Rather, this is a meaty alternative to playing plain ol' deathmatch.

In a similar vein, new purple surfaces are solid to walk over but allow arrows to pass through.Īscension's 'quest' mode is a far more notable addition, and not just because it pits players (alone or in a pair) against waves of AI-controlled baddies. This often plays out doubly tricky in TowerFall, as the arenas' edges operate Pac-Man style: if you reach the left edge of the screen, you reappear on the right side, etc. New 'drill' arrows can tear through a single wall, then emerge from the other side to polish off a foe. But the best new additions to the basic battling revolve around screwing with players' perception. All of the clever powers from the original return, including 'bramble' arrows that make dangerous vines appear wherever an arrow lands. What's new in Ascension? For one, a slightly larger selection of power-ups, along with more arenas in which to wield them. Characters run and hop with a smooth, almost squishy feel, and they can easily wall-jump and edge-cling to traverse the game's teensy arenas with haste. You can use this to get out of an arrow's way, but smarter players will dash into an arrow's path, catching it in mid-air and gaining crucial ammo while saving your life.Īll of this comes together with the kind of '8-bit physics' that made the oldest Super Mario games feel so comfortable. The only 'complex' maneuver is a dodge, and it's a pretty slick response to that auto-homing system tap a trigger button, and your archer will air-dash in any direction. To that point, the game only has three buttons, and no move requires additional joystick taps, charges, or other high-level systems to learn. Why force utter precision in a tiny arena when timing and twitchiness matter more? Advertisement This is because players can only aim in eight directions as opposed to full-analog aiming, and this combination is among the game's most clever design decisions. For one, all arrow shots come with a slight 'homing' tweak, automatically aiming for the nearest target within reason. is the obvious comparison point, thanks to constrained arenas, four-player 2D battling, and tide-turning power-ups (more on those in a second), but Towerfall stakes its fun factor on a distilled, super-simplified take on the party-fight genre.

You can also try an alternate strategy, like jumping on enemies' heads, using environmental hazards, or grabbing power-ups from treasure chests. By default, players start with three arrows in their quiver, and once you've shot them all, you need to scour the battlefield for used arrows to keep fighting. Up to four archers run and jump around a 2D arena in an attempt to be the last archer standing. Last year's Ouya-only launch of TowerFall was good enough to secure a spot in our 2013 best-of list, and this expanded edition doesn't stray far from the original's appeal. Neither lightning arrow nor scary stone is a match for one TowerFall warrior's sprightly head-stomps. Triple-A shooter on one hand triple-A indie on the other. In fact, much like Titanfall, Towerfall: Ascension iterates on a compact gameplay core to perfection, fleshing it out from there with content, options, and giddy flair. TowerFall: Ascension doesn't succeed by mere regression. Let's not sound like crotchety fogeys, decrying the progress of always-online, explosive 3D action or blindly celebrating the days of old-school, couch-friendly play. The release-date choice sets up a veritable showdown between a robot-shaped Goliath and a puny, bow-equipped David. Behind the pixels hides a masterwork of indie-game design, not to mention the best excuse to gather four friends on a couch in years.īut today of all days! March 11 is a particularly curious day to loose the new, PC/PS4 version of TowerFall on the world, as it arrives alongside the launch of another massively hyped, multiplayer-focused game (one that happens to start with T and end with 'fall,' to boot). This 8-bit-style archery-battling game, an upgraded version of the formerly Ouya exclusive original Towerfall, looks mighty unassuming. No matter what day it came out, TowerFall: Ascension would deserve to be a giant gaming success.

Towerfall ascension