. In fact, almost everything is destructible except for the walls. Oh, wait a second, some of the walls can be blown up too! There are plenty of hidden rooms to find that are packed with loot, which makes shooting everything in sight a pleasure, that doubles as a satisfying pay off. It's pray and spray with a purpose!

Now, as far as the music goes, the score in this game is on point. Atmospheric and non-intrusive, the soundtrack really sets a great tone for the game overall. The title screen music is my favorite overall, as it's very reminiscent of Stranger Things (season 2 is sick!).

The art style is a beautiful 3-quarters view in a pixelated style that is both gritty and vibrant. The effects are well designed and the character sprites are unique enough to  stand out amongst the constant carnage.

And the characters. Oooh, the characters. You pick three when you begin your adventure and if the first one dies, the second one falls in and so on. You have a main weapon and a secondary one, and man, are they fun to play with. You get these great combinations, like a Mob Boss with a Tommy Gun, or a cyborg Abe Lincoln with a Flame Thrower. It is...amazing. It's friggin amazing. Each character feels unique in their own right, and the game really gives you multiple ways to tackle each scenario with these over the top combinations of crazy characters and deadly weapons. On top of that, you get weapon and body part upgrades that can be acquired through kiosks in the level.

All in all, the first level demo rocked. The look and feel of the game is right on, and I had a blast playing through what was there. The only problem I really had is that I wanted more. I can't wait for the game to be released so I can get back to killing.

Tower 57 releases Nov 16th in its entirety. 

Review By: Isaac Crutchfield