Turbo Overkill Episode 2 by developer Trigger Happy Interactive and publisher Apogee Entertainment—PC (Steam) preview written by Pierre-Yves with a copy originally provided by the publisher for Episode 1.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Still within Early Access, but having been right in time for a spooky Halloween, Trigger Happy Interactive and Apogee Entertainment's Turbo Overkill received an Episode 2. Starting right up after the events of Episode 1, this extremely fast paced first person shooter has upped the stakes as Syn has taken over paradise and you now need to get the hell out of dodge.
Having somehow lost my save data for Episode 1, which is required to get into Episode 2, I can still firmly state that Turbo Overkill Episode 1 is a wild ride. Whether or not that was part of the Early Access development cycle as I did see an upgrade for save files and checkpoints? I didn’t mind it as replaying Episode 1 made sure that I was up to speed for Episode 2 which I felt was tougher than Episode 1. So, it's a good thing that unlike others out there, Turbo Overkill Episode 2 lets you keep everything that you've already unlocked, gives you new upgrades, new weapons and doesn't remove anything from your arsenal. It only adds more!
This is something that I really appreciated as the only new learning curves are the new stage designs and enemy types that you'll now be facing. Starting with the new stages, they don't waste any time to break you in. While it could be a bit rough if you've had some time away, it probably wouldn't take long before you're back to running, gunning and chainsaw legging your way through hordes of enemies that you know by heart at this point.
Stage designs continue to be a mix of passageways, open spaces and some clever platforming to make it through. Where things can really start to get hectic though are with newly introduced corruption zones that only allow you the use of a specific weapon. The good thing about this though is that while stuck with only one weapon? It has unlimited ammo. So good or bad with it, you'll have the chance to practice!
Other new elements are the introduction to both a grappling hook letting you almost be Spider-Man in some cases and a motorcycle sequence that replaces your car from the first. Starting with the grappling hook, this can be used for a variety of things from actually hooking onto points to advance the level design to using it in combat. The motorcycle sequence however is where I was both wowed and maybe a bit frustrated. It moves fast, perhaps too fast and without slick controls? It makes your escape from a giant eyeball shooting what I'll call sunbeams at you rather difficult. You can slow down, but then that puts you at risk of enemy fire. There is an option for first or third person views but regardless, this was a hefty learning curve in order to figure it all out.
Continuing to add to the mayhem though are the new enemy types that are thrown into the mix. With the old batch, you know what types do what and which ones should be taken out first. You've already built a process of elimination. Now? While some of the new types are thrown at you in a "hey look at these!", "These" range from alright that's neat to the dev's sadistic side has really started to show.
Ranging from small and super annoying flying types to hulking masses that can destroy you in one or two hits, there was a bit of a learning curve but in a good way. These new enemies up the challenge factor and add to the experience instead of simply continuing on the same vein as Episode 1.
Where things don't quite work as well is often in how these new enemies are thrown at you. Episode 1 had a good balance of when and how to throw bigger challenges at you. Episode 2's balance is a bit out of whack as you'll often have to go through 2-4 phase encounters against increasingly hard to survive situations. It's really going to take everything you have learned and then some to pass these fights as if you're taken out? That's it. Restart the battle sequence from the last checkpoint which is most often the beginning of the battle.
This is where I started to get a bit frustrated as it was no longer a case of "Surprise! Look at this hard encounter to end a stage." It was instead a here we go again… there's more? Come. On. It bogs down the progression and easily adds on time to the stage as you spend more and more time shooting things in single locked down areas than moving forwards.
At least where things help in the above are your new weapons and some neat upgrades for your already existing ones. New to Turbo Overkill is a sniper rifle that lets you teleport into an enemy making them go boom. A laser rifle that can target multiple enemies and shoot from cover. I won't say no to shooting enemies through a wall with an auto tracking laser beam. And perhaps my favorite of the new toys? Basically having Gears of War's Hammer of Dawn where you point and a giant beam comes crashing down onto your enemies. Need to level the playing field somehow? Use this. Yes, this!
But overall, Turbo Overkill Episode 2 is a great follow up to Episode 1 and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this epic wild ride in Episode 3.
Score: N/A
0 comments:
Post a Comment