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Tower 57

If you’ve a retro itch that needs scratching, look no further than Tower 57.
Tower 57 Game Cover
62%Game Brain Score
gameplay, story
stability, grinding
63% User Score Based on 329 reviews
Critic Score 76%Based on 7 reviews

Platforms

PCMac OSSteam DeckWindows
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Tower 57 Game Cover

About

Tower 57 is a single player and multiplayer arcade shooter game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by benitosub and was released on November 16, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Tower 57 is a top-down twin stick shooter with destructible environments and a focus on co-op gameplay, set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. The game features 16-bit inspired pixel art and offers action-packed gameplay with a seriously cool vibe. Players control a group of individuals with unique skills and abilities, tasked with infiltrating the reclusive Tower 57."

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Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
Tower 57 screenshot
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63%
Audience ScoreBased on 329 reviews
gameplay40 positive mentions
stability35 negative mentions
  • Tower 57 features stunning pixel art graphics and a vibrant, unique art style that evokes nostalgia for classic games.
  • The gameplay is engaging with a mix of fast-paced combat, character upgrades, and exploration of secrets within the levels.
  • The game offers a fun experience, especially in co-op mode, and has a humorous, satirical storyline that adds charm.
  • The game is plagued by numerous bugs, including crashes and issues with character controls, which can significantly detract from the experience.
  • The campaign is relatively short, with only a few levels, leading to a feeling of incompleteness and lack of replayability.
  • Balancing issues exist, particularly with character upgrades and the mechanics of losing limbs, which can lead to frustrating gameplay moments.
  • gameplay
    109 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is a mix of engaging mechanics and frustrating bugs, with players noting both fun and challenging elements alongside significant technical issues, including crashes and poor collision detection. While the game features interesting mechanics like limb loss and a variety of characters, many feel these aspects are underutilized or poorly explained, leading to repetitive and sometimes annoying gameplay. Overall, the retro aesthetic and soundtrack are praised, but the inconsistent execution leaves players divided on their experience.

    • “The gameplay is fun yet challenging, and since the levels are pre-designed instead of randomly generated, it stands out as a compact and interesting bullet hell game.”
    • “Tower 57 has amazing pixel art, cool secrets, nice gameplay and feels like an old school 'Smash TV' that actually traveled back in time and forth.”
    • “The combat is a blast with clean and precise mechanics as well as varied means for dispatching your enemies.”
    • “Several mechanics aren't explained.”
    • “Sadly, gameplay is lacking severely.”
    • “The gameplay is both very fun and very annoying.”
  • story
    61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of Tower 57 is a satirical dystopian narrative that, while intriguing and filled with unique details, often feels convoluted and underdeveloped, particularly regarding character arcs. Players engage in a mission-driven campaign as special agents battling a corrupt government, but many reviewers noted that the story lacks depth and coherence, with some suggesting it would have been better without a narrative at all. Overall, the game offers a mix of lore and gameplay, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

    • “The game has a lot of details; the satirical dystopian plot and writing was unique and consistently got chuckles out of me.”
    • “Rather than being solely a fast-paced shooting action, Tower 57 relies a lot more on things like story and RPG elements compared to other twin-stick shooters.”
    • “As the story in the game develops, we will visit other places infested with all kinds of creatures, starting from little jellyfishes to giant levitating tentacle monsters.”
    • “There's a story here, but it feels overly convoluted for something so short.”
    • “The story is nothing special, but it works.”
    • “The gameplay is engaging, but I couldn't be bothered to read anything, so I can't comment on any form of story that's developing.”
  • graphics
    46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in Tower 57 are widely praised for their stunning pixel art, blending retro and modern aesthetics with vibrant colors and intricate details. Reviewers highlight the game's unique visual design and attention to detail, reminiscent of classic SNES and Amiga games, although some mention minor glitches. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's appeal, enhancing the gameplay experience despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics.

