introduction
Tesla vs Lovecraft is a twin stick top-down arena shooter where you take on the many horrors from the fictional works of HP Lovecraft as the famous scientist Nikola Tesla. The game has you move from level to level as you battle hordes of monsters in intense and arcade style combat. Make use of the Quantum Teleportation device to escape tight corners, or to just move around the arena quicker.
The aim of the game is simple, stay alive and kill everything in your way, doing so using various weapons and power ups scattered around the arena. If you collect enough pieces, you jump in the devastatingly powerful Tesla-Mech. Once you beat the level, it's time to do it all over again as each level will spike in difficulty and content.
The game can be bought on the PlayStation Store for your regional price.
story
The story for Tesla vs Lovecraft is never really laid out for you to take in. The intro that plays as you begin the game shows Tesla presenting an audience with some electrical inventions that seem to wow them, until the horror writer H.P Lovecraft turns up to spoil the event. Lovecraft is therefore arrested, leaving Tesla to later find his lab on fire caused by the monsters and some of his gadgets stolen. After this, Tesla sets out to search and destroy every last one.
gameplay
The game has you take on hordes of monsters using a variety of weapons and pickups, each level has a unique level design forcing you to adjust to each situation and avoid the monsters in different ways. the game is loaded with pure fast paced shooter action which can be fun and addictive. Each level you will be able to locate parts to assemble and enter the Tesla-Mech, a climb in Mech with a minigun on each arm to deliver devastating power to take down multiple enemies in very quick succession. A key mechanic is the Quantum Teleportation device, you use this item to escape intense moments such as getting trapped by many enemies.
During each level you gain XP and get access to perks that can make Tesla stronger. The weapons you find around the level are for the most part very handy and useful, also quite fun to use. For each gun there is a powerup, these abilities are only available for a certain amount of time, so use them wisely. A different kind of powerup are like special abilities, they aren't timed but are limited in usage. An example would be the Nova Blast, use this to quickly take out multiple enemies that have you surrounded.
graphics and audio
The game sounds and looks good, boasting some very fitting music. Given that this is a top-down game, you can't expect an amazing visual performance, this is remedied by the nicely designed environments. My highlight was how the rhythm of the music matched the pace of the gameplay. The monsters sound pretty basic, with not much variety in their sound. The thing that sounds most impressive to me is the guns, from normal rounds to fire rounds, the guns sound awesome.
conclusion
Tesla vs Lovecraft doesn't do much for me, It's a lot of fun for the first hour or two but the repetitive nature of the game just doesn't make it very attractive or an overall impressive game. If this game had more in terms of enemies, level progression and unlockable content, it could stand out. But this game does hold some unique layers, the combination of two massive figures in history makes for a wacky experience, only I wish the game elaborated more on story.
| PROS | CONS |
| + Satisfying shooting gameplay | – Repetitive gameplay |
| + Great sound effects | – Lack of depth |
| + Nicely crafted environments | – Next to no story |
