Hypergun is a neon roguelite FPS with weird weapons and petty office politics
Aliens have invaded, and it's up to you to test the weapons that will be used to fend them off.
Hypergun is a high-speed roguelite FPS about a man named Dewey Owens, an intern at DevTech Labs who has become instrumental in the development of humanity's ultimate-weapon defense against alien invaders. Not because he's a particularly talented warrior or weaponsmith, but because he broke into the office over the weekend (apparently fending off extraterrestrial hordes is strictly a 9-to-5 gig) and ended up in the testing sim.
The Hypergun—the weapon, not the game—can be modified with more than 150 modules that will change its operation "in exciting and sometimes questionable ways," and ensure that every run through the combat simulator is different. The levels themselves are randomized and packed with simulated aliens (remember, this is all just a testing chamber) and big bad bosses. The simulation profiles of your coworkers can be unlocked to enable unique class abilities, and apparently you'll also have the opportunity to dive into some office politics while you're futzing around off the clock: "Even at the end of the world, there's time to track down passive aggressive post-it notes from coworkers."
I dig silly backstories as much as anyone, but the real attraction here is obviously the over-the-top action, bathed in neon and backed by a sweet disco beat. It won't be the next Dishonored or Spec Ops: The Line, but sometimes, when you just want to wreck some stuff, simplicity is the way to go. Hypergun is set for release on August 23, and will go for $15 on Steam.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.