Turbo Overkill: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

The First Ten Minutes Broke My Brain (In a Good Way)

I remember booting up Turbo Overkill for the first time. I was expecting another boomer shooter clone. You know the drill — run fast, shoot demons, pretend you're in a Slayer music video. Then I activated my first wall-run, hit a jump pad, slid under a sawblade, and accidentally clipped into a secret room full of health packs I didn't need. The movement system hit me like a freight train made of rocket fuel and caffeine. I spent my first three runs trying to stack poison damage on the second boss and got completely wrecked every time. Like, not even close. I thought I was hot shit because I'd beaten Doom Eternal on Ultra-Violence. Turbo Overkill laughed at me.

This game is the love child of Quake III and a first-person Tony Hawk simulation, and it doesn't care if you're ready for it. The tutorial tells you the buttons. It does not tell you how to survive. So I'm here to save you the rage quits and the YouTube searches for "how to beat the fucking subway boss." I've got about 200 hours in this thing. I've speedrun it, I've done challenge runs with no upgrades, and I've cried when a random grunt headshot me off a wall-run at Mach 5. This guide is the stuff I wish someone had told me before I ate pavement for the first five hours.

Why You're Probably Dying Every Five Seconds

Let's be real. You're dying because you're treating this game like a standard FPS. You're strafing left and right, peeking corners, and trying to play cover. That's how you die. Turbo Overkill punishes stationary players like a cat punishes a mouse that stops moving. The biggest pain point new players hit is the mental shift from "tactical shooter" to "high-speed collision physics." You are not a soldier. You are a human pinball with a chainsaw for a leg.

The second big issue is resource mismanagement. You see a big arena full of enemies, you panic, you spam your rocket launcher, and then you're out of rockets for the mini-boss that spawns thirty seconds later. The game gives you ammo pickups, but they're positioned in the middle of kill zones. You have to earn that shotgun shell by sliding through the grinder. There's no safe reload here.

Finally, the chainsaw dash. Oh god, the chainsaw dash. The game tells you it's a traversal tool. It's not a traversal tool. It's a DPS machine that you should be using every four seconds to chew through enemy groups. I spent my first two hours treating the dash like a panic button. It's not. It's your primary melee attack. My friend who started playing last week kept complaining that his "sword was weak." He wasn't dashing. He was walking up to enemies and pressing the attack button like it was Minecraft. No. You dash through them. You become the saw.

What You Actually Need to Know on Day One

Forget the advanced movement tricks for now. If you're dying on the first or second level, here's the real checklist you should run through before you even fire your first shot at a grunt.

Your Loadout Matters More Than Your Skill

You start with a pistol. It's fine. It gets the job done. But the first weapon upgrade you should chase is the Titan Sword. Do not pass go, do not collect your stimpack. Rush the Titan Sword to +5 before you even touch the side quests. Trust me. At +5, it gets a damage multiplier on dashing attacks that turns common enemies into red mist. You won't find it until the second major area, so save your money. When you see the vendor, buy it immediately. Do not buy the shotgun upgrade first. The shotgun is a trap for beginners. The sword scales with movement speed. You want to be fast, not loud.

The Augments System Will Save Your Ass

You'll find augments in little blue containers scattered around levels. They're like passive perks, and some are completely game-breaking. The one you want first is called "Ricochet Reflex". It makes your bullets bounce off walls one extra time. That doesn't sound huge until you're in a tight corridor with ten enemies and every missed shot turns into a lucky headshot. The second augment you should hunt is "Blood Rush", which gives you a 20% speed boost for three seconds after you get a kill. Stack that with the sword dash, and you become untouchable.

Stop Trying to Kill Everything

This is the single biggest piece of advice I can give. The game throws waves of enemies at you. You do not need to kill every single one before moving forward. In fact, most arenas are designed so you can kite enemies around, grab the key item, and bail. I spent three tries on the "Junkyard" level trying to clear every spawn. I was exhausted and out of ammo by the time the mini-boss showed up. The mini-boss killed me in two hits. On the fourth try, I sprinted through, grabbed the battery, and let the enemies fight the boss's missiles. Survivors get the loot.

