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The Deadly Tower of Monsters

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The Deadly Tower of Monsters
Promotional poster featuring Scarlet Nova
Developer(s)ACE Team
Publisher(s)Atlus USA
EngineUnreal Engine 3
Platform(s)
Release19 January 2016
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (PC)

The Deadly Tower of Monsters is an action-adventure game[1] developed by ACE Team and published by Atlus USA for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in January 2016. The game is a metafictional parody of science fiction midnight B movie from its golden age, with caricatural superheroes.

Gameplay

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The Deadly Tower of Monsters mixes beat 'em up and twin-stick shooter elements, with a fixed camera system seen from a top-down perspective.[2][3] The main focus during player's gameplay is one long, continuous climb up the outside of the titular tower.[4] A jetpack can be used to reach high areas.[5][6]

There is also a 4-player cooperative and hard mode, released on 14 March 2016, and survival mode, released on 4 October the same year – both exclusively to Windows version.[7][8]

Plot

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The Deadly Tower of Monsters follows three actors in the in-game space opera movie of the same name: Jonathan Digby who stars as Dick Starspeed – an astronaut hero who crash-lands his spaceship on the outlandish planet Gravoria, ruled by a tyrannical Emperor; Stacy Sharp as Scarlet Nova – daughter of the planet's evil Emperor; and The Robot as Robot – a co-pilot and Starspeed's trusty sidekick.[3][9]

The game's frame story is that of an early 1970s B movie The Deadly Tower of Monsters recently released on DVD, with the director's commentary of its in-universe director Dan Smith, serving as a combination of tutorial and meta-commentary on the game, providing an explanation as to why many default elements of shooters would be in what is ostensibly a film (the player being required to break boxes to obtain items, for example, is taken as the lead actor ad-libbing on Smith's advice to make sure every moment was somewhat exciting).

Development

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The Deadly Tower of Monsters was announced on 12 June 2015.[10] According to Carlos Bordeu, one of the ACE Team founders, it was initially planned as a dungeon crawler set in a vertical labyrinth, with the "more generic fantasy".[3] Game's concept was changed because the team "wanted to do something that was completely different", as he stated.[3] The inspiration came from the 1950s and 1960s science fiction films, including the Godzilla franchise, Forbidden Planet, and Plan 9 from Outer Space; as well as TV series Flash Gordon and Lost in Space from the same era.[3][4][11] Scarlet Nova character was modeled after Jane Fonda's heroine Barbarella, from the 1968 film of the same name.[3] Dan Smith's exaggerated personality, on the other hand, was partly based on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 – a science fiction comedy series created by Joel Hodgson, which ACE Team loved; and Ed Wood, an American cult filmmaker.[3][4] Some enemies were animated by using the stop motion and rotoscoping technique.[12]

The Deadly Tower of Monsters trailer was published on 2 December 2015, followed by the game's release on 19 January 2016.

Reception

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The Deadly Tower of Monsters received above-average reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[13][14] Destructoid said, "The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a fleeting experience, but one that no B-movie fan should go without."[6] PlayStation LifeStyle said, "Just like the movies it tries to emulate, the game is so bad with its special effects, dialogue, and set-pieces that it's rather good."[9] Hardcore Gamer said, "Minor issues aside, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a pleasant surprise indeed and a particularly impressive budget action game showcasing a lot of creativity."[4]

References

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  1. ^ Savage, Phil (12 June 2015). "The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a B-movie action game". PC Gamer. Future. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b Gilyadov, Aleksander (19 January 2016). "The Deadly Tower of Monsters is an imperfect love letter to B movies. (PS4)". VentureBeat. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lemke, Parker (21 March 2016). "The Deadly Tower of Monsters Is A Love Letter To Classic Sci-Fi Schlock". Paste. Atlanta: Paste Media Group. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e LeClair, Kyle (23 January 2016). "Review: The Deadly Tower of Monsters". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  5. ^ a b Saas, Don (1 February 2016). "The Deadly Tower of Monsters Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Carter, Chris (19 January 2016). "Review: The Deadly Tower of Monsters". Destructoid. Gamurs. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Deadly Tower of Monsters Now with 4-Player Co-op and Hard Mode!". Steam. Valve. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Deadly Tower 1.05 update - New Survival Mode!". Steam. Valve. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  9. ^ a b Honea, Keri (19 January 2016). "The Deadly Tower of Monsters Review – So Bad It's Good (PS4)". PlayStation LifeStyle. Evolve Media. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  10. ^ O'Connor, Alice (12 June 2015). "ACE Team's The Deadly Tower Of Monsters Announced". Rock Paper Shotgun. Brighton: Gamer Network. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  11. ^ Priestman, Chris (3 December 2015). "Atlus Launches 1970s Sci-Fi Game The Deadly Tower Of Monsters On January 19th". Siliconera. Gamurs. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  12. ^ "The Deadly Tower of Monsters". GOG.com. CD Projekt. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  13. ^ a b "The Deadly Tower of Monsters for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  14. ^ a b "The Deadly Tower of Monsters for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  15. ^ a b Wöbbeking, Jan (21 January 2016). "Test: The Deadly Tower of Monsters". 4Players (in German). 4Players GmbH. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  16. ^ Falkenstern, Max (25 January 2016). "The Deadly Tower of Monsters im Test: Spielbarer Trash-Film voller ulkiger Ideen". PC Games (in German). Computec. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  17. ^ GameCentral (20 January 2016). "The Deadly Tower Of Monsters review – so bad it's okay (PS4)". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
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