My brain absolutely struggles to remember the name Turbo Overkill. It’s a combination of two words that are usually just appended to a game’s title to differentiate itself from previous games in the series, such as Street Fighter II Turbo and House of the Dead: Overkill. And then, with all the other retro-inspired shooters currently mixing things up, I can’t tell it apart from similarly titled games like Ultrakill.

In terms of standing apart with gameplay, the story’s a bit different. While many retro-inspired shooters attempt to gain success from excess, few are as successful at climbing over the top as Turbo Overkill, for better or worse.

[caption id="attachment_396189" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Turbo Overkill (PC)
Developer: Trigger Happy Interactive
Publisher: Apogee Entertainment
Released: August 11, 2023 (PC)
MSRP: $24.99

You play as Johnny Turbo, retired Turbografx-16 mascot, or maybe not. He’s sent by a shadowy corporate figure to the world of Paradise to take down a rogue AI that has infected most of the population with a meaty virus. It’s a simple enough premise, but over the course of three episodes, it builds and builds to a painful climax.

I’ve heard a lot of comparisons between Turbo Overkill and Doom Eternal, and sure, the similarities are there. Both games are fast-paced shooters where mobility is not just beneficial, but essential. However, I feel like Turbo Overkill fits more as a cross between Quake and Serious Sam. Doom Eternal has a great deal of combat emphasis on target prioritization, and Turbo Overkill subscribes more to the philosophy of “If it moves, kill it.”

You’re frequently swarmed with enemies who explode with gibs and particles when killed, and they die en masse. One of the most touted features of Turbo Overkill is Johnny’s chainsaw leg (or chegg) which turns you into a deadly projectile. Through upgrades, you can make the chegg useful against all enemies, but it’s at its best when you’re carving through all the low-level baddies. I got a lot of mileage out of the chegg, I’ll tell you.

https://youtu.be/Ry1TTG0xm48

Johnny Motherf*cking Turbo

Turbo Overkill’s combat is fun at the best of times, but it’s not very nuanced. A lot of the time, the screen gets filled with gore and neon. There isn’t often a tonne of difference between the heavier baddies, especially when it comes to visuals, so there’s not much incentive to pick out priorities and take them down quickly. Largely, you’re immersed in a cloud of foes, and you just choose the best way to disperse it in an expedient manner.

For that matter, once my chegg was in prime form, I didn’t really make much use of Johnny’s vast arsenal. Beyond just a buffet of different weapons, you’re gradually given upgrades, and it’s extremely difficult to keep track of them all. I got near the end of the game and realized that I had forgotten all about Johnny’s mini-rocket firing arm and the slow-motion Turbo Time. I was only cycling between a small assortment of weapons, with some of the leftovers being extremely situational.

There’s a great deal of bloat here. What’s the purpose of a chaingun when you have dual submachine guns that don’t need to be reloaded? How does the plasma rifle differ from a single-wielded sub-machine gun? Do I really need a telefrag sniper rifle when there’s already a grappling hook?

In a way, this might imply that Turbo Overkill has a high skill ceiling similar to Doom Eternal. But I rarely needed to play it smart. Doom Eternal heaped tonnes of abilities on you and rewarded you for being able to juggle them all effectively. Turbo Overkill seems to heap things on you just because it thinks they’re cool. I guess it’s better to have them and not need them.

[caption id="attachment_396186" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The floor is lava

It was only once I stopped trying to approach Turbo Overkill as a critic and instead met it as a gamer that it finally clicked for me. I had to stop looking for a purpose in its design. It was only when I finally switched my brain off from wondering about the environments, about flow, about its legibility that I became able to immerse myself into it. I had to stop comparing it to its predecessors and its contemporaries.

Turbo Overkill is in an arms race only with itself.

There’s a constant, ceaseless feeling of escalation through Turbo Overkill. It doesn’t matter if a gun is useful, if it supersedes a similar weapon, or if it’s merely only useful as a mode of transportation. Stick it in there. If it doesn’t fit, force it. The philosophy here is to impress through excess.

The story reflects this, where things start off screwed and then keep getting more screwed. The main driving force holding things together is Johnny’s unstoppable badassery. I actually found myself growing a bit attached to the character. A mute protagonist, you can still see the turmoil within him between enjoying his rampage while trying to hold onto some semblance of humanity. You’re left to fill in the blanks of his personality, but what’s there speaks volumes.

