When I was younger I used to love FPS games, because they used to be single player focused and endlessly creative. When we (mostly) lost the joyous experience of a narrative to chase when holding a big gun, I just played other games instead. My multiplayer time is already full of asymmetric murder and Big Walks, and I can’t think of anything less exciting than picking up a realistic gun and fighting a realistic war against probablematic teenagers. Thankfully when I’m missing Half Life and Turok I can always turn to the indies, who remember the glory years of shooting just like me. Twisted Tower is a perfect example of this, with a ridiculous setting and fast paced shooting of silly guns.
The story of Twisted Tower isn’t particularly invasive, but fun all the same. Your girlfriend has been kidnapped and taken to the titular Twisted Tower, which was a theme park made by a movie director. It’s basically like a horror Disneyland, and is suitably full of freaks and geeks ready to turn you to red paste. As you progress through the tower you’ll find letters about your relationship and past that fill in the story blanks, and reviews of the movies that the main villain directed. These show his descent into madness as people understood his work less and less, and ultimately make for a compelling narrative between shoot offs.
The gunplay of Twisted Tower is exactly how you remember FPS games from the early noughties. You move fast, you blast hard, and don’t even think about aiming down sights. This is boomer shooting through and through, and in the best possible way.
The guns themselves feel great, and all have different purposes and useful secondary fire modes. You start with a giant mallet, which is as silly as it is devastating. Before you know it though you get a pistol that fires rubber bands, a marble magnum, and the obvious best weapon: The Shartgun. Yes, the shotgun in this game fires faecal gas powerful enough to blow off heads. Immediate ten out of ten… but not actually. You get me.
Movement in the game is fantastic too, thanks to the sheer pace that is only made better when you slide across the ground fast enough to break wooden boxes. As you progress through the game you’ll also gain new movement abilities like an air dash and a grappling hook, making it even more fun to get around this cathedral of amusements.
The setting of Twisted Tower is one of its best features, because it’s just so playful and well implemented. The hotel feels just like a theme park hotel, with all the circus decor and twisting corridors. The waterpark has a more classic Victorian design, full of elegant gold slides and pools adorned with dead bodies. There’s even a casino complete with slot machines that’ll drop loot if you’re lucky. The enemies are perfect for the setting too, with fire breathing fish men and giraffe mascots with firearms lurking around every corner.
Another aspect of Twisted Tower that makes it feel delightfully retro is all the secrets. There are loads of hidden nooks that contain extra health, ammo and tickets, and finding them always feels like you’ve discovered something you weren’t supposed to.
The tickets are the main currency in this circus of hell, and you can spend them on ammo and gun upgrades. Boosting the power and adding secondary fire to your weapons always feels worth it, and the clown themed vending machines are a lovely Bioshock throwback.
Twisted Tower is a delightful old school shooter full of character, but not everyone will appreciate its classic charm. A lot of guns feel less useful almost entirely because you can’t aim them properly by modern standards, and this makes some of the tougher arena fights much more of a slog when ammo is scarce. There are a lot of cheap enemies too who are tough to avoid getting hurt by, like the teleporting firebreather and the toy phones that hide around corners and chomp you without warning. My biggest issue though was the checkpointing, which can throw you back and force you to fight enemies you already beat. Even Half Life has quick-save!
Twisted Tower is a throwback to simpler FPS times, with notes of Bioshock and the PC classics of the past. Its circus and fun park theme is exceptional too, and adds so much luscious flavour to an already entertaining experience. The old school elements won’t be for everyone, but for those who miss proper FPS campaigns it’s an easy recommendation.
