Hypercharge Review
Magnhild Mongolo
Originally released in 2020, Hypercharge: Unboxed has finally brought its particular brand of cooperative shooter to Xbox consoles. Developed by Digital Cyberberries and centered around what would happen if militaristic toys came to life and started engaging in all-out warfare, Hypercharge: Unboxed wears its Toy Story influences and love for plastic army men proudly on its sleeve. But beyond that, the game pulls from retro titles of old with its implementation of unlockables and discovering secrets, and there are a lot of them. Which could prove to be a drag in a lesser game, but Hypercharge: Unboxed offers more than enough thrillingly goofy gameplay to make it all worth it.
The general loop of a Hypercharge: Unboxed match involves setting up defenses to protect various Hypercores around the map. These defenses can be bought with coins collected during a timed preparation stage and after the timer expires, enemy toys attack and players must defend the Hypercores. This routine repeats for several, increasingly difficult rounds while players can look for unlockables and secrets on the map. It's pretty standard fare for tower defense games and Hypercharge: Unboxed doesn't reinvent the wheel with its offerings here, but it also doesn't need to.
This is due in large part to the combat in Hypercharge: Unboxed. Players can freely switch between third and first-person perspectives at will, the gunplay is particularly fun and weighty, and there's a real sense of accomplishment to defending Hypercores, especially at higher difficulties where resource management and ally placement can make or break a match. It's never overly complex, but just enough to provide a healthy, heart-racing challenge. Of course, playing with reliable people is a major key to any game like this, and Hypercharge: Unboxed is no exception, even in single-player modes.
The single-player experience for Hypercharge: Unboxed does leave something to be desired, though. Matches can be played with bot companions instead of real players, but at higher difficulties, they are nearly impossible because a team of bots doesn't understand strategic thinking. Luckily, there is a split screen mode that supports up to four players (another sign of the game's dedication to retro qualities), but if it's a solo experience that gamers are after, Hypercharge: Unboxed is lacking.
Retaining visual fidelity when porting to another platform can be a monumental task, but Digital Cyberberries proves it was more than up to the challenge with Hypercharge: Unboxed's move to Xbox consoles. The 14 included maps are gorgeously rendered and a nice juxtaposition to the chaotic, often cartoon-y nature of the game in general. Frame rate drops are mostly nonexistent, though they do occur from time to time in multiplayer lobbies. But the sense of scope and the charming, animated quality of the maps and how they change the gameplay in interesting ways are a big part of the appeal.
The layouts of these maps are surprisingly in-depth, as well. It's no easy thing to move from an upper platform to protect one Hypercore to another one on a lower level, several feet away. But that's part of the charm in Hypercharge: Unboxed; it's not just protecting the cores themselves that's important to victory, but ensuring team members are strategically positioned to combat waves of enemies effectively by understanding the maps. Or players can just boot the game into free roam mode and explore them without the threat of zany, over-the-top militaristic violence. There's a little something for every type of player in Hypercharge: Unboxed.
For as fun as Hypercharge: Unboxed can be, however, there are some potential issues when it comes to longevity. Multiplayer servers can be fairly barren, which makes sense for an indie game that's close to four years old. But with a single-player mode that's seriously lacking in engagement, the multiplayer element is likely to be its biggest draw. Perhaps releasing on Xbox will reinvigorate the servers with some life. It wouldn't be the first time that the game experienced a viral craze years after its release. As of this writing, though, it was difficult at times to find actual matches. And that's with cross-network play activated (the Xbox version thankfully includes this feature from day one), though that doesn't include Nintendo Switch players.
Hypercharge: Unboxed doesn't revolutionize the shooter market or offer anything new, but what it does provide is a highly polished, chaotic, and lovingly crafted experience for players who have an itch for retro games and addictive combat loops. There's certainly an argument to be made that this version is coming a little too late into its life cycle, but if Hypercharge: Unboxed can find a consistent and renewed audience with this long-awaited release on Xbox consoles, then perhaps the future is indeed bright for this zany, old school shooter.
