The Tower Preview

Steam Next Fest… You evil, evil bastard! Once again, Steam is showcasing an impressive cavalcade of upcoming titles, all with playable demos across a plethora of genres. Today I’m taking a look at The Tower, a first-person shooter from solo developer Kyle Simpson.

Taking the role of a security guard on their first day within one of the most secure buildings in the city, things start out quite mundane. Having an almost Half-Life feel to the start of the demo, your shift starts off calm and serene as the game gently ushers you through your onboarding. This simply consists of grabbing your uniform, attending the shift, briefing then off to patrol a couple of floors in the building.

Things quickly go south as you discover a sole worker still at their desk way after hours, slumped over their keyboard after they’ve seemingly committed sudoku, with their cubicle wall covered in blood and gun on the floor. Upon heading back down to the security room to start on the paperwork, the stairwell explodes knocking you on your arse, and this has gone from feeling like Half-Life to now something more towards movies like Die Hard with a mix of The Raid.

Unknown soldiers have attacked the building, shot the majority of the other security guards and it’s now down to you, on your very first shift, to try and save the day. Forget about picking up fallen weapons though, there seems to be some biometric chip installed for the baddies, as you can’t pick these up from the floor. The demo only contained the prologue and the first two chapters, however, and already I’m rather intrigued by the story for this game. I do love a good FPS title and in the short time it takes to blast through, the shooting already feels pretty solid.

Visually this is also appealing, although there is some weird reflection shenanigans on some surfaces when viewed from an obtuse angle. While office environments aren’t exactly the most thrilling of locales, Kyle has certainly done a decent job in recreating the mundane cubicle lifestyle. This game certainly shows some promise but sadly we don’t have a set release date or even a release window.

The Tower is available to add to your wishlist on Steam and one I’d recommend keeping an eye on.