Coming from small independent developer Digital Cybercherries, Hypercharge: Unboxed was developed by a couple of friends who dreamed of making games together. Their stated goal is to make games fun and accessible by old standards, and on their website they write: “It’s so frustrating to have to spend huge amounts of your hard-earned money on incomplete games, expensive DLCs and the hassle of pay-to-win. We are against all of that.”. And that’s noted at Hypercharge: Unboxed.
Hypercharge: Unboxed was released in 2020 on PC and Nintendo Switch and is now available on Xbox Series X/S. This is a first-person shooter with tower defense elements where you, as various toy characters, must defeat waves of other enemy toys, from plastic soldiers to plastic robots to helicopters, all designed as toys.
Each game begins with a defense phase, where you build defensive structures and various traps around the points on the map that you must defend. The currency you need to build your defenses are the coins you collect in battles. As you progress, you unlock new ways to defend yourself against increasingly stronger enemies. When the defense phase ends, enemies pour in and you must protect yourself as best you can and kill the attacking forces. And so on, new characters, new paths, and, as we said, new defenses.
Advertising:
You will also find different crates throughout the levels with different upgrades for your weapons or even types of secondary weapons. There are a ton of different upgrades, so there are plenty of reasons to explore the maps and even create the weapons you want.
The levels feature everything from bathrooms, kitchens and children’s bedrooms to garages, attics and even a large toy store and are all brilliantly designed. If you’ve seen the films Army Men, Small Soldiers and especially Toy Story you’ll know the tone presented here. The maps are full of hidden objects to find and everything is designed like a 90’s Pixar film. Even the many characters in the game come in the plastic boxes you had toys in as a child. It’s a really well done and well designed game.
Advertising:
Hypercharge: Unboxed is a really well done multiplayer shooter with a slightly different theme than we’re used to. It works well on Series X, the weapons feel good and heavy, and the game is packed with things to do. There are lots of different characters, each with different skins and different cosmetic boxes to unlock, there’s a lot to find and experiment with on the maps, and overall it’s pretty entertaining with friends. If you play alone, which is possible with bots on your team, some of the fun is automatically lost, as this game is clearly designed for multiplayer.
Therefore, Hypercharge: Unboxed is a huge success for the small developer and it is impressive that this game was created by so few developers and designers. If you are looking for a nostalgic multiplayer action game that you can play with family and colleagues (there is also a split screen here), Hypercharge: Unboxed is not a bad option at all and can even be purchased for around $21.
