Have you ever taken a bite out of a piece of fruit only to find it’s rotten inside? We found ourselves in a similar situation with new release Mad Tower Tycoon on Xbox (also out on PS4 and Switch.)
After sitting down with a cup of coffee and a mince pie (hey, it’s almost December) we soon found that it has launched in an unplayable state due to game-breaking bugs.
Just so you know what we’re dealing with, this tower management sim follows in the footsteps of Project Highrise and the cult classic SimTower. It’s up to you to create a money-making skyscraper by shrewdly placing apartments, offices, retail outlets, facilities and attractions.
After fumbling through the text-based tutorial we soon noticed that something wasn’t quite right – the bulbous-headed citizens – including the vital workforce – came to an abrupt standstill, juddering on the spot. We thought maybe the game was paused, or an event had occurred, but no – we were able to recreate the issue shortly after starting a new game. This renders progression impossible.
Trying our hand at the scenario mode, we encountered another issue. This one is more of a colossal oversight rather than a glitch. Amazingly, it’s impossible to build anything in any of the ten-or-so scenarios – trying to do so prompts a message informing “You don’t own this building.â€
Initially, it felt like we had missed something, or perhaps the scenarios were based around making do with what’s already built, but a couple of mission objectives are based around construction. One tower, for instance, requires new solar panels…which are impossible to place.
Heading to the TrueAchievement forums, we soon found other gamers in the same situation, confirming that it’s unplayable at present. So, consider our review on hold for now. It isn’t clear wether the PS4 and Switch versions are affected, but we suggest approaching with caution.
We reached out to publisher Toplitz and developer Eggcode Games on Twitter last Friday, asking for help or feedback, but are still awaiting a response. We really hope a patch is imminent as it’s due a retail release in a matter of weeks. Eek!