[caption id="attachment_396188" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Tiring to kick this much ass

Unfortunately, Turbo Overkill irks me almost as often as it excites me. Even after it finally clicked at the beginning of the second episode, it lost me again in the latter half of the third. It kicks the climax off way too early and ends it far too late. The last few levels are the longest and most boring, all played under a driven and intense soundtrack. I’m realizing now that an overlong climax is a pet peeve of mine. It’s edging. Stop edging us, Turbo Overkill.

I was very exhausted by the time Turbo Overkill wrapped up. My dreams of immediately launching into another playthrough had dissipated.

I really don’t want to imply that Turbo Overkill is bad or even just average. There’s a lot of power in its variety, and the narrative punches above its weight class. The soundtrack is often outstanding and is a great compliment to the carnage. Likewise, when you are able to lose yourself in the red fog of its combat, it can make hours disappear. For that matter, there are lots of extra modifiers and secret levels to unlock to extend its running time beyond the 15-or-so that it already packs across its three episodes.

However, Turbo Overkill loses itself in its constant push for escalation. It’s often not as clever as it thinks it is, and there’s a real sense of quantity over quality. Packing in more mechanics is certainly a type of progress, but a better focus on fewer concepts probably would have elevated the game as a whole. As it is, it’s still a perfectly fun time, and I’d be completely willing to revisit it in a sequel, but it just doesn’t quite climb to the lofty top of the retro-inspired scrap heap.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Turbo Overkill appeared first on Destructoid.

Rise of the Triad is a bit of a tough sell in today’s market. It was built on the same engine as Wolfenstein 3D, starting its life as a sequel to that. As such, it has many of the same strict drawbacks of that engine. Most notably, walls have to be at 90-degree angles, and the floors can’t change height.

I’m personally more of a Blake Stone girl, myself.

However, despite the way its development started and the shortcomings of its engine, the powerful collection of developers who crafted it has ensured that Rise of the Triad still carried with it a unique personality. It was never ported to console, but with Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, Nightdive Studios and New Blood are looking to fix that with one big celebration.

Later. The console ports were delayed, but I’ve been playing the PC version.

[caption id="attachment_393728" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition (PC [Reviewed], PS4, Xbox One, Switch)
Developer: Nightdive Studios, Apogee Software
Publisher: Apogee Software, New Blood Interactive
Released: July 31, 2023 (PC), TBA (Console)
MSRP: $19.99

Rise of the Triad tells the stories of an elite group of special operatives as they infiltrate an island monastery currently resided by a group of cultists who are definitely not Nazis. Okay, they’re definitely Nazis, but since this is not Wolfenstein 3D 2, they’re a cult now.

That’s basically all you need to know. Actually, you’d probably be fine not knowing that, but there’s a cutscene that lays it all out anyway. The important thing is the Monastery is a sprawling maze full of traps and Nazis. You have a hand with fingers that can wrap around a gun, and that’s what you point at the Nazis.

I mentioned that Rise of the Triad has all the trappings of Wolfenstein 3D with its level floor and 90-degree corners, but the developers went pretty far out of their way to get around it. There is a degree of verticality through the use of walls and floating discs. There’s also a bizarre number of power-ups, including a couple that allow you to fly. Meanwhile, there are traps everywhere, like spikes and fire-spewing cannons. It’s a lot. It gives Rise of the Triad this really abstract quality to it. It’s rather bizarre.

Unfortunately, there’s a limited number of weapons. There are pistols and an MP40, and then you can also carry a limited-use rocket launcher. The rocket launchers come in a few different flavors, from plain ol’ bazooka to a big wall of fire that engulfs wide areas. They have finite ammo, but a good Rise of the Triad level will have you tripping over them every few steps. It’s a game that really wants you to blow up Nazis.

https://youtu.be/vRdZEY6EL5I

Henceforth known as 'ROTTLE'

A lot of work went into making Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition the definitive version of the game. While its transition to Nightdive’s proprietary KEX Engine doesn’t really come with much in the way of new visual changes aside from lighting and a few other flourishes that you can turn off, they made sure to pack in as much content as possible. Then they just continued to pack more things in.

