The headline is this: Turbo Overkill is SO FRICKIN FUN. This is an indie (I think) take on a Doom 2016/Eternal -- old school shootin' with HD graphics, big guns and platforming -- but the twist is you have a chainsaw leg that absolutely RIPS through enemies.
Because this is an episodic game with three distinct campaigns taking about 15 hours total to run through, the pacing almost feels like you're playing a trilogy of small games rather than one large one. You can tell the developers learned where they wanted to take their vision for Turbo Overkill as they developed it through the early access process, and in many ways you see improvements in episodes 2/3 over the first.
It packs so much in here. Bosses, platforming segments, vehicular sections, labyrinthian levels with keys, arena style encounters, wave-based encounters, and an enormous breadth of environmental/art design that betrays the cookie cutter cyberpunk story you begin the game with.
While this is impressive, this massive scope is also what holds Turbo Overkill back from being one of the greatest shooters of all time. There's too much of it! Most levels are 30 minutes long and feel like they should be 15-20, and nearly all of the gimmicky sections like boss fights and vehicle sections get overindulgent. At a certain point it just keeps throwing waves of the same enemy types, and while the gunplay feels great, it can get exhausting.
But if you like nu-Doom and want a boomer shooter that feels more like that game than a shooter from 1999, I can't recommend TO enough. The weapons feel great, the alt-fires rock, and ripping through enemies sliding around on a chainsaw leg like a fricked up Tony Hawk feels ethereal. And the story, for as clunky as it can get at times, is a pretty funny take on a grim sci-fi narrative.
So while you have to put up with a bit, I ultimately think doing so is worth it because on the other side of that friction is some of the most fun first person shooting I've probably ever played.
P.S. It works great on Steam Deck now! Set it to 40 fps in your device-level settings and go nuts! But turn off auto-aim. You probably don't need it and I think it's way too aggressive.
Because this is an episodic game with three distinct campaigns taking about 15 hours total to run through, the pacing almost feels like you're playing a trilogy of small games rather than one large one. You can tell the developers learned where they wanted to take their vision for Turbo Overkill as they developed it through the early access process, and in many ways you see improvements in episodes 2/3 over the first.
It packs so much in here. Bosses, platforming segments, vehicular sections, labyrinthian levels with keys, arena style encounters, wave-based encounters, and an enormous breadth of environmental/art design that betrays the cookie cutter cyberpunk story you begin the game with.
While this is impressive, this massive scope is also what holds Turbo Overkill back from being one of the greatest shooters of all time. There's too much of it! Most levels are 30 minutes long and feel like they should be 15-20, and nearly all of the gimmicky sections like boss fights and vehicle sections get overindulgent. At a certain point it just keeps throwing waves of the same enemy types, and while the gunplay feels great, it can get exhausting.
But if you like nu-Doom and want a boomer shooter that feels more like that game than a shooter from 1999, I can't recommend TO enough. The weapons feel great, the alt-fires rock, and ripping through enemies sliding around on a chainsaw leg like a fricked up Tony Hawk feels ethereal. And the story, for as clunky as it can get at times, is a pretty funny take on a grim sci-fi narrative.
So while you have to put up with a bit, I ultimately think doing so is worth it because on the other side of that friction is some of the most fun first person shooting I've probably ever played.
P.S. It works great on Steam Deck now! Set it to 40 fps in your device-level settings and go nuts! But turn off auto-aim. You probably don't need it and I think it's way too aggressive.
Every time an action game boasts about its mobility options, I'm gonna compare it to this game.