by Badger Nimahson
Everyone once in a while you stumble across a beautifully crafted game that completely devours your time, holds your attention hostage and occupies your every waking thought…Hyperparasite is that game!
Hyperparasite is a rogue-like, twin-stick shooter that is dripping in so much 80’s nostalgia it is unreal. From the nostalgic references of the 60 characters to unlock , the neon dystopian city, the Escape from New York-esque setting to the “one more go” arcade feel of the gameplay.
I can’t heap enough praise on the developer Troglobytes for this outstanding gem of a game. I am not being superfluous when I say Hyperparasite wasn’t developed, it was crafted.
Like Michelangelo’s David or Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Hyperparasite is a beautiful, emotion provoking, complex work of art that I cannot do its majesty any real justice with the written word.
Story
You take on the role of an alien parasite who has landed on Earth with the sole intention of taking over the American Presidents body in order to launch America’s nuclear arsenal and wipe out the human race.
The big problem with your plan is that one hit from a human and you are dead. The solution to this? Take over the bodies of humans of course!
Unfortunately, the president knows you are coming and has order every man,woman and child to kill you. Can you survive the constant onslaught? Can you figure out the puzzles of each area like Downtown and Asia Town? Can you outsmart and outclass the human race, find the president and destroy mankind?
Gameplay
Where to begin? The smooth and intuitive twin-stick controls? The upgrade system? The rouge-like mechanics? The rage inducing difficulty? The vast array of characters and abilities? I wasn’t been hyperbolic earlier when I said Hyperparasite is crafted not developed.
I suppose the list above is a good order to address all the different aspects of Hyperparasite so here we go…
The twin-stick controls are so natural and intuitive on the PS4 that you quickly find your self controlling your parasite without even thinking about what you are pressing. which is much needed as at times the gameplay can be come fast paced and frenetic.
Whilst the map on each run you do is different the rooms are the same but in a different order. Nestled somewhere in this mixture of rooms is the alien owned shop to buy items and upgrades, deposit human brains (more on that later) or even freeze human bodies for later use.
In the shop you can purchase items( or get them as drops from enemies if your lucky) such as machine gun drones and area of effect items to damage and kill enemies.
As well as items to buy you can also purchase upgrades that stay with you no matter how many times you change host. These upgrades include such abilities as leeching health from every human you kill, giving an elemental type to your primary attack and much more. My favourite by far is the insta death upgrade!!
The items and upgrades can seem quite expensive at times but if you pay attention to the character portrait on the wall in the shop and return with that host body you will receive a 50% discount.
Upon your death (trust me there will be many) you will lose any money, upgrades and items you had. Some items such as the crowbar or truck key (no I am not telling you how to get them or what they are for) will remain permanently to be used on future runs.
No matter how far you get through the five acts in Hyperparasite everytime you die you start right from the beginning again. Don’t lose heart though. Every run through an act you have the chance to defeat an elite human. If you manage to do this you can collect their brain, take it to the shop and use your money collected to unlock that character. Unlock the character and you can then steal the human body any time you meet them. This even applies to bosses!!!
With a massive 60 characters to unlock you are gonna be busy for quite some time on Hyperparasite. Of course the more characters you unlock in an act the easier it becomes. More impressive then the fact there is 60 characters in the game is that each one has its own unique moves and special abilities.
I must point out that the characters are in no way related to any famous 80’s icons. The fact that the bosses on the first act look a hell of a lot like Rocky Balboa and Teen Wolf is purely coincidental. Same for Kurt Russell in Big Trouble in Little China… I mean Truck Driver. I’ll the rest for you to figure out 😉
Graphics
As you can see from the screenshots and videos in this article Hyperparasite is a wonderful mix of dark shadows and bright neon colours. It screams 80’s arcade gaming and instantly transports you back to a more innocent time in gaming.
The thumping electro funk beats constantly pounding in the background invoke memories of action heroes and fast cars and leaves you desperately earning for a montage scene.
Overall Thoughts
If you have read everything above then it is going to be no surprise that to you at all that I am in love with Hyperparasite. Every single aspect of the game is perfect. I honestly cannot think of a single thing I would improve.
It is a certified masterpiece. April may have only just begun and we have a lot of 2020 to go but it is going to take something ridiculous to stop Hyperparasite being Game of the Year.
Now if you don’t mind i need to figure out how to kill the final boss of act three…or scream in rage as I get killed once again!
Overall Score – 10/10
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