REVIEW: Hypercharge: Unboxed (PS5)

If you ever spent your childhood imagining epic battles between action figures in your bedroom, then Hypercharge: Unboxed will feel like a long-overdue dream come true. Developed by indie team Digital Cybercherries, this first/third-person shooter blends the joy of childhood imagination with the polish of modern Unreal Engine 4 visuals.

It’s a compact but impressive package that combines light-hearted humour, toy-based warfare, and a surprisingly robust tower defence twist, all wrapped in a wave-based shooter format. Whether you’re playing solo, with friends in split-screen, or online in multiplayer, Hypercharge offers an undeniably fun and nostalgic experience that captures the spirit of Toy Story and Small Soldiers in video game form.

Story

Unlike many shooters in its genre, Hypercharge: Unboxed has a light but charming campaign that cleverly leans into its toy-themed premise. You play as a miniature action figure brought to life to protect the Hypercore—a powerful energy source that evil toys are constantly trying to destroy. The campaign is broken into 14 levels that take place across everyday environments like bedrooms, bathrooms, backyards and more, all reimagined as massive battlegrounds from the perspective of a tiny toy.

Rather than take itself seriously, the story embraces a humorous, over-the-top tone. It’s campy in all the right ways and clearly crafted by a team that understands the absurd joy of childhood toy battles. The real genius of the campaign is how it combines story elements with tower defence mechanics.

Each level tasks players with defending objectives against waves of enemies, building defences and scavenging for coins to upgrade structures between waves. It’s simple but effective and adds a layer of tactical depth that elevates the single-player experience beyond your standard arcade shooter.

The campaign can be tackled solo (with up to three AI-controlled bots) or cooperatively with up to three other players, either locally via split-screen or online. The inclusion of bots is a welcome feature for offline players, and difficulty scaling based on player count ensures balance regardless of how you choose to play.

Gameplay

At its core, Hypercharge: Unboxed is a wave-based shooter with tower defence mechanics, but it also branches into classic multiplayer game modes. The core shooting is fast, responsive and customisable, with players able to swap between first and third-person perspectives at will.

You start with a standard-issue assault rifle, but attachments and weapons scattered around each map allow for some experimentation. There’s a noticeable focus on customisation—both in terms of weapons and the toy soldiers themselves—and none of it is locked behind paywalls or offers any gameplay advantages. It’s all purely cosmetic, which is refreshing to see.

What stands out most is how well the game captures the feel of being a toy. Movement is grounded and weighty, but not sluggish, and the scale of the world gives every level a sense of verticality and exploration. There are clever traversal paths, hidden collectibles, and great use of environmental detail that makes you feel like you’re truly fighting in a child’s imagination.

Multiplayer modes such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Infection, King of the Hill, and Capture the Battery add variety, although they can occasionally feel unbalanced. Power weapons are scattered throughout the maps, and matches often become a race to control those spawn points. Combine that with limited spawn protection and you occasionally end up in frustrating loops of spawn-die-repeat. It’s not a deal-breaker, but something the developers could improve with a few tweaks.

Still, the sheer joy of battling it out as plastic warriors in toy aisles or bathroom sinks outweighs the few gameplay frustrations. The game supports up to eight players and features full cross-platform play, making it easy to find matches regardless of your preferred platform.

Visuals

For a game developed by a small indie team, Hypercharge: Unboxed looks impressively sharp. Built in Unreal Engine 4, the game boasts detailed environments, smooth animations, and a colourful art style that fits its toy-box theme perfectly. Each level is a lovingly crafted diorama of household chaos—overflowing toilets, cluttered shelves, backyard obstacles—and the visual storytelling helps reinforce the whimsical nature of the game’s setting.

The toy characters themselves are well-modelled with a wide variety of cosmetic customisations, from military-themed figures to sci-fi and fantasy toys. Explosions, particle effects, and enemy animations all look good in motion, and on PS5, the game runs at a consistently smooth frame rate with minimal loading times.

The sound design is also worth mentioning, with satisfying weapon effects and a playful soundtrack that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Voice lines and brief story cutscenes add just enough flavour to keep the campaign engaging without slowing things down.

Conclusion

Hypercharge: Unboxed is a delightful surprise—an indie shooter that punches well above its weight class. Digital Cybercherries has done an excellent job capturing the nostalgic magic of childhood toy battles and translating it into an engaging, polished FPS experience. With split-screen support, cross-platform multiplayer, a flexible campaign, and a great visual presentation, the game is packed with value for its price point.

It’s not without its faults—the multiplayer could benefit from better spawn protection and balancing, and some may find the power weapon races frustrating—but the sheer charm and creativity on display more than make up for it. For anyone who grew up staging imaginary wars with plastic figures, Hypercharge: Unboxed is a must-play.

Hypercharge: Unboxed Pricing & Availability

Hypercharge: Unboxed is available May 30th on PS5 and PS4, starting at €29.99, or €26.99 with a 10% PlayStation Plus subscription discount.

The game has previously launched on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Steam.