There aren’t many great party games on the current generation of consoles. Even basic local multiplayer has died out, although the Wii U has a few good bits and pieces. Fortunately, Towerfall Ascension on the PS4 bucks this trend by being fairly brilliant in my opinion. It’s fast, it’s furious and it’s a lot of fun. Also I’m nowhere near as good as my friends are, much to my endless frustration.
It seems I’m not alone in my love of Towerfall, as the game is currently sitting at 87 on Metacritic and was generally well receieved by Gareth when he took a look at it for Indie Focus, describing it as a game that delivers “some truly hectic and immensely enjoyable sessions with friends”. I think he pretty much hits it the nail on the head there, particularly when he mentions playing it with friends.
For my money the local multiplayer is where Towerfall’s true fun lies, with the single player and co-op elements not really holding all that much appeal. Sure, there’s the Trials mode, which Gareth describes as a test of “your speed by killing straw dummies as quickly as possible”, and the new Quest mode where you battle enemies, but neither has the same kind of sheer lunacy that a good round of versus does.
While the simple eight way aiming and 2D levels might not seem like much to get excited about, it’s the way that game’s “simple mechanics all combine into fast, frantic battles” that will have you on the edge of your seat for big chunks of matches. As Gareth points out, moments like surviving with “no arrows by grabbing your enemy’s out of the air and then killing them before even landing” are what really make the game, and often leave me cheering (or despairing if they don’t quite come off).
On the other side of the coin, Gareth does note that “the lack of online multiplayer” limits the game somewhat, which I can only agree with. It’s great when you have people over, but will likely sit idle the rest of the time. In fact this is exactly what Gareth mentions in concluding his thoughts on the game:
If you want to play multiplayer but are unlikely to have friends around regularly or the single player pursuits aren’t something that will hold your attention, then you are probably better off waiting for a sale. But if you have a few friends who you can regularly play the game with, then £11.99 is likely worth it for you. Similarly, if you are likely to enjoy a horde mode alone or with one friend, or even the single player only trials then you are also probably going to find the price reasonable.
Of course, what we want to know is whether you feel the same way or not. Do you agree with Gareth and I that the local multiplayer is fabulous, or do you have no love for its fast and furious action? Perhaps you feel that the single player drags it down a bit, losing the game a little love.
It doesn’t matter if you simply adored the game or hated it, we’d still like to hear from you. If you want to share your thoughts on Towerfall Ascension all you need to do is drop a comment below. Remember to include a rating for the game on the Buy It, Sale It, Plus It, Avoid It scale so we can tot up the community’s verdict in Monday’s verdict article.
Lieutenant Fatman
This is easily one of the best party games on the PS4. If you like to invite a few friends round from time to time for some gaming, then this is well worth buying. You can do manic all versus all games on a variety of maps, or you can switch it up a bit with team games, 2 versus 2. Buy it. Buy it now. It’s brilliant. There’s also a 2 player co-op mode that puts you against some tough enemies, that’s great and a real challenge. I’m looking forward to the dlc.
Dan Jones
Probably the best local multilayer game there is on the PS4, and like monopoly if your friends are highly competitive it can break friendships haha. Buy It.
MrYd
It’s 2015 (or 2014 when it was released) and we’ve got games that look like they’re 30 years old and lack basic functionality like online multiplayer modes?
The look is obviously an artistic choice and while I don’t particularly like it in this case, that’s not a problem.
The lack of online modes is just inexcusable these days. Except they tried to come up with some excuse for it anyway (which I think boils down to “it’s too hard for us to do”)
Avoid it, because otherwise you’re encouraging them and other will think they can get away with it too. Which is a shame, because the gameplay is actually fairly decent. Just a shame they didn’t finish the job.
Starman
I like this line “Avoid it, because otherwise you’re encouraging them” and totally agree with it. These kind of graphics have a place, and that place is in the early 90’s.
MrYd
It’s not the graphics I have a problem with. I don’t particularly like them in this case, but to dismiss a game completely just it’s gone for retro pixel graphics is obviously completely stupid.
It’s the other bits that should be there that aren’t. You can go too retro if you’re not careful. Graphics and sound are an artistic choice that may or may not work for any individual player for a particular game.
But you wouldn’t go so retro that you have it save your game by making horrible screeching noises at a tape recorder (look it up on wikipedia, if you’re not an old git like me ;) and hoping for the best. You wouldn’t think it acceptable if you had to wait 5 minutes to get to the title screen, with no guarantee it actually gets that far.
