WeView Verdict: Towerfall Ascension

I shouldn’t really be surprised that Towerfall Ascension has caused a split in opinion. While I really like it, it’s certainly got a few elements that can divide people. For example, the lack of online multiplayer was something I picked up on in the WeView article itself, and it’s an issue that several of you weren’t all that keen on either.

Perhaps the most vocal amongst these people was MrYd, who wrote a fairly scatching critique of the game. They called the lack of an online mode “just inexcusable these days”, although did go on to say that it shouldn’t replace offline play, as games “Should have both, ideally”. Forrest_01 took a similar stance, saying that “If you don’t have friends in the real world that enjoy gaming” then it’s worth giving the game a miss, which is a viewpoint that’s hard to argue with.

The game’s pixel art styling seemed to draw a few negative comments too. Tuffcub’s well known dislike for games featuring pixel art game to the front once again, as he simply said “No” in his comment, while Starman say they will “completely dismiss a game if its got retro 8 bit graphics” as they feel “it’s just an excuse for indies to not put any effort into how a game looks”. I know a lot of people agree with that latter part of Starman’s comment, but I just can’t get on board with it myself; doing pixel art well, as Towerfall does, isn’t as easy as people think.

Of course, there were those who looked at things another way. On the issue of game’s visuals, colmshan1990 says that it looks “better than most ‘pixel art’” and calls the graphics “serviceable”. He also suggests using the PS4’s Share Play functionality to get around the lack of online multiplayer, or simply buying some friends when you buy the game. I’m on board with either really.

Sticking with colmshan1990 for a moment, they praised the game more generally, saying it has “The best gameplay on PS4” and loving the fact that when you manage to get a kill you “know it’s because you outsmarted them”. tantalus_blank was similarly effusive, saying that “the mechanics are so finely tuned that it easily takes top spot in my IGC filled PS4 library”. Additionally, they backed colmshan1990’s Share Play suggestion, although they did note that they’d “take local multiplayer over online any day”.

Also praising the game was Lieutenant Fatman, who called it “easily one of the best party games on the PS4” and urged others to “Buy it. Buy it now. It’s brilliant”. More specifically, he said that “If you like to invite a few friends round from time to time” it’s worth picking up, and also enjoyed the game’s two-player co-op, calling it “great and a real challenge”.

Finally, it’s time for my favourite comment of the week. This time it comes from Dan Jones, who sums up local multiplayer games in general quite well.

Probably the best local multiplayer game there is on the PS4, and like monopoly if your friends are highly competitive it can break friendships haha. Buy It.

As always, we conclude with your verdict on the game. It’s a perfect split this week, with four of you plumping for Buy It and four of you rating it as Avoid It. I guess Towerfall Ascension really is a bit of a hit or miss game, centering largely around how much local multiplayer you play.

For tomorrow’s WeView we’ll be looking at Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which picked up nearly half of the votes in last week’s poll. Replacing it in the poll for next week’s game is Mario Kart 8.