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Turbo Overkill delivers heart pumping action!

2K View2023-08-15

Turbo Overkill

9.3

Pixel GraphicsGoreRetroFast-pacedFPSActionFirst-PersonCasual

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Turbo Overkill (Reviewed)

Developer: Trigger Happy Interactive

Publisher: Apogee Entertainment

Released: Aug 11th, 2023

Price: $20 USD

Turbo Overkill is a single player cyberpunk FPS action shooter and sounds exactly like what its name implies. The gameplay is comprised of you running and gunning and slaying your way through armies of baddies in completely overkill fashion. If you liked Doom, Quake, Ultrakill or other fast-paced games with a lot of kickass moments and gore. Then this is one game you should not miss.

This isn't a typical "boomer-shooter"; it has a lot of personality that sets it apart from other immensely positive games. It keeps getting better and better the more you play.

Issue

Getting stuck

I flew through the game with minimal downtime, but every now and then I'd find myself in perilous situations where I'd get stuck for a short while and sometimes have to reload my save. However, the portions were I did get trapped were quickly remedied with a rocket or recoil jump. If that wasn't available, the game would respawn your character after a short duration, I found no other issues other than this.

Early Access - Full Release

Much better

The game was recently released from Early Access. However, I first played this game when it was released in episodic style. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time because it wasn't done and had so much opportunity for development, mainly the fact that the progress felt meaningless back then, but now there is purpose.

I could not put it down on my second run into it for 6 hours. Everything was flawless.

Story

Entertaining

You take on the role of Johnny Turbo, who is part man, part cyborg armed with an arsenal of weaponry including a chainsaw that extends from his lower thigh. He was once human, but due to being hunted down by the cities cleaners and blown across the pavement, he had to undergo severe experimental reconstructive surgery.

Johnny returns to his city of Paradise, the entire populace has been taken over by Syn, a renegade AI that wasn't to purge humanity and start over with a form of rebirth. Johnny tackles the difficult duty of annihilating this monster AI before it is too late.

Bounty hunters, corporations, the end of all civilization reaching throughout the entire universe, nothing will stop him from achieving his goal.

Presentation

Fantastic

The fast-paced cadence provided by the music alone helps interest you in the game, to go fast, to be precise, all while having a constant scenery change to avoid becoming stale. I really liked the way they merged together certain moments where the game would switch from normal apocalyptic visuals to a sudden Synthwave right up to dimensional fragmentation. It's just so satisfying to watch it all play out.

While the models and such aren't great, you have to remember that the gameplay is what matters, and the aesthetics help focus your attention on the reality at hand, the gameplay. You wouldn't want to suddenly slow down to take in the view.

It hosts great voice acting and a compelling story that keeps you wondering what Johnny will get himself into next. The game is not taking itself too seriously and does everything perfectly to replicate a classic while also feeling current and fresh.

Features

Memes & References
There are numerous hidden features throughout the game, ranging from NFT-hate to stupid dance clubs and moments that poke fun at the player, as well as references to many other games such as Terminator, Doom, Quake, and others. It's quite satisfying.

While also being side splittingly funny at moments where you just don't expect it.

Vehicle Transportation

It doesn't sound like much, but I enjoyed the portions where I was racing around on a motorcycle or hopping into a S.A.M.M integrated AI car and mowing down all the strong monsters I couldn't defeat on foot. It definitely helped mix things up a bit as to not cause excessive exhaustion with the same chainsaw-slide speed-running.

Collections

It wouldn't be a classic shooter without some amusing game-changing affects that can make the game more intriguing or downright brutal and next level impossible, such as the augment that stops healing and allows you to heal only on kills.

Besides this, there are secret levels, which unlock as you find cassettes around each stage or data chips for the tech-chip selection. It gives you reason to explore.

Campaign & Endless Modes

If you don't want to play the campaign for whatever reason, or if you've already completed the game. Endless is an additional game mode available to you at any time, this is an arena stage of your choice which allows you to face off against ever increasingly difficult waves of monsters until you ultimately perish.

It's fun for what it is, and can be more fun if you're trying for a high score, but I personally really liked the campaign more even if it was linear.

Conclusion

This is a game you should not pass up
Whether it's because of the delightful dialogue or the straight up smack talk that the villains will occasionally throw your way, or because of the raw gameplay available.

The positive response from all communities is greatly deserved. It's not just a game; it's an experience in and of itself. I'm delighted it has finally emerged from Early Access in full force, rather than disappointing their community which often happens.

You can easily spend 15+ hours with this game just for the story, unless you rush through it, in which case it will be around 10 hours.

This concludes my views of this game; while my opinions may be met with criticism, that is what distinguishes gamers; you don't have to like the same things as others, nor do you have to agree with them.

If you want to catch me on one of my streams or locate me on social media, you may do so at the following locations, I'm always playing something new.

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- Pawkt