You play as Johnny Turbo, a bounty hunter tasked with scrubbing the chaos that a rogue AI has spread throughout the cyberpunk dystopia of the paradoxically named Paradise. Like the shooters of yesteryear, there’s no long-winded storytelling to slow Overkill’s breakneck pace. But with a bit of parkour, “turbo time”, a grappling hook, and the ability to slide into enemies with a chainsaw leg, there’s enough innovation to ensure that Overkill doesn’t feel like a substandard rehash. Developer Trigger Happy Interactive might lean on timeworn mechanics like collectible health packs and foes who burst into gooey giblets. But with the release of Turbo Overkill, it almost feels like the publisher didn’t endure two decades’ worth of difficulties. Subsequently, Apogee would endure a succession of layoffs, legal entanglements, a restructuring, and a corporate buyout.

At the time, the three-dimensional firefights felt astonishingly visceral, forming memories for a generation of players. Chances are, if you owned an i486 or a Pentium-powered PC during that era, then you probably tried one of their titles. Across the 1990s, the publisher released pioneering first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D, and Shadow Warrior. Players of a certain age might remember Apogee.

Overkill 3 overkill 3 review