Beyond just the 33 levels of Rise of the Triad: Dark War, you also have access to The Hunt Begins, the 8-level shareware episode. There are also another 33 levels in Extreme ROTT, which is a more difficult expansion. They’ve packed in Return of the Triad, an excellent fan-made Doom mod. That’s added separately, still running in the GZDoom engine. Finally, there’s The HUNT Continues, which is an all-new set of 21 missions created by various developers. To give you an example of what you’re in for, the first mission in that campaign is by David Szymanski, the creator of Dusk.

This is made possible by a really simple level editor that is available for use. So, beyond just the dizzying amount of included content, you can make your own campaigns or share with others via Steam workshop. I think the only thing missing is the 2013 Rise of the Triad remake, but I feel that it doesn’t quite fit into this package.

Finally, a lot of cut content was re-added to the game. This includes the different visuals for Nazi types, so the female guards have been re-implemented.

[caption id="attachment_393731" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

God Mode

If you’re already a fan of Rise of the Triad, then you basically just need to know that this is a faithful port that features a decent amount of bells and whistles. If you haven’t played it before, then there’s more to consider.

Rise of the Traid isn’t Doom. It hasn’t aged as well. This is largely down to the limited level design. Each map has a different feel and demonstrates its creator’s design eccentricities, but they all look the same. This limited aesthetic has an impact on the gameplay, as even while the power-ups and weapons can be over-the-top, the drab backdrop sucks out some of the excitement. It’s a lot of people painting with a very limited palette.

That said, the limitations I just outlined do help highlight how much fun the developers had with this game. There are things like getting baked out of your mind on mushrooms or turning into a massively overpowered little pooch that makes the experience extremely memorable. For that matter, there’s a variety of cheats that can make things more ridiculous.

[caption id="attachment_393732" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Dog Mode

I’m definitely not saying that Rise of the Triad is a bad game. It’s very enjoyable, it’s just harder to recommend to modern eyes. It’s fast and carries a lot of small details that make it unforgettable, but at the same time, its levels are rather suffocating. It has definitely aged a lot better than Wolfenstein 3D, but not nearly as well as Doom.

It bears repeating that if you are already a fan, Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is a fantastic way to play it again. It’s not too much different than the old DOS version but includes cut features and all the content you could want. The new episode is a quality continuation that feels right at home with the rest of the game while still providing something new. It’s a great package all around.

Now, can I have a Blake Stone remaster?

The post Review: Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Ludicrously late notice

Apogee, Nightdive, and New Blood have announced that the console version of Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition will be delayed on console. No date has been given for when we can expect the game to hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch, but the PC version is still expected to drop on July 31, 2023.

Rise of the Triad was first released back in 1994 for DOS. It was a pretty ballsy move to release a game built on the Wolfenstein 3D engine after Doom took the forefront of first-person shooters in 1993. To be certain, Rise of the Triad really doesn’t stack up to the monolith it was competing against. But whenever I hear stories of its development, it sounds like Tom Hall and his team had fun creating it.

https://youtu.be/vRdZEY6EL5I

That shows in its actual gameplay. What it lacks in fancy technical tricks, it makes up for in its ridiculous design. There are Nazi-esque soldiers begging for their life or playing dead and heat seeking missiles that home in on torches. There are a lot of fun touches that make for a really memorable experience.

This is pure speculation, but I wonder if the delay is due to the inclusion of Return of the Triad. This was a fan-made sequel created in the GZDoom Engine. If they wanted to include it in the console versions, they’d have to either port it into the KEX Engine or run it under GZDoom. I’m not sure how simple that is to do in terms of both development and licensing. It’s a worthwhile inclusion, though, as it’s a fantastic little offshoot.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition launches on PC on July 31, 2023. The console versions will follow later this year.

The post Console versions of Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition delayed appeared first on Destructoid.

Ludicrous speed! Go!

Apogee Entertainment and New Blood Interactive have announced that a release date has been nailed down for Nightdive Studios Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition. It’s set to launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on July 31, 2023.

Originally intended to be a sequel to 1992’s seminal FPS, Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad absolutely pushed the game’s engine as far as it could go. I’m more of a fan of Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, but it’s hard not to appreciate Rise of the Triad’s insane attention to detail. Tom Hall and the developers at Apogee went completely nuts with this one, ensuring that it’s memorable for its over-the-top nature.

https://youtu.be/OqDedfEgprs

I remember playing it on my cousin’s computer and having him point out the small details. Heatseeking missiles, for example, would home in on torches if there weren’t any enemies present. It would be greatly overshadowed by the release of Doom the previous year. However, Rise of the Triad manages to stand apart as an infectiously enjoyable romp.

