Dev: 10Tons
Players: 1-4
Crossovers are a pretty common staple of gaming and movies. But, it would take a pretty crazed pitch meeting to come up with Tesla vs Lovecraft as a concept. Instead, the batty folk at 10Tons grabbed the idea first and knotted the mad science vs the demonic mythology of the Victorian duo into a stylish twinstick shooter.
Taking charge of Tesla, who has upset Lovecraft by meddling in the scientific dark arts, he must defeat armies of summoned demons using and collecting a range of technology. From pistols to teleportation, steam-punk mechs to energy discs and lightning, there is plenty to back up the frenetic battles across the foggy graveyards, eerie towns and undead landscapes.
There are three planes to battle on, normal, aether and eldritch, offering different difficulties. Each battle starts off sedately enough, but soon the screen is lighting up with weapon fire and you're desperately looking for an escape route to a quieter area to heal, repair or reload. With bosses and larger demons stomping around, finding a safe spot gets tougher as the level progresses, and you'll be praying (even if Tesla would disapprove) for a health pack or the last bit of the mech to give you some extra firepower.
Level ups come fast and furious as you stomp around laying waste, they offer more health, faster teleports, more damage and so on. You have to choose between them, which is a neat touch, but they appear often enough to make those choices mostly non-critical.
As you search for War Pigeon mech parts and the shrines that act as a source of the latest demonic infestation, keeping the enemy to a manageable number is key and you'll soon find the favourite or right weapon for each task. Whatever the end result, the levels are small enough that you won't mind replaying them, and there are lots of counters and scores to tally up for each battle, win or lose.
Little cut-scenes between levels help tell a simple if compelling story between the two protagonists, and neat tricks like damage perks for certain foes add a modicum of strategy. Co-op mode can help add to the fun (two to four controllers needed) while the later modes will add some serious challenge.
It could do with a touch more variety and perhaps the odd bonus round, but otherwise this is a fierce and tight shooter that is great in short bursts of electrical fire.
Score 4/5
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