Spotting the telltale golden glow I throw myself onto jump pad and launch up onto the rooftops. Bullets are flying past – miraculously, not a single one hits me – and I tear after my teammates, roof tiles tinkling beneath my feet. Suddenly, my pal turns and trains his Hexfire over at the rooftop across from me, and I realise we’re not alone. But before I get the chance to follow suit – before I even raise my gun – I’ve been one-shotted by an invisible sniper, and I’m dead. Again.
I wouldn’t mind if I was bowing out as a hero. I could cope if I was taking an enemy down with me, perhaps, or heroically throwing myself in front of a squadmate as a final, selfless, meatshield-esque hurrah. The truth, however, is that in Hyper Scape, I rarely take anyone else down with me. Most of the time, I don’t even know where my squadmates are, let alone can throw myself into the line of fire. The rest of the time, I’m dead before I’ve even found myself a weapon.
I keep notes as I play, and never has my handwriting looked more erratic. There’s no downtime in Hyper Scape, you see. There’s no opportunity for me to pause, contemplate, and jot down an incisive word or two. Hyper Scape is relentless and breathless and almost unapologetically overwhelming, which is potentially why, less than an hour in, I’ve Sharpied “OMFG I CAN’T COPE” in block caps across an entire double page.
