Step into the shoes of Dick Starspeed, a space explorer who’s had the recent misfortune of crash landing on Gravoria, a planet ravaged by a war between ape-men. Luck does have a tendency to favour the bold in The Deadly Tower of Monsters though, and if our soon-to-be hero plays his cards right, Scarlet Nova just might favour him too; provided he helps rid the planet of its ruler… who just so happens to also be her father.
Now, just in case the above paragraph didn’t make that abundantly clear, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is not a serious game. Not one bit. That it plays like an interactive trip back to 1970s sci-fi is however also its greatest strength, with inspiration drawn from the likes of Flash Gordon, Planet of the Apes, and possibly a bit of Lost In Space, it seems. Crazy? Yeah, but only of the really good kind! What’s not to like about blasting stop-motion animated dinosaurs and slashing away at incredibly fake-looking slugs, all while traversing areas that mostly resemble a poor man’s movie set? Nothing, that’s what.
Filmed in the 1970s, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is an action-packed adventure, full of time-honored literary themes: the daughter versus the tyrant father, the planet full of innocent ape-creatures, the dashing space-age liberator, the robot companion, the tower full of treacherous mutations… A timeless classic for all ages!
Oh, and we mustn’t forget about the weaponry with which ol’ Dick is to combat the forces of evil, overthrowing the ruler of Gravoria, rescuing the blonde damsel in distress, and so on. No siree. Everything from crystal swords to ray guns and laser whips are present here, alongside… wait for it… special powers. No movie from this era would be complete without giving its protagonist some sort of advantage to fight nukular ants and aforementioned ‘dinosaurs’. What do you mean “it’s not a movie, it’s a game”? Oh, wait. You’re right. The darn thing does have a rather colourful director’s commentary, so… yeah.
Next stop, planet Gravoria!
The Deadly Tower of Monsters is available for Windows (Steam) and PlayStation 4 (PSN), carrying a $14.99 price tag.