HYPERPARASITE / DEVELOPER: TROGLOBYTES GAMES / PUBLISHER: QUBIC GAMES / PLATFORM: PC,PS4, SWITCH, XBOX ONE (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
In HyperParasite‘s (incredibly timely and relevant) story, an alien parasite has invaded earth, spreading itself across the planet on a mission to take over one of the world’s deadliest nuclear arsenals. Special forces have been dispatched to track the parasite down, and every single citizen has been authorised to carry weapons to help the fight. The twist in this tale is that you’re not a military commander or a soldier, or even a regular civilian – you’re the parasite, a tentacled little bugger with the ability to take over nearby bodies and use them to further your quest.
HyperParasite is a fast-paced roguelite twin-stick shooter, set in the 1980’s with all the blinding neon visuals and super synth-y soundtracks that you might expect from the era. Starting off each run inside a random host body, you’ll move through randomly-generated configurations of interconnected rooms filled with waves of enemies trying to halt your progress. If your host is killed, you’ll return to parasite form where a single hit will finish you off for good, but you can quickly enter another body to keep yourself alive. Each enemy type has their own weapons and attacks, and you can enter and leave host bodies at will – figuring out which hosts work best together when linking your attacks between them is definitely recommended!
The game is split into five acts, with between 10-15 different hosts to commandeer in each. Most of these are initially locked, requiring human brains and a cash donation in the laboratory to make them available for use. You’ll want to unlock as many as possible, as access to host bodies during gameplay increases your chances of survival. It can be insanely tricky to make progress at first, but once you get going (unlocked hosts are saved, so each run gets a little bit easier, in theory), it all becomes incredibly addictive. On the downside, starting each subsequent act restricts you to a limited amount of hosts once more, and the need for grinding begins again…
Tough but fair, with an eye-catching aesthetic and a blinding 80s soundtrack, HyperParasite is definitely up there with the better roguelites. Those of a persistent persuasion should investigate as soon as possible!
