Overload

I recently played through the original Descent and Descent 2. I was very excited about Overload. - What made Descent great was the combat and the movement. What this game completely misses is how important the clear color coding and sounds of the enemies were. Here everything has the same bland dark color, there are no audible wakeup sounds. Instead you get bloom² and shiny explosions. - Everything about the combat sounds is muffled. - Constantly maxes out the CPU, making the fans spin loudly. Yes I tried vsync but I guess my system is too slow. - Terrible performance for no apparent reason. Yes, my system is 5 years old but it can run games with similar graphics and complexity without breaking a sweat. If this was not so bad, I would probably give one more star. - Mission briefings have the worst kind of skip, the text fades in so slowly and if you don't want to sit through that painful process you can only SKIP, missing the story. - First mission already introduces 4-5 enemies and tactics against them. Who is gonna read all that and then even act on it? Descent did this so much better, slowly and carefully, level by level. This gave a great sense of progression and excited me. - Vital story bits seem to be hidden in secrets... - Lots of lights and unnecessary details that make it hard to concentrate in all the sharp, base parts. On the opposite side, the rock sections look very smoothed and unrealistic with no interesting changes in their textures at all. - The automap has an fade-in and fade-out animation that takes a second every time you open it. Dear god why?! - Automap navigation is utterly bad. - To even finish the first mission, I had to watch a playthrough. No, you don't have to do anything with the BRIGHT RED FLASHING reactor or even think about the BRIGHT RED FLASHING exit door. Instead, you have to fly to a specific position high up the rock area, because some reason.

Overload is real good. It's a throwback FPS that actually understands why those old games were fun. For example: it has real level design. Not "walk into an empty room, doors lock, fight off respawning waves of enemies, repeat" level design. There are alternate paths, backtracking, interesting level architecture, and enemies that are actually placed on the map by a designer. There's an emphasis on projectile weapons instead of hitscan weapons. In fact there are no hitscan weapons at all, even weapons that look hitscan (like the driller) are actually very fast moving projectiles. Weapons like homing missiles or lasers that bounce off walls or really big projectiles that you charge up, are staples in Overload and not once-in-a-while gimmicks. There's a good variety of enemies that are designed with specific roles, use a wide variety of attacks, and have surprisingly good AI. Melee bots will hang back and only charge when you focus on other enemies. Missile bots will take advantage of their splash damage by flying backwards and forcing you to come to them. Kamikazes will sometimes fake their suicide charge and instead look for a new hiding spot. Thankfully none of the enemies are nearly as obnoxious as the Class 1 Driller, Red Hulk, or Thiefbot from Descent. This all adds up to a game that feels fresh. If you're tired of assault rifles, tired of fighting humans or zombies, tired of flat arenas, then this is the game for you. I have to knock a star off for a few reasons though: -The environments don't have much variety, which means that it's easier to get lost than it should be. Remember to use sticky flares and the hologuide! -Likewise there isn't much variety in mission objectives. -There are still a few locked arenas and they few and far between enough that they WILL take you by surprise, usually when you wander into the wrong room looking for health. -The story starts boring, but then takes a really interesting turn, only to go 'JUST KIDDING!' at the end.

Among a mini revival of the 6DOF genre, quality has been up and down. For me Sublevel Zero has really scratched that itch, but with its procedural nature, it's just missing a little something that only a truly crafted experience can provide. With Overload here, you now have the definitive 6DOF shooter. It looks awesome with stunning lighting effects, the levels are huge, they're packed with secrets, the weapons are great, the controls are tight and the soundtrack is spot on. If you've any love for this type of game at all or are just curious, you cannot go wrong with this.

I tried the free teaser of this game while it was development and the very first thing that came to mind as I moved my ship around and took my first few shots: "Oh... yeah this is Descent." It just feels so much like the old mine-crawlers that it wasn't surprising to find out that some of the minds behind the originals were also the guys that made Overload happen. Controls are tight, weapons are varied, and flight feels fantastic. The enemies are have their own fighting styles - some will shoot and run, others will slowly advance or charge - and they are all quite deadly. The mines are disorienting (as they should be) but the in-game map is very helpful and there is a guide-bot if you need/want it. There are a ton of secret areas in every level with weapons, ammo, and upgrade points and the game keeps track of how many you find/miss. If you loved the Descent I/II this is going to be an amazing game for you.

I wanted to write a long review about Overload, how it stays truth to the original Descent from 1995. How they managed to recapture every little bit that you loved while playing it. How they didn't venture into wild gameplay changes and what little they changed, made the great game even better... But no, all I'm gonna write here is that this is the best Descent since 1995. If you liked the original Descent, you will love Overload. So, is there anything to nick-pick about this game? Well... I'd improve the cockpit and make it more like the original with functional displays with middle display showing your ship and its shields etc.. But that is probably it. Have fun.