Do you even remember Small Soldiers?
Light the fires and sound the sirens boys and girls because Hypercharge: Unboxed is finally out on Xbox. I have had this game on Switch since it came out in 2020, and here we are 4 years later and it’s arrived on another platform. Listen, as a ‘man of a certain age’ I have extremely fond memories of the 1998 film, Small Soldiers. A story about military AI that brings two waring factions of action figures to life, the film had a great cast with Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella playing the leads. This is kind of the premise in Hypercharge, whose gameplay is a mix of first person shooting and tower-defense.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
In it, players will play as a toy, straight out of the box and ready to defend your towers from massive waves of enemies. All kinds of childhood toys make up the enemies; everything from common green toy soldiers to spinning tops, walking robots, and even helicopters and strafing jets ala GI Joe style. The game is meant to be played with friends or barring that, strangers on the internet. It can be filled out with bots, but its always better to have human players in my opinion and I’m happy to say that Hypercharge also supports split-screen co-cop.
Each match will begin with a countdown to the first wave, during this time players can gather coins to build defenses. Players will also need to be on the lookout for batteries that of course power the towers. It’s the level design that I love the most about Hypercharge, each map is meticulously crafted; from a kid’s bedroom, to garages and toy stores that will instantly tug on the nostalgia from us that grew up during the 90’s. Each level is littered with hidden crevices and passages, that will usually reward players with parts to unlock new figures and power ups. Collecting the required parts will reward players with new action figures to play as, each with varying degrees of customization. The sheer joy I had literally designing my action figure and then jumping out of the package just made me feel like a kid again, and I will tell you it was awesome.
And to be honest that is what Hypercharge does best, evoking nostalgia. From the ‘Small Soldiers’ inspiration to the Toys R’ Us type level this game will transport those of us who can remember back to a simpler time. While the actual shooting mechanics are ‘plain jane’ by modern standards it gets the job done. And Hypercharge offers cross play so friends on Switch can play with friends on Xbox, the real villain in all of this though is the jump mechanics in game. Besides having some weird default button setups, the jump just feels very floaty. While there is no fall damage or anything, it’s frustrating to have to navigate back up to a top shelf after missing a jump and falling back to the ground.
I know I have been critical of the developer in the past, and while I, myself didn’t really vibe with their marketing techniques; at the end of the day developer Digital Cybercherries’ freshman offering is a joy to play with others. It can be rather difficult alone due to having to defend multiple towers, but with others, online or split-screen I cannot deny this is a fun game. Its not going to set the world on fire, but for a group of buddies on a weekend; this one will definitely make you smile.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
