Into The Tower

The Dark Tower is a game created by swallowthesun

Lol yeah I ditched the [WR] Reviewing Centre. Yeah, if you want me to join your Centre. Just PM me on the Forums. Anyway, hello. I'm back, for my 35th Review. For my 35th Review I'll be Reviewing The Dark Tower by swallowthesun, who I'm sure you've heard of and read some of his Reviews. If you haven't heard of him, you will have by the end of this Review.

Pre-thoughts

I've never played anything from Swallowthesun before, so I'm not really entirely sure just what I'm getting from The Dark Tower by Opinion of Swallow's Past Games. The only reason I have even heard of him is by his Reviews. However, I can infer that the Game is a Platformer, and that Swallow's last (First Public one atm) Game was a fairly big success so I should expect something. If I look at the Comments, I can also see positive Feedback. Including some words, nothing special. Only "PUZZLES AND TRAPS!" Something you don't see everyday. So yeah, I'm looking forward to playing The Dark Tower and expecting an experience I can appreciate.

Thumbnail

The Thumbnail definately captures an effect. It makes me think of the Cold when I look at it. So the Game might have something to do with the cold. There also seem to be a lot of Bats around the place. The Torch you can see also makes me think of an Entrance to this dark tower. So yeah, Swallow clearly did pretty well with this Thumbnail. Which, if you ask me, looks pretty cool. But, is this Thumbnail just a dead end? You'll find out shortly

Story

The Storyline to The Dark Tower was good. It was clearly well planned. In the Game you get imprisoned, and you help some guy escape. Eventually, an owl named Artemis joins you. The rest of it is pretty much about you then escaping before the ending, which I will leave for you to work out yourself (Btw I didn't quite beat it. I died right at the end of Level 2. I just had to kill 1 more enemy and I would've won) The Storyline to The Dark Tower is quite an interesting one. And if you play the Game and follow it. You will most likely find yourself enjoying it.

Gameplay

So, just loaded up the Game. And immediately I am thrown into a high action Battle which I know will be tough to win. But, it isn't that hard. Because you can so easily just skip it! After that minor disappointment the Game really begins to kick off. The Moment I entered the Tower I came across plenty of Action, and a challenge. As I progressed further the Game got harder for me. And about half way through, I found lag. Ignoring that little bit though, I loved the Gameplay so far. And after Minutes of thrilling action, I finally beat the Level. It wasn't actually that hard. But then I found Level 2. This Level, wasn't anywhere near as big as the first Level, nor did it have that fabulous Action that I had experienced in the first Level. It also felt like there were too many Enemies in this Level as well. Maybe the Bats were dicussing something, possibly swallowing the Sun without swallowthesun? But anyway lol, the Game had that addictiveness to it. And made you feel rewarded when you achieved something good on it. So Gameplay, was not good. It wasn't even close to great. It was near-perfect. Swallow, you really should feel rewarded when I say this. But this Game has some of the best Gameplay I've ever Reviewed in 35 Reviews

Scenery

Clearly, Swallow put effort into the Actual Game but did he do the same for the overall appearance of the Game? You want the answer? Well, it's just simply one word, Yes. The Game. Swallowthesun clearly managed to find a Background Tile which is different to the Tile used, however still works well together. Luckily, Swallow also had success making the Tower look Dark, yet not ruining the visual experience. But not only has Swallowthesun used background tiles to make the Game look appealing. He's used them in creative ways, and he's used other Resources to make things look good. But that's just level 1. Level 2 (Which you can see in the Thumbnail, for those too lazy to beat Level 1, or to even play the Game (Bad choice btw for those who did)) is just as I said in the Thumbnail visually. It creates a cold atmosphere. So yeah, if you ask me I feel that Swallowthesun also did a really good job with Scenery as well. However, there isn't going to be an unpredictable comment at the end this time

Placement

So far, it's all been fairly positive. Does it stay that way? Yes it does. Although first, I would like to talk about the Section with not so good enemy Placement in Level 2. If you remember earlier on in Gameplay, I mentioned lots of Bats. The placement of them, disappointed me. There were just too many of them placed in that small space. But other then that. There was nothing wrong with Into The Tower's Placement. However, there was also nothing overly great about it. Even if it was pretty clever in sections, there was nothing that stood out and that you're likely to remember a week after playing the Game due to it's Brilliance. Placement was good in most areas, and blocks were very thoughtfully placed as well at times, but nothing overly special

Puzzles & Traps

Firstly I'm gonna discuss to you Puzzles. And there were Puzzles throughout. Infact, after seconds of running for you life, there's a Puzzle. It's fairly easy though. And you'll find more throughout the Game. I know that I definately found myself thinking a bit throughout the Game after a couple of attempts. And that's good. These Puzzles also weren't overly hard or so easy it was like they weren't there. Anyway, Traps? Yes! I only noticed one throughout my experience playing the Game, however. I have a feeling there was another one with a Sword that just didn't get me. Other then that though, there was one which I noticed. And I tested it once to see what happened. And it was useless. I remember swallow nagging me to go in when I played the Game on Tinychat lol. Anyway, Swallow definately did a fairly decent job making the experience puzzlewise enjoyable.

Creativity & Originality

The Name, wasn't creative. Nor original. Nor interesting, funnily enough. And the Gameplay, wasn't that original either. However, on the creative side of things. Nothing changed. Yet, it was still amazing. Somehow. It's confusing, but I'll eventually work out what makes this Game so unique yet unoriginal. If you have any idea how the impossible can be possible, please tell me. Anyway, I guess you want a 500 WOrd paragraph of junk, right? So, Level 1 was just typical Gameplay with an unoriginal concept and all that. But what about Level 2? Well, it's even less original. And creative. However, the storyline that Merges these two Levels together provides The Dark Tower with a comeback from it's unorginal state. I really don't know what to say about Creativity and Originality overall. So I'll just say. It was unoriginal and the concept wasn't that creative. Along with Gameplay and the story was a comeback lol

Pros

Great Gameplay, Easy yet Amazing Puzzles & Difficult

Cons

Creativity and Originality, Level 2 was a moderate disappointment, disappointing Traps

Ratings

Action: 9/10

Addicitiveness: 9/10

Awesomeness (Gameplay): 10/10

Difficulty: 8/10

Puzzles & Traps: 8/10

Creativity & Originality: 6/10

Placement: 9/10

Scenery: 9/10

Story: 8/10

Lag: 10/10

Overall The Dark Tower (That's the last time I ever name a Review after something related to the Game Title. It causes me to epic fail when spelling Game names) deserves a 9/10. I definately found myself amazed by this exciting Experience. And, you probably will as well. Would I feature this if I was an editor? You have your answer already. Yes! It delivered everything I love to see in a Platformer Game and even more! It was pretty much Flawless. Swallow, congratulations on pleasing me with this epicness

Anyway, please post your Feedback of the Review and I hoped you enjoyed it