For indie developers, roguelikes are big enough that you can't seem to go a few weeks before stumbling upon one or two on the PC market. Their influence is large enough that their mechanics can now be found in a host of other genres. Puzzle games like Ironcast, for example, contain roguelike elements as a major part of the game, as do platformers like Spelunky. Now first-person shooters have gotten into the mix with Tower of Guns.

The first thing to note about the plot is that each playthrough has a different plot. Sometimes, a fellow robot treats every level like a tutorial while other levels replace the robot with a general or butler. Some playthroughs make it so that you're an heiress trying to find your father's lost fortune, or you're a soldier tasked with climbing the tower, or you're a secret agent trying to take important documents from the top. It is purposefully inconsistent as far as storytelling goes, and the importance of the plotlines is emphasized when you can shut out story dialogue altogether. In other words, plot is the last thing to look for here.

Tower of Guns starts off simply enough. You choose the gun you want to use for the rest of the game as well as the perk you want. Your choices are rather limited at first, as your starting weapon can either be a pistol or saw blade thrower, and the ability to perform triple-jumps or avoid fall damage. From there, you enter the tower and blast your way up. Every room you encounter is filled with enemies, and every few rooms end with a boss encounter. Should you die or when you beat the game, you're thrown back into the main menu with the chance to go through again, with either a different set of weapons and perks or the same ones used before.

As alluded to before, Tower of Guns is roguelike in nature — and not just in the area of permadeath. Though the first stage is consistent with its theme with the exception of a few milestone playthroughs, the rest can vary from a gear warehouse to a foundry to an area where the blue skies are visible. Level layout is randomized within these themes, so no two encounters are the same. One room can be completely vertical but might lead into another that's completely horizontal, or the room may feature blocks with various abilities, like better jumping or slower speed. Enemies also follow that same pattern, as does the appearance of temporary and permanent power-ups. No matter what, you can get perks and guns that carry over as new selectable items on your next playthrough, so there is a sense of progress even if you die early and often.

One of the more interesting things about the game is your weapon XP. Instead of gaining XP for your character, you power up your guns as you kill enemies and pick up blue orbs. Every weapon has a max limit of five, and while the guns don't change in terms of firing rate and spread (without modifications), you can change the damage output as a result of leveling. Getting hit by enemies reduces your health and weapon XP, so you may level down in the process. It is a very interesting system balance that can make you more skittish instead of bold.

The randomization for just about everything is enough to keep one on his toes, but what makes it all function well together is the title's adherence to older first-person shooter mechanics. For example, no reloading is done at any time, nor is it needed thanks to an unlimited ammo system. With the action coming in fast, reloading would slow things down and break the overall flow. Also, the game is big on secret areas, and since it doesn't require you to clear out a room of enemies before moving on, you'll likely miss the false walls and nooks in each room. More observant players will be rewarded with more perks or larger weapon XP shards, so it pays to be adventurous, even with the hordes at your tail.

Tower of Guns features three modes, though they feel rather similar. Story is your default mode, and it's purposefully short since the designers wanted the game to be playable in short bursts. There are roughly six stages of randomized enemies and levels, but getting to the end requires a bit of luck with the randomizer and lots of skill. Dice Roll adds special quirks to every room that are designed to help you or hurt you. Everything from making all of the pickups cash or adding an extra burst of speed to your movements makes it all fresh. Finally, there's Endless mode, which lets you go as far as possible while letting you build up a score that's posted to a global leaderboard.

The imperfections are few, considering the simple approach of the title, but they are noticeable. Most of the boss fights are easy enough unless you have your weapon at the lowest power. It doesn't take too many shots to down the bosses, and with the exception of the spike wall boss, circle strafing makes short work of them. Also, while you can track how many of the temporary perks you've picked up, there's no way to highlight those perks to see what they do. Compared to the PC version, where you can do this, the collection screen is less useful in the Xbox One iteration. Finally, there just isn't much enemy variety. With the exception of the bosses, you'll face the same types of turrets and drones in each room, and while they can come at you in overwhelming numbers, you won't encounter a new enemy type no matter how many times you play. It also means you'll have room to improve since you have no big surprises to hinder your progress.

The graphics are both stylized and a little bland. The game goes for a graphic novel style that doesn't have thick black lines all over the place, but it embraces black lines for gritty detail. The draw distance for these rather closed environments is great, and the frame rate remains rock solid, no matter how many enemies or explosions are on-screen at the same time. The lighting is also good, though there are a few instances when the bloom is just a bit much, and the screen can suffer from tearing a few times when you turn. What's striking is how the title doesn't really take advantage of the graphic novel style by using a plethora of colors. The game mostly sports a somewhat monotonous color scheme throughout each level, and that dulls the appearance quite a bit.

Likewise, the sound works but doesn't do much else. The effects work just fine, and the lack of voices is also expected considering how randomized the story can get. The music works well, but the pieces tend to be short and repeat at a faster rate than expected. Each new environment comes with a new track, but they all sound quite similar.

Tower of Guns is a nice application of the roguelike formula to the first-person shooter genre. The old-school mechanics fit in well with the game's pure randomization to create an addictive experience no matter how many times you go through it. Though the title could use some more variety in enemy types and boss fights and the presentation could be a little better, there's no denying that the experience is fun enough to constantly beckon for just one more round. If you don't mind mindless shooting, Tower of Guns comes highly recommended.

Score: 8.0/10