Tesla Force (PS4/PS5)

It’s time to welcome a new top down rouge-lite twin stick shooter to the PS4/PS5 with the arrival of Tesla Force, a game developed by 10Tons LTD and we got to check it out! So let’s arm our coils and fine tune our mech as we see how it plays.

Tesla Force opens with Nikola Tesla in his car, in a hurry to make it to a tower. Before arriving however he discovers that the bridge is out and we get control of the character and use science! to teleport across the gap. Now to find Marie Curie who warns the scientist that he should not activate it, a statement he brushes of insisting it’s safe – moments before Lovecraftian monsters appear and your first taste of combat begins

The opening peaked my interest a little simply because it’s my kind of jam, science and destroying monsters with tentacles for faces is kinda neat. No matter how you frame it, that being said, the game doesn’t seem to have much dialog. If you’re not a heavy reader or simply want to get back to the action, you’re golden! and let’s face it if you like these types of games you’re likely just here to blast monsters back to the hellscape they came from.

The visuals in this title are on par with most others in the genre, they’re nothing groundbreaking but make for a decent visual experience. It’s not one that’s going to tax any modern system this, this likely aids in its lack of frame rate drops or stuttering as dozens upon dozens of monstrous beasts swarm the screen.

Audio for the title was rather enjoyable despite the limited number of tracks that seemed to loop and have some down time between its end and being replayed.

Gameplay in Tesla Force is simple enough to get to grips with but difficult to master. You use the left stick to move, right to aim, and have a dodge (teleport) with 3 charges (can be upgraded). There are some other buttons to press for things such as abilities and summoning your mech, but all very simple enough to remember.

After your initial tutorial you will be able to select areas in the map via multiple choice, all seem to end in the same place, but selecting one route may lock you out of some previous options. Each of these locations have one of a handful of objectives, such as finding all the parts and repairing something, to surviving until a timer counts down. Once more very simple to understand, much more difficult to do, more so the longer you play or progress.

The reason I say this is the swarm of monsters that will be determined to eat your face never lets up. The tutorial and maybe the first mission will give a false sense of security, but one that will not last as the swarms get larger and more foes appear. You will swiftly find yourself on the run, more so if you don’t find a decent weapon

Long story short, the game is going to kill you likely more than once. Fortunately death has some rewards. As you take down foes quests will be fulfilled and crystals will be collected, all of these work towards unlocking things for your next run. These include levying your armoury so you have better equipment at the start, or perks that give a range of effects including health or damage bonus. Between each run while you upgrade you also have the option of switching characters, each of whom have pros and cons to them. You will have the choice of two at the start with another two unlocking latter.

Another thing of note is in this area you have the ability to use the cloning lab to play local co-op with a friend (can also be done in share play) to help with dealing with your foes and finishing up objectives faster.

The gameplay loop proceeds like this throughout the game, and while challenging, remains fun. Sure it’s frustrating to die at the end of a level, but the next time around you should be better equipped and have a few new tricks and experience up your sleeve.

Overall Tesla Force can be both a fun stress reliever and stress inducer at the same time. Once you get the hang of it and get some upgrades however, you go from fleeing to slaughtering tentacle monstrosity as if you were the doom guy. I’d easily recommend this to twin stick fans, especially if you have a friend or two to play with.