Turbo Overkill Reviews

Somewhere around Fall 2022, or whenever the Turbo Overkill demo went live, I tried it out and toyed with the game for about a half hour. For context, around this time plenty of great boomer-shooters had been coming out. So much so that 3D Realms had created a whole mini-E3 event specifically for indie shooters alike. I had a crippling hyperfixation on 1993 Doom and other FPS games in that vein, Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, Quake, Half-Life, the classics. I spent ungodly amounts of time playing various Doom wads, which further fed into my addiction of fast frenetic action. A new boomer shooter would come out and I would buy it (or more likely download it off of sketch websites because I was broke at the time,) play the hell out of it, and leave. There were so many good shooter games coming out it kind of became nauseous. Hell, so many shooter games coming out so fast most of them forgot they needed to make them good in the first place. Things all started to blend together; a genre so packed full of new ideas and bombastic-- everything, began to feel dull. Boom-shoot was dead to me. Back to the game at hand, I played the demo and was thoroughly unimpressed. I don't know what it was, everything in a vaccuum worked well and was presented nicely, but it just felt derivitive to me. The only games that ever piqued my interest were ones that were so out there, they almost stopped being boomer shooters entirely (Cruelty Squad, GoblinAmerica, Trepang2). Maybe I was just being cynical or maybe it was my perceived oversaturation of the genre, but eventually I finally bought the game on a Steam sale with no intention of ever playing it; as one does. Finally, after getting bored one day and deciding to play the game I bought with my own money over a year ago-- holy sh*t. I have no idea why I was so fast to write this game off, because good god this game is just a treat. There is something so viscerally satisfying about dropping into a room with slaughtermap quantities of enemies and drop-kicking some guy in the face with a chainsaw before you knock them all down like bowling pins and sapping them all for health and armor, splattering your screen in red viscera. Something so cathartic about rocket jumping with your shotgun to get just enough air-time to spray your micro-missiles and turn everything into Pompeii. Something feverishly addicting to flinging yourself around a room with a grappling hook, flying around the corner like a speed demon and nuking some poor soul so hard he'll be screaming to the admin about how you're doing it sideways. Turbo Overkill is a damn gift with way more fun surprises beyond "the game is good" that I won't spoil. There is a difference between a Wal-Mart bargain bin boomer shooter and a game like this. With just how absurdly good the finished game is then, why-- no how the hell did I dislike the game in the first place? Everything happening on screen is so overwhelming, like a kaleidoscope where every twist of the knob is like a glittery explosion of low-def blood and guts. Boom-shoot was never dead. Deaths are short and generally inconsequential, however this might be different on higher difficulties. It is a boomer shooter so tailored to the Zoomer brain, the only things missing are 195 BPM digital hardcore in the background with baby sensory videos littered throughout the in-game screens, the saturation cranked up high and PicMix gifs floating around the screen. As for the story, lots of FPS games usually forgo any and all attempt at a narrative, especially in this sub-genre. However, I was pleasantly surprised by at least an attempt at characterization. It's not earth-shattering by any means, but you can really appreciate some of the quieter moments with the codec calls. There were some genuinely interesting moments that gave our typical blank-slate boomer shooter silent protagonist Johnny Turbo at least a little bit of depth, which even a small amount goes a long way in this genre. By all accounts, this game surprised me and absolutely blew my expectations out of the water, especially for a smaller indie release. If you're on the fence, but any of this sounds intriguing? Turbo Overkill is definitely a must-play. If I had to put it into words, this game is Monster Energy. And I personally enjoy Ultra Paradise.

Easily one of the best shooters i ever blader. Fun story, great retro visuals that expend on the idea not copy paste old graphics and absolutely fantastic gunplay and maps

If you’re into cyberpunk settings and high-adrenaline gameplay on open maps à la Serious Sam, then Turbo Overkill is right up your alley. From a technical standpoint, the game runs fine, though I did notice performance degradation the longer I played. The story is pure B-movie cheese: cliché, over-the-top, but ultimately fun, which is exactly what you’d expect from this kind of FPS. Most maps are open-ended, though the developers love placing massive voids in the middle of them. Sadly, these gaps are just dead space and can't be exploited for any creative movement. On the bright side, falling into them isn’t punishing—you simply respawn as if nothing happened. However, when you die, some checkpoint placements leave a lot to be desired. Visually, the game is striking: vivid, colorful, and drenched in cyberpunk aesthetics. The global illumination is excellent, the VFX are top-notch, and there’s plenty of gore. Textures are pixelated, but that’s an intentional artistic choice, and it fits well with the overall style. The OST is fantastic, complementing both the gameplay and setting perfectly. The voice acting is solid, but the weapons lack the punch they should have. Gameplay-wise, Turbo Overkill is fast, chaotic, and incredibly fun. There’s a wide variety of weapons, and they all have their uses, reinforcing the Serious Sam vibes. The cyberpunk setting also allows for body modifications, letting you enhance your abilities and customize your playstyle. I played on the hardest difficulty, and while it was mostly tough but manageable, the game throws some absolutely insane difficulty spikes at you. Boss fights are brutal, and certain encounters (hello homing missiles!) can one-shot you out of nowhere. ----- Turbo Overkill is an exhilarating, neon-drenched shooter that delivers relentless action and stylish cyberpunk carnage. While it has some rough edges (performance dips, frustrating difficulty spikes, and lackluster weapon feedback), it makes up for it with sheer fun, a killer atmosphere, and an impressive runtime of around 20 hours. If you love fast-paced, over-the-top shooters, this one is definitely worth playing.

