Towerfall Ascension
*spoiler free*
Towerfall Ascension is a 2D action platformer on Steam recently released as a console port on the Playstation 4. Its ready to play game style is perfect for killing a few minutes of time before work or keeping your little ones occupied long enough for you to cook dinner. Trust me on the latter.
The lack of story in Campaign mode does not detract from the game’s overall value as the action is varied and fast paced enough to keep you interested throughout game play. You choose one of four playable archer characters progressing through each level on a world map unlocked one after another as you play. The world map style will be familiar to fans of Super Mario World, players have the option to choose between any unlocked levels and replay them all an infinite number of times. Unlike Super Mario however, Towerfall Ascension tracks and displays statitstics for how many times you’ve attempted a level and how many times you died in the process. (Because of this I make sure to blame my mini me for my 22 attempts/94 deaths on level 2. I swear it’s all her.)
Each level consists of 6 waves of enemies, each wave containing a different mix of level-specific monsters and baddies to shoot and stomp on. Levels are static and fixed (sans the occasional environmental hazard) and you’ll find yourself moving in a very PacMan like off-screen-here/on-screen-there kind of style. The one constant are rival archers that appear at least 1 wave of every level possessing all the abilities your character does: Shoot, Catch, Dodge, and Jump. The good news is you can collect the arrows they shoot at you and add them to your limited quiver. (Cause you can never have too much ammo right? Right?) If you run out of arrows and are unable to collect them from the enviroment you retain the ability to stomp on enemies’ heads to dispatch of them. Yay stomping. For casual play you can choose normal mode and receive multiple lives per level, or Hardcore mode and receive just 1. Campaign progression is available both solo and co-op with a 2nd player.
Towerfall Ascension does feature an up to 4-player versus mode with a variety of game styles to choose from. I only got a chance to try the Stock Score variant which was pretty straight forward, first player to score five kills wins. This game is not multiplayer online so for those of us whom have been looking for something to bring us together again on the couch with a bowl of chips and a community 2 liter, this is a game we’ve been waiting for.
Pros: Simple gameplay, easy to learn. Fast paced action. Low load times. Local multiplayer. Good sound effects/music.
Cons: Character choice is purely aesthetic. Low replayability.
looks fun!