Home > Tornado Tower Puts a Twist on Platforming that Refreshes a Stale Genre
Tornado Tower is a game developed for VR. It is an indie game and was shown during The MIX at E3 2017. The game is slated to launch for Oculus Rift and requires the Oculus Touch as well. For those who don’t know, Tornado Tower is a 3rd person platforming game where you play as two characters to traverse a world looking for gate keys and other loot.
I was at The MIX and walked up to Tornado Tower. The presenter asked if I wanted to try it out and, obviously, I said yes. I mean, what else is the point of me being there if I wasn’t going to try everything out that I could in the allotted amount of time?
Now one thing off the bat that stood out about Tornado Tower was that it wasn’t 1st person like most other VR games I have had the pleasure of trying out. You normally are taking the role of the main character and playing through the game 1st person. Boring.
This has been done to death and one reason why I enjoyed Tornado Tower. You got to play 3rd person and get a wider field of view for the level of which you were traversing. You could literally turn around to look at the opposite part of the world, find something you missed, and figure out how to get it.
Not sure how long I played the demo, but it didn’t have any real strict time constraints like other E3 demos because, for one, it wasn’t at the main show. This was an event dedicated to indies that was going on after the main show closed and a few blocks away on a roof top.
Not everyone was allowed in and this kept it more personal than seeing the Mario demo with a hired person whose job was to showcase the game. I was actually able to get shown the demo by the producer of the game, who gave me some tips throughout my playthrough.
Kelsey Coffman, producer of Tornado Tower, was an excellent presenter for the game. Unlike a couple other presenters at the event, she knew the game and wasn’t shy about showing it off. I put the VR headset on and off into the game I went.
You started off looking at pretty much a side scrolling game. You run from left to right and jump to other platforms. Simple to grasp and easy to understand. This mechanic has been done so much that anyone can pick it up. It is the unique spin on it that gave Tornado Tower its appeal.
The Wind Spirit is one unique spin to the side scrolling experience that made Tornado Tower so fun. You are able to form wind tunnels in different directions, hop inside of them, and be blown across to the other side. These can be formed in all angles and are required to get over certain obstacles.
I ran around, creating wind tunnels, and navigating the demo stage being shown. I got stuck from time to time and Kelsey would say, “Look around and see what you can find!” She was excited when I spotted a clue to unlock something to help me continue further along in the level.
This could have been a key, a switch, or just about anything else you can think of to hinder progress in a game like this. I had tons of fun just running around, or even just looking around for that matter. The game was beautiful and the graphics worked well – I didn’t notice any framerate drops.
Tornado Tower was one of those VR games that made me want to get a headset of my own. It is a game that is both fun and challenging, as I wasn’t able to finish the demo. I played for at least 10 minutes before I decided to give the other people a chance at the game.
I didn’t want to hold up the line, if there was one. I was unaware because of the VR aspect of the game. It is pretty hard to notice a line or crowd forming around you when immersed in a VR environment. Those two aspects are what made the game fun for me: VR and the Wind Spirit.
Both of these were unique in a game of this type. I’m not saying they have never been done before, but that they made the game more appealing. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to turn my head around and see more of the level. This really helped solve several of the puzzles that I needed to do.
The Wind Spirit helped traverse the wide gaps; however, there were a couple gaps I couldn’t cross. The presenters told me I needed to make multiple wind tunnels, but I was unable to figure out how to do such. I didn’t ask, so guess that is why I never learned. This wasn’t a flaw with the game. I just think I had another puzzle to do first that I didn’t find.
Overall, Tornado Tower was both fun and challenging. It put a spin on the side scrolling mechanic and brought a new feel to the classic platformer genre. VR was done well. The graphics were fluid without any noticeable frame rate drops, and the puzzles were just challenging enough to be fun. I would recommend the game to friends and family alike.
About the Author:
Austin Dickson
Austin Dickson is the owner and founder of Link's Hideaway. He enjoys writing when he is not actively developing software or operating his e-commerce business. Austin has knowledge of most things Zelda, but is always open to learning more!