    • “The graphics are some of the best pixel art I’ve seen in a game, with a mix of retro and modern aesthetics.”
    • “There's a ton of detail in the 16-bit graphics and characters are well-designed, providing an appealing experience.”
    • “Great attention to detail, love the graphic design.”
    • “Neurovoider is probably the best twin-stick shooter for raw action ever made, if you can handle the ridiculous graphics.”
    • “The developers should either finish the game by rounding out the various upgrade systems, allow multiple playthrough options and backtracking, balance enemies and bosses plus a lot more; or probably better yet at this point sell it to another developer that wants to finish it since it has been so long with no improvements and the art style and gameplay have some really solid things going for it.”
    • “While I do appreciate the art style and the references to several movies, the gameplay just lacks.”
  • music
    39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many players praising its ability to enhance the gameplay experience and evoke a sense of relaxation. The soundtrack, often described as a blend of retro styles, synthpop, and electronic elements, resonates well with players, contributing to the game's overall appeal. While some noted that not all tracks are equally impressive, the majority found the music to be a standout feature, elevating the game's atmosphere significantly.

    • “The soundtrack is also nice and does a good job hyping up the gameplay.”
    • “Music and graphics are beautiful, I personally love them.”
    • “Decent music - not all of it, but most of it is pretty cool.”
    • “If you also enjoy synthpop/synthwave and mixtures of classical and electronic music, you will be more than satisfied with this game.”
    • “All that is served with a soundtrack that hits my musical sweet spot.”
  • stability
    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous players reporting game-breaking bugs, crashes, and glitches that often require restarts, leading to lost progress. Despite its appealing graphics and gameplay, the overall experience is marred by these persistent problems, particularly in multiplayer modes. Many reviewers recommend only attempting the game if one has the patience to endure its instability.

    • “I said this on a review outside of Steam, and I'll say it again; Tower 57 is clearly an unfinished and rushed game. They had to release multiple patches to fix certain glitches and modified a map not too far off the day this game was released, and even then, it still feels broken.”
    • “Unfortunately, it's too buggy; every single session has ended in a game-breaking bug of some kind.”
    • “I love the way this game looks, the pixel art is top notch, the gameplay is not bad... but it's so, so, so buggy. The collisions are really bad, I got stuck so many times in different places, had to restart the game and lost all my progress. There are other major bugs that break the game, like enemies leaving an enclosed area, meaning restarting the game and losing all the progress again.”
  • grinding
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players generally find grinding to be a rewarding experience that can enhance gameplay, allowing for faster progression and upgrades. However, some suggest that for those seeking a challenge, avoiding excessive grinding—especially for cash—might be preferable, particularly on harder difficulty settings.

    • “If you are looking for a challenging experience, I recommend playing on hard and avoiding the cash grinding.”
    • “So yeah, you can spend 20 minutes farming money to fully upgrade your stuff, and then the game goes by even faster.”
    • “"Well, it's still pricy as all hell" not if you do some fun grinding!”
  • replayability
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players note that while the main campaign is relatively short, the presence of multiple difficulty modes, secrets, and six playable characters, along with alternate level paths, contributes to a satisfying level of replayability.

    • “My one gripe is that the main campaign is a bit short, but with all of the secrets and multiple difficulty modes, there is a bit of replayability.”
    • “There are six different characters to play and some of the levels have alternate paths to take, so for me there is plenty of replayability.”
  • humor
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a charming sense of humor, highlighted by amusing details and quirky elements throughout its pixelated world. Players appreciate the comedic touches found in treasure chests and upgrade machines, contributing to an overall entertaining experience.

    • “This is a funny little pixelated twinstick shooter.”
    • “The game shines in so many ways, with funny details, treasure chests, upgrade machines, and much more around every turn and bend.”
  • atmosphere
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is highly praised for its captivating neo-retro aesthetic, effectively immersing players in a nostalgic 90s-inspired futuristic world. Reviewers highlight the wonderful blend of retro and futuristic elements that enhance the overall experience.

    • “Great neo-retro atmosphere; a perfect way to plunge into the 90s.”
    • “The atmosphere is wonderful, creating a futuristic-retro world.”
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76%Critics’ scoreBased on 7 critic reviews
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8h Median play time
7h Average play time
5-9h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Tower 57 is a arcade shooter game with horror and science fiction themes.

Tower 57 is available on PC, Mac OS, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 7 hours playing Tower 57.

Tower 57 was released on November 16, 2017.

Tower 57 was developed by benitosub.

Tower 57 has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Tower 57 is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include The Ascent, Strafe, Hellpoint, Rogue Hero, Hidden Deep and others.