By Chase Burgess

In a day and age where zombie-themed video games consist of open world adventures and tower defense games, a platformer involving the popular undead foes is a great change of pace. Now take that backdrop and add in the genius that is Nicolai Tesla, and you have the recipe for a breath of fresh air in a heavily saturated market.

Tesla Breaks the World, developed by Archetype Global, highlights the rivalry between inventors Thomas Edison and Nicolai Tesla. The plot of TBTW revolves around the destruction of Tesla’s factory. Combined with the inventions inside Tesla’s factory, the explosion created a world much different than the pre-explosion world. What’s so different about this new world you ask? Zombies, lots and lots of zombies. Luckily for us, Archetype Global gave this new world a name, the Teslaverse.

The Teslaverse is filled with not only zombies, but traps and cannons that try to stop you from reaching the end of each level. Speaking of zombies, they won’t just try to grab you, they will rip their own heads off and throw them at you, so distance isn’t always your best friend.

The levels are absolutely beautiful. Not because of any bright or amazing colors, because there aren’t any. The levels are beautiful because they ride the thin line between what we would expect from the late 18^th to early 19^th centuries. The differing shades of green and blue accentuate the tans and browns of the underground areas. Every time you die and have to retry a level, you will notice that something is different. The maps constantly change and randomly generated content always gives you a new experience.

One small aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed was the narrator of the game. If he was in the middle of explaining a situation and you paused the game, the narrator would recognize that you paused the game and make a witty remark about being interrupted. The cut-scenes are made using silent movie style screens. This furthers the feel of an old-timey game.

Playing as Tesla himself, you must fix this world that your machines broke. Tesla is no zombie killing machine, he must rely on the genius of his inventions to help him out. Most notably his magnifying transmitter, a complicated way to say transportation gun. This gun is also used to move boxes to help you move around the map. Every time you use your transportation gun, more zombies appear, so be mindful how many times you use it. I mentioned earlier that the game highlights the rivalry between Edison and Tesla. Well, guess who plays the role of the main antagonist? Edison.

My only real complaint about the game is the price tag, $9.99 seems like a lot to me for this amount of content.

TBTW is a unique experience that I recommend you pick up. It is available to download on the Steam store. This is a zombie game that gamers of all ages can enjoy, which is a nice change for those parents wanting to introduce zombies to their young but aren’t quite sure how to. Tesla Breaks the World gets a 4/5.