Wall-Running is Not a Gim

The wall-run has a built-in speed boost when you jump off. You'll vault forward like you're strapped to a rocket. This is your primary way to cross big gaps. But here's the thing nobody tells you: you can wall-run on any surface that's tall enough, even if it looks like a pipe or a beam. The game is generous with what counts as a "wall." Use this to skip entire combat encounters. I found a shortcut on level three that shaves off two minutes because I ran along a conveyor belt railing that clearly wasn't intended to be walkable. The devs left it in. That's the spirit of this game.

Expert Moves That'll Make You Feel Like a God

Alright, you've got the basics. You're not dying every thirty seconds. Now let's talk about making the game your bitch. These are the techniques I use on my speedruns, and they'll work for you too if you practice them for about ten minutes in the hub area.

• The Slide-Cancel Bunny Hop: Hold sprint, slide, then jump immediately when the slide animation starts to slow down. You'll conserve momentum and maintain speed. This is faster than running and doesn't cost stamina. I do this everywhere. It's muscle memory now. It's also how you dodge the homing missiles from the Flak Cannon enemies, because if you're moving at max speed, their tracking can't keep up.
• The Chainsaw Dash Weave: When you chainsaw dash through an enemy, you get a brief window of invincibility frames (about 0.3 seconds). If you chain dashes through multiple enemies, you can survive point-blank explosions. I've tanked a rocket by dashing through three zombies right as the rocket hit my last position. The game registers you as invulnerable during the dash. Use this to get through dense crowds. It's not a cheat. It's the game's design.
• Weapon Synergy: The Flamethrower does 45 base DPS but ramps to 120 after 3 seconds of continuous fire. That's good for big, slow enemies. But the Railgun (found in the third area) does 350 damage per hit with no ramp. The trick is to start with the Flamethrower to get the enemy stunned (they flinch), then swap to the Railgun for the kill shot. The swap animation is fast, and you conserve Railgun ammo. I see too many players using the Railgun on grunts. Stop it. Use the pistol or the sword for grunts. Save the big guns for the big guys.
• Aerial Control: You can double-jump, dash mid-air, and then chainsaw dash again. This creates a triple-dash that covers insane distance. To do it: jump, double-jump, air dash forward, then hit the chainsaw dash button. You'll fly across the map. This is how you skip the minecart sequence in the Undergrowth level. The devs didn't patch it. Why would they? It's awesome.

Five Ways I Got My Ass Handed to Me (So You Don't Have To)

Mistake #1: Standing Still to Aim.

This is the number one killer. In most shooters, you crouch, you aim down sights, you take a shot. In Turbo Overkill, standing still is a death sentence. Enemies hit hard and they're aggressive. If you stop for more than two seconds, you will eat a rocket, a shotgun blast, or a melee swing from a dog that can teleport. I died so many times because I tried to line up a headshot on a grunt while three others flanked me. The solution? Learn to hip-fire. The accuracy penalty is tiny compared to the advantage of moving at Mach 10. If you absolutely must aim, do it while sliding. Sliding reduces your hitbox and keeps you fast.

Mistake #2: Ignoring the Radar.

The game has a radar in the top-right corner. It shows enemy positions in a 360-degree radius. I didn't look at it for the first four hours because I thought it was useless decoration. It's not. It tells you when enemies are spawning behind you, which happens CONSTANTLY. The game loves to drop two dogs right where you just came from. The radar gives you a 0.8-second warning. That's enough time to chainsaw dash sideways. Start checking it every three seconds.

Mistake #3: Holding Onto Your Ultimate.

You get an Ultimate ability (it's a screen-clearing blast) that recharges slowly. New players hold it for "the perfect moment." There is no perfect moment. Use it the second you see a cluster of more than five enemies. If you wait, you'll get overwhelmed, panic-press the button, and die mid-animation. I've done this thirty times. The Ultimate is not a secret weapon; it's a reset button. Use it aggressively. It also refills a chunk of your health, which is huge.

Mistake #4: Buying the Wrong Upgrades First.

The vendor sells upgrades for all your weapons. The double jump upgrade might seem useless because you already have a double jump. But it gives you a third jump. I don't care what the text says. You buy the double jump upgrade first. It's 500 credits. You earn that from one secret room. The third jump lets you reach every hidden area in the first two levels, which gives you more augments and health upgrades. I bought the health regen upgrade first, thinking I'd be tanky. It gives you 1 HP per second out of combat. That's nothing. Avoid it until you have everything else.

