Chances are when aliens finally do attack, we will have little time to react and formulate a plan of action. But if the belligerent extraterrestrials were so kind as to provide us with a bit of advanced notice, how would we go about creating an effective arsenal to defend ourselves with? Developer NVYVE Studios has the answer with its new rougelite first person shooter, HYPERGUN. It gives the player a near unlimited amount of weapon combinations to experiment with in an effort to give mankind a fighting chance against unwelcome invaders. It unfortunately falters with its inability to have the same creative approach to challenge as it does with weapon configuration.
In HYPERGUN, you play as an intern at DevTech Labs. DevTech has undertaken the task of developing the ultimate killing machine in humanity’s inevitable clash with aliens. This is accomplished by a process of trial and error where the intern enters a simulation and is given a completely random assortment of weapons and attachments. By throwing a smorgasbord of weapon variables into this simulated environment, the hope is that some combination will produce this weapon of mass alien destruction better known as a HYPERGUN.
The intern enters simulations with nothing. No fixed loadouts or desirable tools are available to the player in any sort of prep phase. Rather, you are presented with a randomly generated weapon body with a predetermined set of stats along with one attachment buff to begin each simulation. Some bodies offer slower firing rates but higher DPS while others may give better accuracy and precision at the expense of total damage output. You really don’t know what you’re going to get at the beginning of each simulation, and while replaying the same areas over and over can become monotonous, the surprise of what weapon you’ll start out with or what attachments you’ll stumble upon when clearing rooms is a saving grace. But growing fond of a given weapon would be ill advised as death means everything is lost. The only exception are Hypercoins. This is currency that can be used outside the simulation to unlock new weapon attachments and character buffs. However spending your Hypercoins on an item only means you will get the chance at it as a random drop in the simulation – it cannot be equipped as you enter a simulation.
Room layouts within each simulation level are procedurally generated – no two maps are ever the same. However the rooms that populate the map are often identical and are just laid out differently with each new simulation. Given that random health drops are so sparse in HYPERGUN, you will inevitably die out of the simulation a lot and have to play the same levels multiple times and see the same rooms over and over again. The arena rooms will spawn enemies and block entrances and exits as soon as you enter. All enemies must be cleared before the intern can move on. The smaller areas connecting these enemy arena rooms can house maps, locked chests, and even a merchant style room where the player can spend “Bits” to unlock keys, health packs or item restocks. But the likelihood that you’ll enter with enough Bits to purchase anything meaningful is low. Like health, the frequency of random Bit drops is quite low.
Enemy variety is a strong suit of HYPERGUN. The simulated aliens come at the intern in a wide variety and attack in unique ways. Grunt type enemies called Shamblers spawn in large groups and, while they have no ranged attacks, they are quick to swarm and corner the player slashing their health away. Flying drone type aliens don’t deal much damage but are agile and difficult to target. Lumbering Chargers will shoot a pair of homing missiles but can also charge down from a distance if the player stands still for too long. But the bane of your existence in HYPERGUN will be the Sniper aliens. There are always at least a couple of these littered around rooms but don’t be surprised when four or five are trying to pick you off at once. They have a ridiculous amount of hit points, deal massive damage at any range, and deploy shields similar to jackals from the Halo series that only disappear when you shoot them enough times or the Sniper happens to re-position. There’s challenge and then there’s dying as a result of cheap tactics. Unfortunately HYPERGUN crosses the line with these sharpshooters as it insists on spamming so many at once, that it makes dealing with anything else extremely difficult and annoying.
HYPERGUN sports an eye popping neon cyberpunk visual style. It seems heavily inspired by Tron but is striking to look at nonetheless. Regardless of gameplay frustrations, you’ll want to progress to see the different visual identity that each new level presents. It’s all accompanied by an equally energizing electronic soundtrack. I had the main theme stuck in my head for days after playing and wouldn’t hesitate to listen to HYPERGUN‘s music outside of playing the game.
There is a lot to like about HYPERGUN. While the distinct visuals and sound track only run skin deep, there is a real excitement and allure of unlocking rare weapon attachments and it did help me to push through the more frustrating aspects of the game. The developers have succeeded in ensuring the player is accompanied by a refreshing weapon with it’s own feel and personality in each simulation run. This is a game of tremendous variety, both in its randomly generated weapon assortment and enemy types. But that, along with a memorable soundtrack and visuals are not enough to save it from unnecessary repetition and an uneven challenge.
HYPERGUN release on Steam on August 23rd, 2018 and on consoles later this fall.
*HYPERGUN was provided to the reviewer by the developer but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*