It’s in good hands with Nightdive Studios. They’ve made the effort to transport the game into their fantastic proprietary KEX Engine. Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition supports all the “modern creature comforts” of 4K resolution (where supported), 60FPS framerate, and 11-player deathmatches. There’s also a brand new episode, a level creator, the expansion packs included, and restored content from the betas.

Heck. Yes.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition comes to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on July 31, 2023. You can try it out right now, as a demo has just dropped on Steam (Oops! Instead, it is going to be available June 19th during Steam Next Fest).

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Vex means frustrate

Apogee Entertainment has pulled back the veil on Emberheart Games’ open-world crafting adventure Vexlands alongside a trailer. It will debut on PC in early 2024.

Placed in a vacant world, your job is to literally carve out your place by crafting and selling resources to buy new tiles in the procedurally-created world map. Each tile has the possibility of introducing something helpful or harmful into your environment, making each one a gamble. Your goal is to strengthen your homestead while venturing out into five biomes to lift the curse that has befallen the land.

https://youtu.be/RjrAMPhi56k

Without fail, a cash-centric approach to an adventure always reminds me of Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. I kind of doubt that Vexlands will center around the populace’s greed, but on the other hand, I hope so.

Honestly, the survival-crafting grounds have become well-stomped territory at this point, but Vexlands catches my eye for a few reasons. The first is that I absolutely love when an adventure has a cozy central base to unwind between adventures. That’s not uncommon for the genre, either. However, Emberheart Games handles development on Vexlands, who have previously done faithful remasters of Apogee classics like Crystal Caves, Secret Agent, and Monster Bash. It’s largely a solo developer headed by Primož Vovk, but they seem extremely passionate and hardworking with their projects, so I’ve had them earmarked since their release of Secret Agent.

That’s to say nothing of Apogee’s newest iteration, which is still helmed by founder Scott Miller. They seem really jazzed about their return as an indie publisher, and there’s a lot of charm in that optimism.

Vexlands only started development a few months ago, but Scott Miller estimates it’s about 25% done. As of writing, it will release only on PC.

The post Apogee shows off crafting adventure Vexlands for 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

Fluid dynamics

Publisher Ziggurat and developer Terminal Reality have dropped an updated version of Apogee shareware classic Terminal Velocity on PC and Switch without telling me, and I am offended. Terminal Velocity: Boosted Edition is a source port of the overlooked classic that everyone played that updates the base game to run natively on modern hardware.

Terminal Reality is actually the original developer of Terminal Velocity, having released it way back in 1995 for DOS. The three-episode game was released by Apogee under their 3D Realms label, who gave away the first episode for free as part of their shareware method of distribution. Because it was free, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone with a DOS-based PC at that time who didn’t play it. In fact, I bet there are numerous people reading this right now going, “Ooh! That’s what that game was called.”

[embed]https://youtu.be/TPDxl8rdRQw[/embed]

As sort of a space-flight sim similar to Descent, Terminal Velocity had you cruising across planet surfaces, accomplishing various objectives, which were normally just blowing something up. It wasn’t a particularly deep game, but it had 3D polygonal graphics, which were still catching on with PCs at the time. I want to say that it’s mostly memorable because of its shareware origins, but that sounds like it’s damning it with praise. It’s an inoffensive and fun experience, and I honestly enjoy it more than Descent.

The Terminal Velocity: Boosted Edition features extended draw distance, widescreen visuals, reduced polygon jitter, re-engineered sound, and translucent shadows.

I love seeing source ports of older games. It’s possible to get a lot of them to run in something like DOSbox, but that can be finicky to get it just right. I prefer a nicely future-proofed engine over tinkering any day.

Terminal Velocity: Boosted Edition is available right now for PC and Nintendo Switch for $11.99. Xbox and PlayStation console ports are reportedly coming sometime in the future.

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Bit of a wait

Apogee has announced that Wreckit Games’ open-world adventure Elements has succeeded in its Kickstarter campaign and is set to drop into Steam Early Access in the second quarter of 2024, followed by a release on various consoles in 2025.

Elements is a vibrant-looking open-world game set in the land of Elemythia. The game gives some mad Breath of the Wild smells, but it looks to differentiate itself by providing some home-building mechanics and two-player co-op. The developer is also touting a “Hollywood screenwriter” and the voice actress who lent her cords to Princess Zelda in Breath of the Wild.

[embed]https://youtu.be/j7DmJuYzD3Q[/embed]

I’m a bit of a fan of Apogee’s reinvention of itself. Utilizing its name recognition for publishing small and independent titles feels a bit like a return to the company’s original manifesto. I doubt we’ll be getting a rebirth of shareware, however.

With that said, while Elements definitely has a charming look to it, I think I’m hitting my tolerance limit for open-world games. It’s a genre that grows and grows as the years go on but still somehow stays exactly the same.

Nevertheless, the people have spoken, and the Kickstarter campaign sits at around $200,000 Canadian Loonies as of writing. The campaign runs until Friday, March 3, 2023, at 6:00 PM PST, so there’s still a bit of time to nab a tier if this all looks interesting.

If not, Elements will hit Steam Early Access in Q2 2024. The full title is expected to come to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC in Q2 2025.

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Where we're going, we'll definitely need some chainsaw legs

Classically-styled shooters are about to dip into the neon future. Trigger Happy Interactive announced today that its high-speed shooter Turbo Overkill is sliding into Steam Early Access on April 22.

Inspired by Doom, Duke Nukem, and Quake, Turbo Overkill is part of what I'd call the retro-revival genre of first-person shooter. It's clearly imitating the classic circle-strafing arenas and high framerate firepower of older games, but with many modern adjustments. Yes, there are pixel-y chunks blasting everywhere, but also more modern tools like a grappling hook and chainsaw legs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht0fbsgtw_4

Upgrade weapons over time, kill bosses for their augments, run on walls and fire mini-rockets from mid-air. Add on a cyberpunk neon sheen, and you've got Turbo Overkill.

I played the demo for Turbo Overkill during the recent Steam Next Fest, and can confirm that I was instantly reminded of classics like Quake. As good as the gunplay is, I had just as much fun running around its arenas, sliding through enemies with my chainsaw legs. It reminded me a bit of sliding and kicking enemies in Bulletstorm, in a very good way.

Turbo Overkill slides onto Steam Early Access with the first of its three planned episodes. That will have eight stages, with the number expected to triple on the way towards launch. As for the full 1.0 version, that's expected sometime later in 2022. When it does launch in full, Turbo Overkill will also be coming to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

You can wishlist Turbo Overkill ahead of its Early Access release on Steam here.

The post Turbo Overkill slides onto Steam Early Access with chainsaw legs on April 22 appeared first on Destructoid.

The most dangerous game of footsies

Retro-revival shooters have been having a good go of it lately, and Turbo Overkill looks to continue that trend. This new FPS looks like a cyberpunk dystopia meets the Doom and Quake era, and its targeting PC and consoles in 2022.

Turbo Overkill sees mercenary Johnny Turbo, who happens to have chainsaw legs, battling through a city possessed by a rogue AI for enough cash to outrun his past. Armed with both an arsenal of futuristic weaponry and his aforementioned chainsaws, Johnny will have to outpace rival bounty hunters and take the rogue AI running Paradise down. But seriously, the trailer can tell you what you need to know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkNu8j3EcXQ

It looks fast and full of carnage, which makes sense given its developer's history. This futuristic shooter is being developed by Trigger Happy Interactive, whose founder Sam Prebble developed the Doom II conversion mod Total Chaos. Apogee Entertainment will publish Turbo Overkill, and Apogee and 3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller is providing creative support.

"This is the game we’ve always wanted to play; making it is a dream project," said Prebble in a press release. "Relentless enemies, extremely deadly and fun weapons, speed and precision above all else—if you love Quake III Arena, modern and classic Doom, or Apogee’s legendary first-person shooters, you’ll feel right at home in Paradise."

Between new games like Dusk and remasters like the recent one Quake got, it's been a pretty good time for fans of this style of '90s FPS. Hopefully Turbo Overkill is another on the list of retro-revival FPS games that sear my retinas and make me consider picking up an old CRT monitor. It's just not the same on a flatscreen, you know?

Turbo Overkill is aiming to launch on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

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