Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory was developed by Neverland and published by Konami. This game was released in 2005 for PlayStation Portable, it is an action game that contains a few light RPG elements but for the most part the gameplay is based on hack-and-slash with some dungeon crawling.
A.D.A.M. is the playable mech, or android in this case. As he destroys other bots he gains more power which is essentially the same as leveling up with experience points. You can also harvest weapons and other items from the wreckage and use them to customize A.D.A.M. You will also be able to find some interesting items located in various crates. Each weapon has an energy rating and it will drain as you use it, requiring you to make more trips to the terminal to recharge it.
Deficient Depth of Gameplay
Backtracking is something you’ll have to get used to in Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory. At times you will face bots that are superior to you in every way. Your only real choice is to go back and kill some more bots until you gain the appropriate power level to take the tougher ones on.
Another aspect of the game that you’ll have to get used to is redundancy. The control system also lacks depth and regardless of what weapon you’re equipped with all of the battles result in button mashing. While traipsing through similar looking levels you will locate enemy bots inside familiar looking rooms.
Locking onto your target, you blast away until someone dies. The only skill required is the ability to muster up enough patience to continue doing this until the end of the game which thankfully comes rather quickly.
Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory Features
All of the levels, rooms, and the majority of enemies look the same. There’s not a lot of variation and this can cause you to get lost in some of the environments which are devoid of landmarks that you could use to mark your position. At least there’s a map of the levels to help guide you but it’s not a good design consideration to make the player so reliant on it.
The bots have a uniquely futuristic look to them. They don’t suffer from Transformer-ism. By far the best feature in this game is the four-player Deathmatch mode. Here’s a chance to use some strategy and skill. There’s a weapon and item-trading mode that lets you trade your goodies with other players. The beauty of Rengoku lies in its randomly generated level design to keep the game fresh as well as a wireless multiplayer mode.
Is It Worth The Money?
From a visual standpoint Rengoku is looking mighty fine and at least looks right in line with anything you’d currently find on the aging PS2. There are also a lot better Deathmatch modes out there and this is no reason to purchase this game. If a player is curious about this game or if this style of gaming is a player thing it is worth looking further into, however, a rental would do just fine.