Turbo Overkill is part of a rapidly growing renaissance of classically-styled first-person shooters. While modern conveniences apply here, the crux of Trigger Happy Interactive's offering is to allow players to rampage through absurd scenarios.
Turbo Overkill follows a simple bible: rip and tear.
And while it is inked in blood and shell casings, it is leather-bound in the meaty flesh of chainsaw victims. Chainsaw leg victims, to be more precise.
This should come as no surprise from Apogee Entertainment, a publisher who rose to prominence with Duke Nukem 3D under its former moniker 3D Realms. Turbo Overkill is meant to be evocative of an era of beefy protagonists who shredded their way through hordes of demons, aliens, and various other ne’er-do-wells. Whether the humble, quiet Doom Slayer or the machismo-ridden Duke, give these men a weapon and they will get the job done.
Turbo Overkill is a boomer shooter. An arena shooter. A classic FPS in the vein of old PC shooters before developers really wrapped their coding brains around three-dimensional spaces. Guns rest squarely in the screen, dominating the view. Movement is like skating through ice on buttered shoes. Baddies explode in red giblets and ooze.
What can one truly say about a delivery vessel so simple, so mechanically linked to 30 years of predecessors? In his 2023 review of Turbo Overkill for the PC, Will was brimming with joy over developer Trigger Happy Interactive’s work. On PC, few things sing better than a lightning-fast, brutal shooter that takes no qualms in holding players’ hands.
In summation, Turbo Overkill on console–and in this case, PlayStation 5–remains an exceptionally thoughtful distillation of the core tenants of an FPS from the 90s. But imagine all those hallmarks edged towards modern sensibilities, one where players need just a bit more meat on the bone to harness their attention.
As Johnny Turbo, players are on a loosely important narrative stitched together by level-bookended cutscenes and some audio logs and dialog scattered throughout the experience. This is a game whose protagonist has a chainsaw fused to his leg, one that insta-gibs enemies that are slid into like a homicidal Tony Hawk. I won’t purport to remember much of the “how” and the “why” to the goings-on, just that it was there and could hold my interest whilst shredding through the hordes of bodies.
More importantly, Turbo Overkill is a game about collecting guns, staying alive, and dispatching fodder as briskly and creatively as possible. But despite the veneer of a game from 2023, there is a back-to-basics approach both visually and mechanically. Bathed in chunky pixels, red blobs of guts, and neon trappings, Trigger Happy Interactive is making its product readily identifiable. Plus, it runs like a dream regardless of how fast Johnny Turbo jumps and air dashes through levels; regardless of how many projectiles fly around the screen; regardless of how many enemies pepper the landscape.
I caution players who get overwhelmed by visual stimulation. On console, there is a great deal of refinement that can be made to the controls, allowing players to whip their sensitivity to the preferred snappiness. FOV sliders bring a nice PC touch to the action, as well. But no matter what, Turbo Overkill can run at an eye-watering 60FPS that often feels significantly faster. It took several minutes for my eyes and brain to get acclimated to the action, it was almost hard to keep track of where I was guiding Johnny and where his gun was pointing.
Still, muscle memory often triumphs and I’ve been playing these games since I was a kid. What first might be a bit of slippery movement is instead a testament to how well Turbo Overkill can control when mastered. Should players so desire, they will have plenty of opportunities to literally slide around the various levels and wipe out prey with the chainsaw leg. It’s patently absurd but who really gives a shit when it’s this much fun?
Often the point of Turbo Overkill isn’t to test the player but to push them into more engagingly elaborate scenarios, often done to leave the mouth agape with shock or laughter. This is a game drenched in fun that was in no way hindered by its translation from mouse and keyboard to controller.
While the action could stand on its own, having players run around as Johnny Turbo lacking the ability to aim down sights or hide behind cover, augments can be purchased to increase the skill level. Weapons earn alternate firing methods, Johnny can be augmented with upgrades. It’s all done in service of killing things and earning more cash to get stronger, faster, and deadlier. Plus, throw in some classic doors locked by keycards, walls that reveal secrets when interacted with, and a splash screen at the end of each level showing off a player’s performance.
The one major thing lacking on the console version of Turbo Overkill is the level editor. As it stands, I’m not sure if player-created levels will ever make their way to the console ports in some for or another and that’s a shame because I imagine there’s a stockpile that’s been built up over the past year. It’s lamentable, certainly. But I understand the complexity of the console ecosystem, especially when compared to the flexibility of PCs. Yet that isn’t enough to really knock Turbo Overkill for. Because what’s left is still a near-immaculate shooter that deservedly should occupy a space among the great modern-day interpretations of the classics.
Turbo Overkill is honest in its simplicity, absurdity, and authenticity. It works to interpret 30-year-old shooters for a modern audience, one who yearns for fast-paced, rewarding action in a space that so frequently asks for polish and patience. On console, it performs outstandingly, capturing the essence of the mouse and keyboard days. And if that isn’t enough to grab your attention, don’t forget: you’ve always got a chainsaw leg.
