My Review of Tower Unite

General
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NOTE: This review was was written to use as a sample review for a writing/journalism position I am interested in. Please leave any comments, feedback.

Game: Tower Unite
Genre: Massively Multiplayer
Developer: PixelTail Games
Publisher: PixelTail Games

GMOD Tower was a popular mod in Garry’s Mod that was first introduced in 2009. It was a place for players to participate in a variety of game modes, purchase furniture for their in game condos, and party with their Steam friends at the club next to the casino. The mod got so popular in fact, that the creators of Garry’s Mod had to increase server sizes to support the rush of players. Seven years later, those same developers decided it was time to make their mod into a full game, and one failed Kickstarter and over funded Indiegogo later, we were given our first taste of Tower Unite.

Tower Unite in it’s current state unfortunately suffers from some of the issues that come with being an early access title; “Coming Soon” signs in the main menu and littered around the ‘plaza’ (a HUB where all players can que for games, visit stores to purchase items, gamble in the casino, etc.), “unfinished” tags on items, optimization issues, and of course, bugs. Post early access the game promises ten different game modes (currently offers five although only four of them actually work), Steam workshop support, and a fully working arcade just to name a few. So now that we know everything that the game lacks as of the latest update, is what currently is available worth the purchase? Honestly, yes.

While the game may lack some of it’s anticipated core features and game modes, it offers hours of enjoyment as it stands. The activities are endless in Tower Unite, and when one gets repetitive, you can easily switch to something new. There is no main goal in this game: each player lives and participates in each own’s world as they please. You can gamble in the casino, which currently offers Double or Nothing, Wheel of money, and seven other ways to gain (or lose) money. You can play the game worlds currently offered; Mini Golf (classic mini golf with fun, unique maps), Ball Race (the developer’s version of Super Monkey Ball), Virus (players start off with weapons, try to shoot and kill zombies before they tag and “infect” them), and Little Crusaders (small knights try to push the button on the back of a dragon without being eaten). All players can connect to a plaza nearest to them, which allows them to interact with other players, visit shops, and participate in events. And one of the more important features, condo customization. Players earn points (called units) by playing games and participating in events which can be used to purchase different furniture items and pieces which can be placed in very customizable condos (players can purchase different condos, change wallpaper and carpet designs, change visitor permissions, etc). And that is only to name a few things to do off the top of my head.

And as happy as I am with in it’s current state (and my excitement for future updates), something I appreciate the most about the game is it’s developers’ transparency. PixelTail Games has a history of letting it’s player base know exactly what they are working on at all times. Within the games menu, you can access a link to their Trello Roadmap. Their Trello is updated almost daily with detailed cards and categories explaining what they are currently working on, and what we can be expecting in the future. Along with their Trello, on their website we can find Daily Dev Logs; a detailed list of every developer’s workings for that day. As someone who has constantly been burned by both indie and triple A developers, it is a nice change of scenery for a developer to care about being open to their player base.

Summary
Tower Unite offers a unique social multiplayer game experience with its variety of game worlds, player and housing customizations, and interactive plaza for meeting, shopping, and participating in events. With no main goal, you can feel free to play and participate anywhere you want in this game’s large world (except of course for the “Coming Soon” signs that may stop a few of your explorations). The game may be in early access, but it’s current content and future potential make it an easy buy at $14.99. Plus, you can easily see when the game’s next update is about to drop with it’s developers open Trello and Daily Dev Logs.

Reviewer note(s): a description of the game world Planet Panic was purposely left out as the game mode is unplayable at it’s current state due to bugs. The developers have stated they will be re making the game world in the future.

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Pretty good review overall. My only gripe is that Massively Multiplayer isn’t a genre as it says nothing about the gameplay. Massively Multiplayer is just a format, like saying a game is single player or multiplayer. The genre of Tower Unite is Virtual World (which by definition, are always massively multiplayer).

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Looks good! This is a very nice and honest overview of the game. I would have preferred a bit more details on what exactly you didn’t enjoy (and maybe a bit more of what you did as well), but for what it’s worth it’s a solid review. Now then, on the topic of feedback, I’ve found a fair number of little things. Since you’re looking to use this for employment, I figured I wouldn’t skimp on the criticisms. Hopefully these points help:

Should be its, not it’s. A minor mistake, but you want as few of them, don’t you?

This is worded oddly, as it’s a two-part list item. Despite being the first item in the list, there’s the present “and” which usually dictates the end of one.

It looks weird to me seeing ’ around plaza and " around other titles, but I’m not sure if this is breaking any rules. As far as I can tell, it’s fine, but I figured I’d bring it up anyways.

Hub probably doesn’t need to be capitalized here. It’s not an acronym nor is it meant to be stylized like that.

I’d slide an “it” in before “currently.”

The “although only four of them actually work” part feels like an aside to an aside. You might restructure this area to get only one aside going, otherwise it feels a bit weird to read.

Another mixup of “it’s” and “its.” You probably already know this, but “it’s” can be substituted with “it is,” so it’s a good idea to read it as its expanded substitute when proofreading.

You could probably trade that colon out for a semicolon.

It feels like you’re trying to make the singular player into a plural. This sentence flows a bit oddly as a result.

Minor capitalization error here; it should be “Wheel of Money” instead of “Wheel of money.”

I think Minigolf is the proper spelling, that being without a space. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s any regional differences with this.

Another minor error. We have multiple developers, not just one, so you should use “developers’” instead.

I’d replace “nearest” with “near” since no one’s forced to play on the server closest to them.

This doesn’t stand as its own sentence; you should revise it. This is also a great place to use a colon.

This is a rather long sentence. I’d try breaking it up a bit more.

It’s generally bad form to start any sentence with “and.” Try another transitional word instead.

Some more minor errors. You’re missing an “it” before “in its.” You guessed it, another instance of “its” and “it’s.”

A couple more “it’s” vs. “its” errors. Again, rather minor but worth pointing out.

Remember that colon/semicolon trade we made earlier? A semicolon doesn’t work here since the part after it isn’t a complete sentence, but a colon would fit perfectly!

For consistency’s sake, it’d be a good idea to turn that “it is” into an “it’s.”

One last hoorah for the “it’s” and “its” error!

“Re making” should be changed to “re-making.”

Again, this was a solid review. I know there’s a lot of stuff in my criticism, but I genuinely thought you did a good job with this. The fact that most of my complaints were editing related should be enough to say that the actual content was well thought out. Good job, and good luck with the position!

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Man, I really have to train myself to watch for its and it’s. Definitely going to make these corrections in my document. Thanks a bunch!

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Is there a limit as for how long this has to be, or any guidelines about length?

If possible, I’d give each gameworld its own paragraph, since those are probably the most thrilling parts about the game, and the things that really make Tower unique. Doing this can get lengthy, however, so I’d only attempt if you have the ink left for it.

I love the article though, you describe Tower pretty well!

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Arkive, you da real MVP on these forums.