It was an absolute blast to play through from start to finish. Highly recommend if you enjoy movement shooters.

super long game but lowkey fun, well optimized good graphics and alot of guns didnt like that ending too much though but overall good game

Captivating story and relevant to today's AI takeover. Beautiful graphics. Game flows nicely - fast-paced and good mechanics.

I really like this game) although graffics are too pixel it is still fun like the old times. I like soundtrack and how looks the city.

Turbo Overkill is one of the most incredible FPS games I've played ever. It's aesthetics, gameplay and world-building may be inspired by everything from Quake, Doom, Daikatana, Half-Life, System Shock and more, but it's so inventive in the way it brings its inspirations together in such a fun and engrossing package. It is hyper-violent, hyper-fast, but also hyper-rewarding for every kind of player, from the most casual boomer shooter fan to the most hardcore speedrun god. Great levels jam-packed with secrets and fun design. Every weapon has an alt fire, your slide has a chainsaw attack, bullet time, homing rockets with a middle finger, you can teleport INTO enemies with your sniper, a mech, an Akira bike, a floating car, personalized builds, and even call an ion canon beam from the sky LOL. If you're a self-professed fan of FPS games and boomer shooters, you owe it to yourself to play Turbo Overkill. It was an absolute blast from start to finish, and it will test your movement, aim and twitch skills.

I have been enjoying “Turbo Overkill” and getting close to the second part of episode 3 (so like 85% done). It’s a game that gradually gets better and better - a rare thing for a shooter. It’s a game I didn’t feel I will enjoy - the demo was bit “meh” and the “it’s like Doom Eternal” reviews made me “mehh”. Doom Eternal is a good game, it’s also a very specific game - one that demands a very high focus to play it in a way that makes it truly shine (you can of course enjoy it on lower difficulty, but it’s a game clearly designed to be played on “hard”). I enjoy DE, but after beating it on Nightmare difficulty (and loosing 1/3 of my weight by sweating 🤣) it’s a game I don’t feel like playing again. Esp on hard. TO vs Doom Eternal So the biggest difference between the two games is - TO doesn’t require any hard counters, unlike DE where quite a few enemies can only be defeated with a specific weapon or can be completely invulnerable to other weapons. This is part of “high skill level” of DE - not a bad thing, but def one that won’t click with everyone. Turbo Overkill has none of it (well) - there are certain weapons counters, but mostly “fun” ones like using an electronic shock to detonate enemies with shields - but they optional. Combat It knows it’s an action game. Not only by making the gunplay fun and very satisfying - but also by the sheer volume of gadgets and guns with 15 (🤩) guns. Each having a good alt fire mode. Often making the alt version - almost a different gun (mini gun that transforms into a flame thrower or dual smg that changes into an midrange assault rifle and more). Often the guns have a 3rd (yes a 3rd) alt mode. There’s also a slide where your knees (and later arms) chnage into chainsaws, there’s rocket launcher a la V from Cyberpunk. There’s grappling hook. There’s so mo (very Dreed inspired looking). And and there’s also mods - yes. For your arms, legs and other body parts. These mods can be anything from wall-jump, triple jump to cluster bombs for your misles. It does sound like a lot to handle, but the game does remarkable job in introducing new tools very gradually - often one per section, so you never feel like you are overwhelmed or confused. Not only it helps to get used to the new tools - it also makes the progression of the levels feel rewarding. Instead of giving you the tools quickly and getting bored with them - you know there’s a constant flow of something cool and you look forward to new toys. It’s really so well spaced out - it’s borderline genius. The Good. Great combat, what else... well kinda everything. The level design is generally very good (some early levels can be bit confusing - but it's also a learning curve), with plenty of secret (that are useful) - giving it a Build Engine feel (without the sexism or cringe). Often looping on itself with minimum backtracking. The presentation is a mix of retro futurism with plenty of gore and glows. It has also surprisingly good voice acting (especially by the legendary Jon St John as a charming Al companion SAMM and some very well made voice logs). It has also vehicular combat (flying car to more) I won’t show to avoid spoiling - but it’s worth mentioning - it’s also very fun and very polished. I also liked the accessibility options - esp on steamdeck where you can add enemies outlines that helps with clarity on smaller screen. 🤌🏼 So yeah - you get the theme here: it’s a very polished game that’s also incredibly rich in content. It’s really impressive how much of good stuff is here. Esp considering the price of $20 on all platforms (even less with Steam sales). The bad. There’s not much, mostly around some of the boss fights being too “Quake3-ish” (UT-ish?) duels - can feel like a spike in challenge (vs other combat). Where you 1 v 1 a boss. It’s never bad, but it’s not really a highlight either. Luckily most boss fights are more traditional mobs+elites, and fit well with the gameloop. Another one would be the level design (esp early levels of ep1) can feel bit confusing, but as you progress it improves (as many of games that went through early access improve with each new content update). I would probably also like some kind of upscaling (FSR, XeSS and DLSS) mostly to help (steam deck) performance (it’s not bad, but def can drop). Final thoughts. From Robocop and Dredd to the over the top gameplay and lengthy campaign - Turbo Overkill is one of the best boomer shooter games out there. A genuine love letter to both its inspirations and just a great time. 🤌🏼🤩

I don't think I've ever found a game with a name as befitting as Turbo Overkill. Hands down one of the greatest retro/boomer shooter inspired games I've ever played. With mobility surpassing doom eternal, a chainsaw leg with no cooldown, and every weapon feeling extremely useful and verging on overpowered it is a nonstop ADHD fueled adrenaline ride. 10/10 Fucking love this game.