I’m getting close to the end of Overload’s campaign and it’s hard. Really hard. I don’t mind this, as games are supposed to get more challenging as you progress. There are, however, a couple of strange design decisions that are making the experience a little frustrating.
No More Upgrades?
Near the end of the game you are teleported to an alien planet. You lose contact with the ship that was looking after you, and thus can no longer upgrade your ship. Except, that means you don’t get to spend any of the upgrade points that you gained on the last Saturn-based level.
While I get this from a storytelling perspective, it’s a really strange choice. Half of the fun of playing a new level is getting to experiment with your new upgrades. Taking away this aspect of the gameplay for the last four levels seriously reduces the enjoyment of the game, turning the last few levels into a very difficult grind with little reward.
Annoying Door Switches
The last few levels also introduce one-way doors that can only be opened by shooting a switch. But only if you use a specific weapon. And the door only stays open for a few seconds. And you often have to have your back to the door, so no matter what you’ll be taking some hits from the inevitable ambush.
I find these switches infuriating. Not only due to the constant weapon-switching required, but also because you’ll be trying to fight your way into a new area and the doors will close again. So, find the switch again, switch weapons, quickly fly back, and try to fight your way through again. Doors close again, so repeat all previous steps. Or you can just rush into the room, but with 6 or more ships suddenly locked onto you, you won’t survive.
While I understand that these switches are meant to be an interesting new obstacle, they serve only to slow down the gameplay and frustrate the player. They feel like a tacked on chore rather than a fun game mechanic, and the final levels would have been better served without them.
They do have a second kind of switch that have to be shot multiple times until they are at full power. These switches stay on once activated, and do actually work as goals that the player has to reach before moving on to the next area. So there are still some interesting ideas in these last few levels.
Corridor Killboxes
Several areas force you into a corridor fight where there is no where you can move your ship. These areas can be swarming with enemies, effectively creating kill boxes where you will be unable to avoid getting hit. I died dozens upon dozens of times in these kill boxes, ultimately just breaking through with luck.
Of course, this may be an unfair criticism. Perhaps I just need to learn how to fight better in these corridors. I’ll see how well I perform in the last couple of levels.
Still Good Though
While I’m highlighting some frustrations I have with the game in this post, I have to reinforce I am still having fun with this game. I only have a couple of levels left to play through, so hopefully I will be finished before next week. Until then I’m going to keep trying to force my way through these corridors to the end of the game.
