Tesla vs Lovecraft Review

(Review Code Was Provided For This Review)

The initial concept although promising; taking a literary legend and an irreplaceable inventor and pitting them against one and other. Unfortunately this tantalizing concept is nothing more than a framing with a squandered potential in what is a truly interesting mash up. With little homages to Lovecraft scattered throughout with the game taking place in Arkham but not fully exploring the exesstential horror which is one of core themes in Lovecraftian literature. However despite a disappointing narrative or lack of; Tesla Vs Lovecraft makes up for it in a variety of ways.

Firstly the core gameplay is some of the most fluid and intense I’ve ever experienced in a twin stick shooter. Starting simple with a few tutorial levels to explain the mechanics, aside from the standard twin stick shooting the game offers a teleport mechanic as well as War Pigeon. A giant mech. Easily my favourite part of the whole game, offering twice the fire power and is a real game changer adding to frantic chaos unfolding. This is only temporary and you have to scavenge together the parts again. Which encourages constant moving a necessity in order to survive the hordes.

Speaking of the hordes the lovecraftian beasts are able to swarm you in impress numbers at one point having over one hundred enemies chasing after me. The enemies are themselves fairly generic with the more weaker of the enemies being spiderlings and amphibious like zombies it’s not until further into the chaos that the more interesting and horrific enemies arrive. The power up system coupled with perks and leveling helps make every encounter feel different and forces the player to choose between two choices every level up. This progress is reset every time the level is over irregardless of success or failure. Their is, in addition to the in level progression an overarching crystal system that you can choose between additional teleport more War Pigeon armour etc. The problem with this is despite the gaming crystals constantly its normally a small about cutting a fine line between rewarding or becoming a grindfest. This problem is somewhat mitigated after the first completion of the Arkham landscape.

All the systems naturally feed into one and other kill enemies get crystals, beat Lovecraft once crystals appear in level from then on. I’ve alluded to the idea of multiple playthroughs this is true, in a sense. The Arkham town descends more into a lovecraftian nightmare each time you beat Lovecraft. The story mode isn’t the only game mode on offer, survival is exactly what it says on the tin the quintessential horde mode which is a great addition and fun at the time of writing I was number one in the world on the games leaderboard which I’m sure will have changed upon reading this. The other mode is a co op advent allowing up to four friends to join you in the horror slaughter fest.

Level design is also varied. Ranging from the city streets outside Tesla’s burning lap to dingy docks to the cosmic realms. Tesla vs Lovecraft is visually gorgeous with the bright neon aesthetic make the colours really pop along with the monsters insides. With a genuinely fist pumping soundtrack, to compliment the beautiful visuals and enhance the anarchy unfolding at your fingertips. Finally i’d like to make note of the ease of access features in the fact the controls are able to be remapped. This is a feature that should be an essential and is a great from a great game.

10tons have created a fun and addictive twin stick shooter that although shows promise of a unique mash up of science fiction and science fact the theme is criminally underutilised. That being said where Tesla Vs Lovecraft gets things it really does this game justice and those visuals mixed with gameplay and a heart pumping soundtrack will keep me coming back. If you aren’t a fan of the genre Tesla Vs Lovecraft isn’t reinventing the core game play, and that’s okay but won’t turn non fans. Despite this its a stand out shooter and if you are a fan of other twin stick shooters you’ll love this lovecraftian game.

It will be ingesting if this is a one off jaunt or if Tesla will be versing any other horrors only time and my persistent nagging for information will tell. Tesla vs Lovecraft gets my stump of approval.