The Deadly Tower of Monsters Review (PC)

Lots of veteran gamers fondly remember the iconic TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those who are too young or weren’t exposed to it back in the day, it basically took older sci-fi movies that were downright bad or just poorly executed, and added hilarious commentary on top, riffing on aspects like story, acting, action sequences, and many other things.

The Deadly Tower of Monsters, from Chilean developer ACE Team, the studio behind recent titles like Zeno Clash, draws heavily from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Promising a tongue-in-cheek approach to its overall story and concept, not to mention solid isometric action hack-and-slash mechanics, the title seems to be a potential hit.

Does it manage to deliver an entertaining experience or should it be forgotten alongside the old sci-fi movies? Let’s find out.

Story

Right from the get-go, you’re introduced to the novel premise of the actual game. You’re admiring a DVD re-release of a low-budget B-movie called, what else, The Deadly Tower of Monsters. What’s more, the narrator is the actual director who provides real-time commentary on what’s happening on the screen, in a similar vein to Bastion, the indie darling made by Supergiant Games.

The commentary is hilarious at almost all times, offering the reasons behind certain gameplay mechanics, like loot disappearing after you pick it up, or the fact that you can’t have multiple playable characters on the screen at the same time (the actors had scheduling conflicts), besides the cut scenes.

In terms of the actual plot, you control one of the three main characters: roguish hero Dick Starspeed, stunning love interest Scarlet Nova, and their companion The Robot. They all play in mostly the same way, although they have access to their own special abilities, like laying down mines, slowing down foes, or increasing your speed.

The primary goal is actually to explore the Deadly Tower of Monsters in order to stop the evil space emperor and his nefarious henchman doctor. The game honors the cheesy, “so bad it’s good” source material, and when coupled with the commentary, it manages to put a smile on your face at all times, provided you don’t take it too seriously.

Battle many foes in The Deadly Tower of Monsters

Gameplay

As for the gameplay, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is an action hack-and-slash experience with role-playing elements that replaces the traditional dungeons with the actual levels on the aforementioned tower. However, you shouldn’t expect many elevators or things like that. Instead, you use a spiral path around the exterior of the building in order to reach new zones and challenges.

Your route is mostly linear, but there are a few moments where it's quite hard to figure out what to do next. This can lead to a bit of frustration, and the only advice is to experiment with your powers as well as the actual zone itself.

If you fall off the path, which can certainly happen at various points in time and is even recommended if you want to revisit previously completed portions, the game also lets you respawn at any activated checkpoint. During your fall, you can guide your character towards various loot or enemies, which, when taken down, produce even more rewards. One of the memorable sequences involves a boss fight that took place during freefall, so don’t be afraid to jump out the tower from time to time, or, at least, take a glance to spot any potential goodies.

Enemies are quite varied, both in actual shape, ranging from crazy aliens to monkey people or robots, but also in their attacks and patterns. The boss encounters, as mentioned above, are quite outlandish, including giant gorillas, an octopus, and many other creatures. Each, in classic cheesy manner, shows in their design that they’re just suits or props taken from other movies made before this one.

Level design is also quite varied, including plenty of hidden areas or zones that can only be accessed by one of the three main characters. Fortunately, you can often find special spots that let you transition to another one of the playable heroes. While the game would’ve certainly benefited from cooperative multiplayer, it’s still quite fun to blast the wacky foes all by yourself, using the various crazy weapons the game puts at your disposal.

Jump from the tower in The Deadly Tower of Monsters

Graphics and sound

The visuals are in line with the pulpy, 1960s source material, and you can even change the quality from DVD to VHS. The textures are also quite impressive, as are the stylized characters, from the main heroes to the enemies or bosses. Animations are also good, and loading times are short.

The soundtrack is top-notch, managing to alternate quite well, depending on the zones of the tower. The voice acting is cheesy when it comes to the main characters and quite sharp as far as the director is concerned.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion