Written by Kris Galvez
Title: Tesla vs. Lovecraft
Developer: 10tons Ltd
Publisher: 10tons
Price: $11.99
Genre: Action, Adventure
Also Available On: Steam, XB1, PS4
They say that when 2 great minds come together, they achieve incredible things. This is not the case with 10tons' latest top down shooter. The premise is simple. As Nikola Tesla unveils his latest invention, H.P. Lovecraft warns him of the dangers it will bring to the world. Lovecraft then proceeds to steal his adversary's invention, burn his workshop then proceeds to unleash his pantheon of eldritch abominations in the town of Arkham. As Tesla, you will have to use the power of science to bring back peace to the chaos that Lovecraft brought; and this is where the magic happens.
I have not played any of 10tons' games before but Tesla vs Lovecraft or TvL for short is very addicting. You start each level as Tesla shooting down hordes of monsters that came from Lovecraftian lore. Each of them swarm you as you defend yourself using Tesla's special brand of weaponry, the power of electricity. These range from more conventional weapons like tommy guns, shotguns and revolvers to getting electricity based weapons.
First things first, the graphics are clean and nice. Particle effects will fly around as you unleash your lasers, electricity and bombs that clean away polygonal depictions of Lovecraft's beasts like deep ones, polyps and other creatures from the dark reaches of the seas and space. The music is sublime as it bombards you with electronic and techno guitar riffs which definitely fits the mood of the game.
The gameplay is pretty simple, each of Arkham's landmarks (parks, ports and streets) are where you do battle in an arena based top down shooter. You control Tesla by using the left control stick of your joy-con and you aim with the right control stick. The last thing you need to do is press the ZR button to shoot your gun at the horrors coming for you. One small complaint I have is that you need to press the ZR button to attack instead of just using the right control stick as with other top down shooters.
I'm not sure why but the game is pretty addicting as you navigate around the level while evading and killing Lovecraft's hordes. One simple guess is the fact that Tesla not only has guns at his disposal but he also has abilities and powerups that make slaughtering the ugly beasties fun. The L button allows Tesla to teleport around the arena 3 times. This ability may be limited but it also charges quickly. As you can only use this 3 times, you need to strategically use this ability to get out of danger when the going gets tough.
To aid you in your battle, there are occasional electricity based power ups that are dropped in the arena from time to time. There is a aether based sword, a frisbee like blade and even electrical charges that can slow down enemies. You can also find healing items, items to slow down time, and a nuke that wipes out the enemies on the screen. The best thing at your disposal is your mech War Pigeon which you can use limited for a limited time until he blows everything around him. Of course, you can use War Pigeon several times in a stage as long as you can collect his 5 parts scattered around. All of these things come together to ensure that surviving the hordes of enemies is fun and never repetitive. One annoying thing is that Tesla is able to level up and the game is paused so you can choose from a variety of perks that strengthen you for that stage so it sort of breaks up the action. Even though there are a limited set of levels, you can still play the game for a long time as you do daily quests to earn aether crystals, kill hordes of eldritch abominations and buy permanent upgrades for Tesla.
I have always been a fan of Lovecraft and Tesla. This is a the simple tale of a scientist using everything at his disposal to take back what is rightfully his from a dark brooding writer that controls creatures beyond our wildest imagination. It's a shame but they could've done more with the lore aside from each of the game's titular characters using what they are famous for to stop one another. What we do get is one of the Switch's most competent top down shooters. With around 20 arena based levels, 3 difficulty levels, an endless mode and a co-op mode, there are a lot of things to do in this little chaotic package of genius vs genius.
Pros:
- Lots of modes to play and enjoy with.
- Co-op mode is aces!
- Great mechanics for a top down arena shooter.
- The setting, powerups and world presented is uniquely weird.
- Very addicting to just kill hordes of eldritch abominations.
- Perks are a nice addition that makes each set piece unique.
Cons:
- The lore and story is kind of throwaway even if it had a lot of potential.
- More Lovecraftian creatures should have been in the game.
- The perk system while enjoyable to a degree slows down the pace of the game for a bit.
- The arenas/levels are kind of bland.
Rating: 7/10
Note: This game was reviewed using a review code provided by the publisher.
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