So why should we accept a lack of online play in a multiplayer game? And no, I’m not saying offline multiplayer should be replaced by online. Should have both, ideally. One gets ignored too often these days, but that’s no excuse to go the other way.
That’s the bit I’m saying you shouldn’t encourage them by giving them money.
Starman
Fair enough, but personally I will completely dismiss a game if its got retro 8 bit graphics. It was quirky for a bit but now it’s just a excuse for indies to not put any effort into how a game looks.
psychobudgie
I agree with most of that I came, I played and I played some more just to be sure and deleted it never to be seen again. Avoid it unless you have £120 to buy 3 additional controllers which btw is how you make it playable and I think, given what it actually is, is a little steep.
colmshan1990
They considered it and decided not to.
The decision is explained here, and it’s hard not to agree with it.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/11/5491146/why-you-dont-want-an-online-mode-towerfall
If you still insist on butchering the game play with an online mode, the PS4 has it built into the OS with Share play anyway.
MrYd
Well, that’s someone’s opinion on why they might have forgot to make the effort to finish the game. So many reasons to not take that article too seriously.
For a start, it’s mostly a “all the reviews are wrong and here’s why” piece. Then it attempts to justify itself with technical reasons (which are really “it’s just too much effort to do”).
But mostly, it’s written by someone involved with Sportsfriends (and even more pointless game). Who doesn’t like Diablo 3.
tantalus_blank
Buy it without a doubt. Despite its basic looks, the mechanics are so finely tuned that it easily takes top spot in my IGC filled PS4 library. Can’t wait for the DLC
As for online – I’ve found share play to work fine. I’ll take local multiplayer over online any day; far too many games overlook it these days
colmshan1990
The best game play on PS4.
BUY IT.
If you don’t have friends to play this with, buy them too.
By far the most fun game I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing in years. The graphics are serviceable, better than most ‘pixel art’ (read: actual indie budget) games but still pixellated. There is no narrative or online mode (unless we count the PS4’s built in share play) but it was the right decision. Online would only have worked by compromising the exact nature of the game, and what’s the point of that? http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/11/5491146/why-you-dont-want-an-online-mode-towerfall
Even missing the graphics, singleplayer (it’s just a dressed up training mode) and online multiplayer, vital parts of nearly every other game on PS4, Towerfall shines. It’s simply pure, brutal fun.
Kill your friends and know it’s because you outsmarted them. Know it wasn’t a glitch, lag or unbalanced gameplay. Know that your revenge from the time they did the same to you was wholly earned by you. There’s something indescribably perfect about that, and the game.
The package is not the best experience on PS4 (that’s The Last of Us) but…
BUY IT. It’s the best game on PS4.
Forrest_01
This one is sure to split the community in terms of whether they deem it a worthy purchase or not.
I think it pretty much boils down to;
A) If you can put up with/enjoy pixel art games (that may or may not look like they belong 20-30 years ago) & have friends that you regularly see in real life who are also into gaming, it’s likely to be a Buy it.
Or
1) If you don’t have friends in the real world that enjoy gaming (& not just certain types of games), it’ll be an Avoid it.
2) If you don’t like pixel art games, it’ll be an Avoid it.
Whilst I understand the points made about having couch multiplayer only, I really don’t see why they couldn’t include some kind of substantial single player offering – That alone made it an avoid it for me. See point 1) for reasons.
Point 2) also had an impact on my decision as I am not a massive fan of pixel art games, but the fact that it is built around couch multiplayer & I am often sat on my own was more of an issue for me.
I also no longer have a couch.
deepmenace
4 decent gamers, local co-op, banter, it’s great….
….for like 45 minutes or so per session. That’s how we rate it anyway.
The first game you play is exhilarating. The second you start to dial in your skills. Then you get better and maybe gang up on the best players a little. After 6 or 7 games we’ve found it a bit tiring and predicatble, nothing new is revealed.
I feel that with a few more game modes it could truly be one of those rare “up-till-4am” mulitplayer games
Lieutenant Fatman
Hopefully the upcoming dlc will bring a bit more to the table. Give the team deathmatch a try if you haven’t yet, switches things up a bit.
Tuffcub
No.
MrYd
I think you need to elaborate there. We’ve had hints, but I don’t think you’ve made your opinions on retro pixelly stuff clear enough yet.