Hypercharge: Unboxed is available now for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and was previously available for PC and Switch. Game Rant was provided with an Xbox Series X code for this review.
There are a few key areas where the game falls down a bit, unfortunately. The overall gameplay is great for the most part (and the inclusion of gyro aiming is very welcome), but jumping up obstacles can often prove to be a bit tricky. Taking cues from more modern FPS titles, you can scale up objects by tapping the jump button again, but doing this often causes you to mistakenly jump too many times, resulting in you accidentally leaping off the object you tried to climb in the first place.
It's a shame that the single player isn't better, I was hoping it would be more fun to play on my own. Not a fan of online multiplayer these days so I am going to wait for them to patch this game up, they said they were going to improve the solo experience after a few patches down the line. This is definitely a game to wait and see how it turns out, as it seems to be releasing early.
There are three difficulty modes, Casual, Regular & Expert. With expert of course being much more difficult, and certainly not a walk in the park. It requires you to really think about what type of defenses you place, and what weapons and attachments to use, and overall having the near-perfect strategy. Depending on how far you got into the game, as you progress, each level becomes more difficult. (Garden is hectic!)
It is a shame that there was no mention of any of the PvP game modes, as this is a crucial feature for many Switch players. We hope we haven't missed out on a potentially higher rating because of it not being mentioned. But yes, the game does support PvP! (Deathmatch, Team deathmatch, and Plauge-mode. ?
My big question that this review didn't address is the deathmatch mode. I have no interest in the tower defense mode with waves of enemies to kill.
However, the devs told me the game has proper deathmatch and team deathmatch modes. If that's true, this will be an instant buy for me.
@sketchturner The games does support Deathmatch and Team deathmatch. (with server rules) - We will be adding variants in the future, i.e - Capture the Flag, but with a twist. And let's not forget about Plague-mode! That's a real blast with friends. So tense!
Glad to see that you're on here and answering questions. I'll be grabbing this game soon. Can we expect to hear updates from you all about changes you all will be making to the game based on player/review feedback?
Our advice is, if you love co-op play with friends, then you'll get the most out of this game. But if you just like playing offline, you'll still have a bunch of fun, but won't get to experience teamplay. (which is where the game shines) I hope that makes sense.
@sketchturner It is a shame that there was no mention of any of the PvP game modes, as this is a crucial feature for many Switch players. We hope we haven't received a lower rating because of it not being mentioned.
@D_Cybercherries Yeah I don't think you guys are being lazy, if anything the contrary, you seem to be doing what you can to refine it. I would just prefer to get this after you have completed that work, but I can see how having people play the game would give you more information to improve upon.
Since this is on a portable console, there is a good chance that I will be mostly playing this offline which is why that is a big concern for me. Well that and I am simply not really into competitive gaming.
@D_Cybercherries Nice! I am glad you guys are listening to the community and considering our suggestions, definitely makes me want to buy this game all the more. I look forward to seeing how this develops!
@AJ81 Haha, awesome! We hope you have a blast when playing. TimeSplitters is one of my all time favorites. Do you remember the Virus game mode? Well, we have something similar, called Plague-mode.
@D_Cybercherries when i saw you guys commenting i did think it would come across defensive- shame that's the assumption. Like you say communication has gone downhill. I shall give it a try and report back. Looks like a great game
....is this game finished? I have it on my Steam wishlist and it's still listed as 'early access' and not yet final. This is the single reason I haven't purchased it there (I'm not into paying for unfinished games or paying to be a tester), so I'm wondering if the Switch port is also 'early access'.
@D_Cybercherries Hey no problem. I can get behind a developer who openly communicates with people & a game that has alot of hard work put into it. I've been trying to get into/back into making video games myself for quite some time, at least doing paid testing again.
@D_Cybercherries Hey, you guys are on a roll answering these questions, but one thing I'm curious about is(and it may sound stupid considering the nature of this genre) but is there an option to switch the view to third person to see your avatar and surrounding areas? This is something that Paladins did that really was unique to me when playing matches until the recent update. Not that I have any problem with first-person, it's just a preference and I'd also love to see my little toy soldier in action. That's just me, tho.
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