Ever wonder what it's like to embody a human as a parasite? Oddly specific, but boy, do we have the perfect game for you!
HyperParasite has slithered its weird, evil tentacles to the Nintendo Switch for an exciting take on the twin stick shooting genre.
In HyperParasite, you play a dastardly entity, part of some mysterious larger alien scheme to eradicate the human race (a tale as old as time, eh?). There's no hiding your feelings here as you're given instruction to go possess and kill. HyperParasite...doesn't exactly leave you racked with guilt over this diabolical mission: the humans are jerks from the common street urchin all the way up to the President.
As your journey begins, you'll learn the basics of this twin stick shooter fairly quickly. Arena-type levels will spawn various humans with different abilities, with all crosshairs focused on you. Being a parasite, your main advantage is being able to possess individual humans. This is where the concept of HyperParasite really shines--multiple abilities extracted from different humans, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. You can pick and choose whom you wish to possess on the fly, or from a gene bank manifesting as 'collected' humans. Progression through the game will show through unlocking certain humans, as they reflect stronger selves as time goes on. Various upgrades are offered along the way to sweeten the deal as well. It's a fun way to mix things up with the gameplay--never really having to be stuck with the same boring character.
As mentioned before, the majority of HyperParasite's battles take place in an arena setting. Plenty of natural obstacles to hide behind and maneuver your way through every fight. Environmental hazards are abound too--plenty of explosive scenery to spice things up. You'll have to finesse your way through these encounters, whilst being on top of whatever arsenal you choose to take up in the form of your specific human.
The look and feel of HyperParasite is what originally attracted me to the game itself: a pumping electronic soundtrack reminiscent of 80's action films, with a neon palette to seal the deal in. The HUDs and menus all reflect this neo-futuristic appearance too--very cool design as you work your way through stat screens.
Is HyperParasite fun? Well, it looks cool, handles well and if you like twin stick shooters and neon, you're probably going to be in for a great time. It does tend to get frustrating as a common rogue-lite problem though. It's probably best to go into a playthrough with a solid set of patience and every intention of permadeath, because you no doubt will perish. As for the opinion on how it sets on the Nintendo Switch--it's a brilliant arcade title that works devilishly well on a handheld and can't recommend enough if you need a portable game that's going to keep you busy for some time.
HyperParasite is no push over, but it is genuinely a good time. If you have nerves of steel and thumbs of iron, I really recommend checking this title out. Troglobytes Games really did a fantastic job putting you in the role of a horrid alien--and now it's time to wreck some havoc!