View the original article here.
INTRODUCTION
Tesla vs Lovecraft is a typical top-down shooter with a not-so-typical storyline. Much like the creators of the film Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, what 10tons Ltd has done is taken two well known historical figures and put them into a scenario that is neither factual nor logical but strangely intriguing.
The result is a game that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever but is a total blast to play.
All you need to do is run around and keep out of the monsters' reach long enough to kill them all, just so you can move on to the next level and do it all over again. There's really not much else to it, but then again, what else do you need?
STORY
The plot in Tesla vs Lovecraft was not entirely clear. You are treated to some fine looking cutscenes as the game starts showing Nikola Tesla showcasing his electrical marvels to an audience, only to have the fictional horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft try and stop him.
After Lovecraft's arrest, Tesla's laboratory is set on fire by monstrous creatures who stole his technology. Of course, as a proud inventor of all things fantastic, it's your job to pursue and kill every last one of the little buggers.
GAMEPLAY
Putting the vague story aside for the moment, essentially each level of this has you running around, trying to avoid the clutches of hundreds of creatures for long enough to end each and every one of their lives. However, since you are playing as Nikola Tesla, things cannot possibly be that mundane. You have 5 tools at your disposal, your weapon, ability, passive perks, mech, and teleportation.
Let's start with your teleportation ability which lets you move instantaneously a short distance in whatever direction you choose. You move through barriers and enemy minions while doing this and emerge unscathed on the other end. This is a fantastically simple mechanic but absolutely essential to your survival.
Other powerups you'll find include fire bullets which do additional damage but are only usable for a limited time, while others contain special abilities that have a limited number of uses. These range from Nova blasts which damage all enemies in a ring around you and X-Ray Blade which does damage in a cone in the direction you're looking, to Aether Disks that shoot out and bounce off the walls, damaging everything it touches and explosive barrels which can be placed at strategic locations and blown up whenever needed.
While ridding the world of evil, you will occasionally level up which grants you one of two passive abilities. These are tremendously effective and can quite often be a tide turner. Among these abilities you'll find increased movement speed or maximum health, increased attack speed or damage, piercing or bouncing bullets, radiation poisoning which damages nearby enemies, and additional projectiles shot with each pull of the trigger. There are 24 passive abilities available in the game which are made available in a totally randomized way so no level can be played with the same strategy.
Despite all these tools at your disposal, all you do in Tesla vs Lovecraft is run around and mash the left and right buttons on your mouse to inflict as much damage as possible. This is one of those cases where complexity is certainly not necessary to create an enjoyable experience.
Despite the fact that the game hasn't launched yet, I only found a single bug during my review. This occurred while playing a particularly difficult mission that saw a boss monster trap me in place with gravity fields with teleportation being my only escape. During my many retries of this level, I found myself unable to move at all, despite no gravity fields being active at the time. It was only this one level I encountered this problem though.
The only other complaint I have is that some levels seem to be slightly unbalanced. I flew through the scenarios like a bat out of hell, with only the occasional hiccup forcing me to retry. That was until I reached the above-mentioned boss battle which, along with the following level, must have kept me busy longer than all the preceding missions combined.
DESIGN
There are 8 different enemy types listed and while they look vastly different, they all act the same in that they crawl towards you and attack as soon as you're in range. Some have ranged attacks while others have to get in closer, and some can take more punches before keeling over, but essentially it's just slight variations of the same.
The confused story is told with the use of still cutscenes. These might not be on par with the cutscenes from AAA titles, but a lot of creativity was injected here which makes you appreciate them nonetheless. There is even a wee bit of voice acting included which, while not truly memorable, also wasn't bad.
Keeping on track with audio design, during play you'll be treated to some overly dramatic classical music which is completely fitting for the dark, historical setting. There isn't much in terms of effect apart from the various weapon firing sounds and the occasional grunt from a monster.
CONCLUSION
Tesla vs Lovecraft doesn't introduce the gaming world to anything we haven't seen in countless other titles. Behind the strange blend of sci-fi, horror and history, this is still a basic top-down shooter that can become repetitive, despite the various additions to try and avoid that.And while, at face value, that might sound like a failure, I can assure you it most certainly is not. Granted, this is not a game you'll be playing for months or even weeks on end, but it is a game that will provide you with some good ol' fashioned monster killing entertainment. The deciding factor here will be the price, because while Tesla vs Lovecraft is a good bundle of fun, I wouldn't recommend it if it came at a premium.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Addictive simplicity | Unbalanced levels |
| Decent visual and audio design | Repetitive gameplay |
| Play as Nikola Tesla! |