Greetings and welcome, I'm ash and today I would like to talk to you about
Turbo Overkill, which true to its name, is a celebration of over-the-top action,
completely unphased by such silly little things like common sense or the laws of
physics. Your guns can rip and tear enemies into thousands of little pieces, you can barrel through
the levels at such insane speeds you might have trouble even seeing what you're trying to hit,
and the fact that you have a chainsaw leg isn't even the best bit!
Considering that Turbo Overkill's arsenal contains things like the gigantic chaingun that doubles as
a flamethrower, it might come as quite a surprise to hear that it's actually the movement that
made me so enamored with Turbo Overkill. The gunplay is great, don't get me wrong,
but nothing can compare with the ability to fly across the map at ridiculous speeds that
you end up discovering all of the areas where the developers forgot to seal off the play area!
Once you get all of the relevant upgrades you'll not only be able to run faster than a horse, but
also dash multiple times in any direction, propels yourself forward thanks to your chainsaw leg,
and even do four jumps while in mid-air thanks to wall-bouncing!
Combine that with wall-running spots and boost pads found throughout the levels, and
you'll be able to pick up so much speed the poor enemies just won't know what to do with you.
The only issue I had with the movement mechanics was the slippery acceleration that made
every surface feel like it was made of buttered ice. However, in a refreshing little twist, that
turned out to be an upgrade I could turn on and off! So depending on if I was platforming across
skyscrapers or dueling hordes of enemies in close quarters where stopping for even a second means
death, I would just switch to the appropriate mode and thus end up with the best of both worlds.
That said, you don't get these upgrades for free. Some you need to purchase with coins that drop
from enemies, and others you need to collect by hunting down secrets within the levels themselves.
While there are the usual assortment of absurdly hidden secrets to uncover,
pretty much all of the gameplay-altering collectibles are signposted and can be secured
after a little bit of snooping around. Another bit of good news is that none of
the collectibles or secrets are pointless padding. They'll either give you powerful
weapons and pick-up, or if you collect each of the two sets of special collectibles,
access to bonus content! This includes things like modifiers to make your next subsequent run through
a level more interesting, as well as an optional horde mode to really challenge your skills.
All of this stuff is entirely optional, so if you don't like hunting for secrets and trying
death-defying jumps in the vein hope it might lead to a bunch of goodies,
free free to simply focus on slicing through hordes of enemies and getting the occasional
upgrade as you run across it. You really won't miss out on much for your first playthrough.
Speaking of slicing things, it's finally time we get into the meat of things - the
combat. Like I mentioned earlier you do indeed have a chainsaw for a leg, and yes,
it's just as awesome as it sounds! Using it launches you into a slide, and the faster
you move the more damage you'll do and the further you'll be able to carve through hordes.
So if you've picked up some solid speed and have a bunch of baddies positioned directly in front,
you can magically transform them into pools of blood and glorious pixelated giblets.
The actual weapons are a pretty good time as well, because despite this only being
the Early Access version, Turbo Overkill has a rather large assortment of high-powered toys.
Best of all, besides the primary fire on the beginner pistol,
every single weapon and alternate firing mode is useful in the right situation.
The automatic shotgun can alternatively be used to electrocute enemies and make them take more
damage, the dual machine guns can be combined to create a precision rifle, while even the basic
pistol can be used to lock-on to enemy heads and take out a swarm of weaklings without wasting
any time. So even though I would've liked to see some more outlandish weapons rather than
the usual 'boomer shooter' fare, the way they have been incorporated and balanced feels great.
Another thing that feels great, and this probably reflects badly upon my psyche,
is the way the enemies fall apart and explode as you unload obscene levels of firepower into them.
Smaller enemies get torn into shreds when hit by a shotgun, while bigger ones get progressively
bloodier until they too decide it's time to separate into a million pieces. The chainsaw
slide is probably the most satisfying one out of the bunch here as not only does it looks
visually visceral, but the sound of the chainsaw tearing through enemies combined with the sound
of you sliding through a wet meaty soup really sells how brutally powerful the attack is.
Unfortunately, the sound design for the weapons themselves still needs a fair bit of work.
Some like the chaingun sound punchy and make you feel like you're really unleashing your
entire paycheck in bullets upon some hapless foe, while both of the shotguns just kind of go 'bang'.
The impact they have on the enemies is great,
but the shotguns just don't have that bassy quality to them to make them feel
like they're truly capable of tearing a hole straight through someone's face.
The levels also look good despite the intentionally dated art style. While
I'm personally not the biggest fan of the style, even though I grew up alongside the FPS classics
of old, I can definitely appreciate the effort that went into Turbo Overkill's presentation.
There's a lot of details scattered throughout the world, and while the textures may be muddy,
the dreary and neon-lit Cyberpunk aesthetic shines all the way through.
As for the level design, it's mostly a series of interconnected arenas and set pieces,
with the occasional secret sprinkled throughout to keep you on your toes.
It's not so complex that you'll get lost, and it's also not so simple that it feels like you're just
being strung from along from one encounter to another. Turbo Overkill strikes a pretty good
balance here, and outside of some intended paths being a bit too obtuse, it does a great job of
keeping the pace up and letting you make the best use out of the magnificent movement mechanics.
Music also does a lot of heavy lifting in regards to pacing, since it both provides the backdrop for
your senseless slaughter and simultaneously helps build the Cyberpunk atmosphere.
I know absolutely nothing about music theory so describing all of this is basically impossible,
so allow me to instead show you some samples.
Since this is Turbo Overkill's Early Access launch, the final thing worth talking about
is the amount and quality of content on offer. Well, I'm happy to say that Turbo Overkill is
pretty solid on both fronts. The first chapter took me some 5
hours to complete, and if you're willing to hunt for secrets and engage with some of the
bonus levels and difficulty modifiers, you can stretch that playtime for quite a few more.
So for the very first Early Access version, I'd say this
is a very respectable amount of stuff to mess around with.
Similarly, if someone had told me this was a demo for the full version of Turbo Overkill,
I would've believed them because it's a very polished shooter. Besides breaking free from
the confines of the map a couple of times because I was searching for secrets a bit too diligently,
I've ran across only one bug in my entire playthrough - a door wouldn't open so I had
to reload a checkpoint. So if this is the sort of polish Turbo Overkill has prepared for its beta
version, I can't wait to see what happens once we're closer to its full release!
With fast-paced movement mechanics and some highly satisfying gunplay,
Turbo Overkill is an excellent example of what the whole 'boomer shooter' genre is all about.
More importantly, it's also a game I already want to play more of, which for an Early Access shooter
really does say a lot. So whether you're planning
to dive in yourself or just wait and see what happens, I'd definitely recommend
keeping an eye on Turbo Overkill moving forward. It really does have a lot of potential!
Thank you guys for watching, and if you enjoyed this, or even if you didn't, please
do let me know. If you would like to see more like this make sure to subscribe, hit the stupid bell,
pet your chainsaw, and do whatever other nonsense you gotta do these days.
Thank you again, and I do hope to see you soon! Bye, bye!