Mistake #5: Forgetting to Rebind Your Keys.

The default controls are fine for most people. But the chainsaw dash is bound to Left Alt by default, which is a nightmare to hit while moving. I rebinded it to Left Shift (sprint goes to mouse side button). This changed my entire experience. Suddenly I could dash without losing my WASD grip. If you're on controller, bind dash to a trigger or a bumper. You need to be able to dash without moving your thumb off the stick. This is not a "nice to have." This is a requirement.

Also, if you're playing on a high refresh rate monitor, cap your FPS at 144. The game's physics engine gets weird at 200+ FPS. I had a bug where wall-running would randomly drop me into pits because my framerate was too high. The devs know about it. It's not your skill. Just cap it.

Stuff People Keep Asking in Discord

Q: Is there a penalty for dying?

You lose your current score multiplier and any active temporary buffs. You also respawn at the last checkpoint, which are usually generous. You don't lose permanent upgrades or money you already spent. So don't be afraid to take risks. The only real penalty is pride.

Q: How do I find the secret levels?

Each main level has a hidden teleporter that looks like a floating purple crystal. Shoot it. It'll open a portal. The secret levels are short, hard, and give you a permanent health upgrade. They're worth it. The one in Demon Row is behind a breakable wall in the sewer section. Hit the wall with the chainsaw dash.

Q: What difficulty should I play on?

Start on Hard-Boiled (the middle one). The easy mode is too easy—enemies have half health and barely shoot. The hard mode is brutal for first-timers. Hard-Boiled gives you a fair challenge where you'll actually learn the movement, but you won't want to throw your keyboard. If you're coming from games like Doom Eternal on Nightmare, go for the hardest difficulty. You'll still die, but you'll adapt faster.

Q: What's the best weapon for the final boss?

The Railgun with the Ricochet augment. The boss has phases where it teleports around and spawns minions. The Railgun hits through walls (yes, really) and the ricochet lets you tag the boss even if you miss by a mile. Pair it with the chainsaw dash for the adds. I beat the final boss on my second try with this setup. The first try I used the shotgun and got deleted.

Q: Can I respec my upgrades?

No. Once you buy an upgrade, it's permanent. This is why I told you to prioritize the Titan Sword and double jump. You can't undo a bad purchase. Save your credits until you know what you want. The game doesn't tell you this, but you can preview every upgrade in the menu before you buy. Read the numbers. Some upgrades are tiny stat boosts that aren't worth 200 credits.

Q: Is there a co-op mode?

No. The game is single-player only. There's a mod that adds a second player with split-screen, but it's janky and crashes often. If you want co-op, check out our Doom Eternal guide for the Battlemode tips instead.

Q: The movement feels stiff. What am I doing wrong?

You're probably not chaining your dashes correctly. After a wall-run, you can dash immediately without losing speed. After a slide, you can jump and then dash. The movement is momentum-based, not input-based. Think of it like surfing in Quake Live. You're trying to keep your speed bar full, not just pressing buttons. Practice in the hub area for five minutes. Do laps. It'll click.

This mechanic is similar to what Titanfall 2 did with its slide-hop system—if you've played that, you're ahead of the curve. If not, check out our Titanfall 2 guide for movement drills that translate directly to this game.

Q: How do I get more health?

Health packs are everywhere: green bottles in breakable crates, on dead enemies, and in secret rooms. But the best way to keep health up is the Health Steal augment (kills restore 5 HP). You find it in the second arena. Equip it immediately. It's better than any health upgrade you can buy. Also, stay at full health as much as possible. Enemies hit harder when you're below 50%. That's a hidden mechanic. Don't let yourself stay low.

Q: I'm stuck on the boss in the subway level. Help.

That's the Subway Surfer boss. He's a pain. The trick is to use the trains themselves as weapons. He stomps the ground, spawning shockwaves. Jump over them. When he rears back, he's about to charge. Get to the side and hit the explosive barrels near the tracks. The barrels do 300 damage each. I beat him by kiting him over three barrel clusters. Took me seven tries. Don't feel bad if you die there. Also, the chainsaw dash can interrupt his charge attack if you hit his face. That's a free damage window.

And for a completely different type of shooter experience, see our Hades guide—it's a different genre but the same philosophy of "keep moving or die."