Tesla vs Lovecraft Review

​The Largest Unknown Rivalry in History
By Brett Wolfe
​Reviewed on Xbox One
​Released on March 16th, 2018 for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch (Also Available on PC)
​Developer: ​10tons
​Publisher: ​10tons

Tesla vs Lovecraft is a top-down twin-stick shooter developed and published by the cool folks at 10tons. It tells the story of Nikola Tesla, one of the world’s greatest inventors, the night before he unveils his newest invention. Suddenly, his laboratory is burned to the ground by a horde of horrendous abominations under the ruling of H.P. Lovecraft. An angered and terrified Tesla devises a plan to revolt against these monstrosities and assert his dominance over these otherworldly creatures. Will you rise to the top or be devoured by the monsters of Cthlulu?

This game exposes you to three different realms (Earth, Aether, Eldrich) to explore throughout your adventures. Once you conquer Earth, you are able to follow Lovecraft into the next plane until you succeed in your destruction of his disgusting minions. Each realm is comprised of a myriad of different stages for you to put the smackdown on your opposition. Something that I particularly really liked about this amazing title was the layout of the levels. You begin the game in the middle of a spiral and work your way out to reach Lovecraft’s biggest weapon. This unique set-up provides the player with new environments, but always comes back to the familiar locations that they know and love. I personally found that this allowed me to learn a level, but not get bored with it.

The main gameplay mechanics present in Tesla vs Lovecraft have Nikola Tesla run around a stage while murdering monsters and collecting crystals. Similar to other twin-stick shooters, Tesla is provided his weaponry by various drops that appear on the map. These drops include weapons, mech parts, and bizarre technical marvels that Telsa has been designing. We are talking about some really cool guns in your arsenal here. Some of my favorites are the Tesla Rifle and the Gauss Shotgun. They guns bring the power you need to take down those big baddies that are coming to thwart your revolution. These weapons are the best of the best, but you have to start small. That’s great for all you old school guys out there that love your Tommy Gun and that old pump shotgun sitting on your couch. Don’t worry, the classics don’t ever go away, but it might be good to upgrade from time to time.

Now, what happens if these guns just aren’t doing their jobs? Are you just out of luck? Do you have to succumb to the horde? No, we must prevail and stop these dastardly plans. You are in luck because if your guns are not able to stop the monsters from chomping on you, you always have Telsa’s mech for a burst of action that can save you in pinch. The mech is really useful in a moment of despair or when you are getting attacked by a boss, so collect those parts and save your mech for that crucial moment. Or, have a blast and use it as soon as you get it, that is entirely up to you.

Telsa vs Lovecraft has a lot to offer and the singleplayer mode is just scratching the surface. The crystals I was talking about earlier in the review are one of the most useful resources that is extremely limited early on. These crystals are used to upgrade Nikola Tesla and provide him with some really cool abilities. None of these skills cost that much, but until you beat the first world, the only way to collect them are killing a set number of a group of monsters or completing a daily challenge. Lucky for us, once you conquer Lovecraft on Earth, you are given a special pair of goggles that allows you to find the crystals scattered around the stages. Great to spice things up in the game, it just sucks that you can’t do this until you are about five hours in. The game also includes a survival mode and a cooperative mode for those who like that kind of things. I didn’t put too much time into them, but they are pretty much the same.

The visuals and soundtracks of this game were on two different spectrums for me. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the visuals. I am a big fan of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories and the monsters that he envisioned are amazing. I feel that the people at 10tons did a phenomenal job at depicting these strange creatures. I also felt that the game had a dark atmosphere that was portrayed by the amazing visuals. However, I was severely disappointed by the sounds. The soundtrack provided a few eerie moments, but it feels flat otherwise. In addition to this, the voice acting was atrocious. The voices were extremely choppy and I felt that the game would have been better if they would have taken out the dialogue and focused towards another aspect of the game.

For anyone that has been with us for a while now, they would remember that I had written a blog post on this game last year and I was extremely excited for this game to come out. This title peaked my interest and I knew this was something that I had to play. So, when we received a copy, you can say that I could not wait to sink my teeth into it. I am happy to say that Tesla vs Lovecraft was what I expected and much more. It is rare that I find a twin-stick shooter doesn’t scrape that bottom of the barrel and this one was not only good but shined above the rest. Of course, it is not perfect, things rarely are, but this title did phenomenally and only had a few flaws.

In the end, Telsa vs Lovecraft was an amazing game that I feel everyone should check out. Whether you like twin-stick shooters, a fan of Lovecraft and Tesla, or just a casual gamer, you should pick this game up as soon as you can. It is priced at $15 USD, which I feel is a steal and I would make sure you do not pass it up. So, if you are ready, grab that teleporter and load the Tommy Gun, we have some demons to destroy!

*Note: A copy of this game was provided for the purpose of the review.

Final Score: 9.5/10

+Amazing Gameplay
+Cool Story
+Unique Weapons and Power-Ups
+Awesome Gothic Visuals

-Terrible Voice Acting