Tesla vs Lovecraft, a match-up you would never really imagine. One whose technology and ideas have helped shape modern technology and the other whose books have creatures that can strike fear into your heart are having a facing off. I honestly would never expect this but that’s what video games are for, to break your expectations with crazy stuff. A twin stick shooter, Tesla vs Lovecraft has been developed and published by 10tons Ltd and is out now for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, OS X and Windows. So is this matchup as good as it sounds or is it just a bizarre creation like something out of Lovecraft’s work, lets find out.
Tesla vs Lovecraft is a twin-stick shooter game that is very similar to 10tons’ past work like Crimsonland and Neon Chrome but actually builds on those games. The game has you play as the main man Nikola Tesla himself. Nikola Tesla is on the verge of his greatest invention ever but his lab is burned down by HP Lovecraft who claims that Tesla’s work has put the whole world in danger. So to fix this issue, he uses his occult book and army of monsters to steal your inventions. Tesla doesn’t like this one bit and decides to get back what was stolen. And to do that, you fight through Lovecraft’s army of monsters while using your inventions. Now the premise of the game is really cool but after the initial cutscene it doesn’t use that setting or premise as much as you’d like it to.This under utilization of such a cool premise really disappointed me.
The gameplay is reminiscent to other twin shooters. Instead of having levels where you go around slaying beasts, the game puts you in levels where you must survive till the waves end to proceed to the next level. You can get upgrades while playing a level that will give your health a boost or more ammo which are just temporary upgrades that last till when you die or complete the level. There’s also permanent upgrades that you can get using crystals which are rare especially during your first playthrough. The enemy variety and levels are decent but can end up feeling like they lack variety once you’ve played a few hours into the game.
In general, the game does get boring and repetitive after a while but there is one gameplay feature that makes it fun which is Tesla’s Mech. After a few levels you can start with this mech which then breaks down after some time. You can pick up the parts that are spread across the level to activate the mech again. This was one of the most fun parts of the game. There’s also a survival mode which is alright. The main game is two hours long on the initial difficulty which you need to finish the game on to unlock the other difficulties. The game also has a co-op mode which is a welcomed inclusion that helps with replayability.
Tesla vs Lovecraft is an addictive twin shooter that fans of 10tons’ games will really love but it does get repetitive and boring after a while and I would recommend it only to fans of twin-stick shooters and those who loved Neon Chrome and Crimsonland.
