This week I started playing Overload, a new space shooter from the creators of Descent. As in the original, this game allows you to move through all three dimensions freely. It’s supported by a simple story and interesting combat. I haven’t yet finished the game, so here are some initial thoughts on the game so far.
Learning to Sphere-Strafe
Even if you are used to playing first-person games, the controls can be a little disorienting at first. Since there is no real up/down in this game, your ship can move 360° in any direction, forwards, backwards, up, down, and also rotate. Many areas will have an obvious “down” direction, but this can shift even within a single level.
So the game hangs on having good movement controls. Thankfully they aren’t that hard to get used to, though they may need some customising based on your preferences. So, the first thing I did was spend some time in the menus, adjusting mouse sensitivity, inverted movement options, and some other key bindings.
It wasn’t long before I was thrust into my first combat with an Operator, the game’s main antagonists. Being able to dodge in multiple directions while launching lasers and missiles at the drone felt natural very quickly, and it was destroyed quickly and efficiently.
One of the fun things about the game is something I like to call sphere-strafing. Anyone who’s played a twitch shooter is familiar with circle-strafing. The idea is you circle your opponent, keeping your weapon trained on them while making it harder for them to hit you. This is always along the XZ plane, since most FPS games implement this pesky force known as “gravity.”
In a Descent-like shooter gravity doesn’t exist, giving you the ability to strafe along all planes. I find it so fun being able to dodge enemy weapons not just by moving left/right, but also by moving up, down, rotating and turning in multiple directions. Once you get used to this it becomes second nature, and makes you feel like a well-trained space pilot.
Story
Overload’s story is relatively simple. Colonies on Saturn’s moons use large robots known as Operators to perform various tasks for them. A rebel force has uploaded a virus to these operators, who have now become hostile and begun to attack the colonists. Your mission is to overload the reactors on each of these bases and destroy the Operators before they can do any real damage.
Oh, and maybe rescue any surviving colonists along the way.
It’s a simple story, told through mission briefs and audio logs that you will pick up as you play the game. It’s a story that serves its purpose in providing the player motivation, and providing feedback on what the player has achieved up to the latest point in their playthrough.
Weapons and Upgrades
I haven’t unlocked all of the weapons, but what I have unlocked so far show how different the weapons can be. There are two main types of weapon: your main weapon and your missiles. Your main weapon is usually some kind of laser weapon, but it can also be a machine gun. They use two different types of ammo based on the weapon type, either energy or bullets.
Missiles however, each use their own ammunition type. They each have their own effect, from doing lots of damage, launching in salvos, homing missiles, or simply dropping as mines. They add a tactical layer to combat. You can rely on your aim for more damage, or use Operator-seeking missiles that are less effective. Or you could just cover an area with mines instead.
Resource management is a big part of the game, how will you use each weapon most effectively becomes important. On more than one occasion I’ve run out of ammo and had to back track in order to recharge my energy and complete a mission. I’m really getting into using the weapons more effective, and wince every time I launch a missile and it goes straight past anything I was trying to hit.
In between missions you get to upgrade your ship. You can either upgrade individual weapons, or aim for upgrades to your ship’s armour, speed, or energy efficiency. The amount of upgrades you can perform depends on how many Upgrade Points you find in each mission. And to get these, you often need to find hidden areas.
Searching for Secrets
Each level has a number of secrets to find, each containing new weapons, upgrade points, or other bonuses. They are generally hard to find, as you need to fly into a wall and hope it’s a door you can open. On top of that, most of these secrets require you to destroy a red button before you can open them.
Often the button to destroy isn’t near the door, so you can find a secret door, find a button, destroy it, go back to the door and learn that it isn’t the right button. This is the biggest flaw in the game, as you end up not knowing which buttons open which doors, and often unlock doors you will never find. It leads to a frustrating experience, as you can never really understand how to unlock these secrets through trial-and error.
Challenging Enemies
Enemies start off very basic, with simple laser weaponry or slow energy bullets. They’re easy to dodge and even easier to kill. The game gives you a chance to get into the groove before throwing more difficult enemies at you. Later they’ll start using fast-firing lasers, forcing you to maneuvre quickly and effeiciently if you want to avoid getting hit.
Operators are very good at hiding. On multiple occasions I’ve been caught off guard by an enemy hiding behind a bridge, or in a small enclave. The worst is when you get caught by Operators that have only melee weapons. They move fast, so sphere-strafing doesn’t work here. You have to move backwards while keeping a lock on them with your weapons.
Later enemies will start using explosive missile weapons. This forces you to not only avoid them, but also to make sure you are not near the explosion when it collides with the wall next to you.
So far the difficulty curve hasn’t been egregious. It’s getting harder, but not in great leaps and bounds that leave you lost.
Something Big Is Coming
In the next mission I have to play the briefing mentions a secret military Operator called “Goliath.” I’ve been briefed not to engage no matter the circumstances. Something tells me that’s not what’s going to happen. I’m going to be facing something new, and I may start to see a big increase in the difficulty of this game…
