HyperParasite (PS4)

Oozing with 80's pop culture references, presidential pokes, and a dash of identity politics "HyperParasite" aims to entertain the gamer with an infinite rogue-like replay rich gameplay loop done up in a slight twin-stick shooter fashion. This semi-top down action packed alien adventure puts the player in control of a parasitic mass that is intent on reaching it's presidential target. All in hopes of conquering humanity via nuclear warfare through body snatching. Kind of like the current COVID-19 versus POTUS situation. Something that is oddly referenced in the game's opening cinematic where a Nick Fury looking Commander in Chief puts a bounty on the parasite's head giving the public a shoot on sight order in hopes of thwarting the end times ploy. With the parasite's ability to take control of a host's body though this means that those looking to capitalize will be killing their own kind if they miss the mark. In a villain versus hero situation how you fare as the alien invader will depend fully on how well you can utilize the game's unique mechanics. That, and how well you can make use of Wito's shop upgrades.

As the unnamed alien parasite it is your duty to kill off would be heroes while making use of their bodies, buffs, and abilities or skills. Each heroic adversary you encounter in each sectioned off area will either be locked or open to possession in the early game. By pressing SQUARE as the parasite you can takeover an unlocked hero's body, and in turn make use of their base and special attacks, health, and buffs. The heroes available depend on the act in question, and there are quite a handful to choose from per act once they are unlocked. In total there are five acts to play through at a time. Each of which take place on randomized maps with multiple connected rooms. As you enter a room heroes will come crawling out of the sewers, and other openings to attack you. You can choose to kill them using the parasite's two attacks or possess a hero, and use them to kill off the remaining heroes within the area. Heroes, and the parasite have a specific amount of starting HP each.

The parasite, in particular, can only get hit how many ever heart upgrades it has. With each hit it basically loses a life. The heroes on the other hand are governed by a health bar, and when said health bar is depleted it will revert the parasite back to it's original form. Heroes come with added buffs, immunity, and skills specific to said hero. This includes resistances to elemental damage as well as buffed effectiveness when it comes to attacks and defense. Unlocking new heroes is done by collecting the left behind brains of the heroes. Once obtained you can take the brain to Wito's shop area, and to the adjacent hero room to unlock that hero. It will take the brain, and a certain amount of currency to unlock. Currency in the game is found in destructible objects as well as from fallen heroes. As far as the parasite's upgrades go you can buy new skills from Wito's shop by standing on the neon icon, and paying the asked price. You can also find puddles which you can absorb to give you extra parasite lives, attack buffs, and defense buffs. If you die as the parasite at any given point a newspaper headline will appear as the GAME OVER screen showcasing which hero it was that took you out.

Gameplay comes in the form of singleplayer or couch co-op. In singleplayer the maps are randomly generated with different heroes, hazards, secrets, and bosses lying in wait past gates that unlock when a room is cleared. The end goal is to clear all the rooms in the act, and defeat that act's given boss. Kind of like "The Binding of Isaac". As the parasite you can move around, aim, and attack as you take advantage of hosts to help you avoid untimely losses of life. The left thumbstick will move the parasite, and hero around while the right thumbstick acts as a directional aiming target. With SQUARE you can possess hosts that don't have a locked symbol above their life bars, and with R2 you can do your basic attack. L2 allows for a special attack which runs on a cooldown. Some characters will also utilize a reload function tied to R1. Both the parasite, and the host hero also have the ability to strafe, or dodge using L1. Mastering the mechanics is part of the battle, but surviving long enough to upgrade, and unlock act specific characters will be the key to victory.

Alongside the main content the game also includes what I like to call a hero bestiary. The developer calls it an almanac. In the almanac you'll get to see the biographic details of each heroic character as well as their buffs, stats, and skills. It's a little extra that highlights some obvious nods to 80's cinema, and pop culture like Teen Wolf and Rocky among others. As far as tweaks go you can set the pixel graphics to high or low resolution in the settings menu. You can also change the in-game language, set the sound levels, and even alter the effectiveness of auto-aim. For those who like to see who made the game there's also a credits menu option that will disclose the staff who worked on HyperParasite.

The Verdict ...

Aside from the blatant presidential poke, and identity politics references this trip down 80's memory lane is quite the fun experience. It harbors infinite replay value that can be experienced alone or with a couch co-op partner. The randomly generated maps, and acts give the gamer something new to look forward to each playthrough, and the heroes you can unlock as starters adds something worth seeking as you continue to play. Detail I forgot to mention. In the Wito shop areas where the hero heads lie in wait for brains and coin there lies a storage container where you can store your favorite characters for the playthrough. As you begin each new playthrough the starter hero will be randomly selected, so having your favorites in storage narrows it down. That's just something else worth noting in this impressive indie. For recommendation sake, considering the content in whole, I am going to give it my seal of approval. It is good for what it is, especially gameplay-wise. For the price it's also not a bad deal. Add it to your library if you fancy a different take on the Binding of Isaac formula!