Metacritic Games

Overclocked: A History of Violence (PC Games)

The classic point & click adventure game breaks new ground in order to tell a story revolving around psychiatrist David McNamara and five young patients. These patients are found barely clothed, the apparent victim of a traumatic act of violence, in the rain-drenched streets of New York City. McNamara is called to help as an expert psychiatrist. At the Staten Island Forensic Hospital he is tasked with treating the young patients – who all suffer from severe amnesia. Dave begins to carefully probe their memory, trying to reveal their obscured past. The story-telling approach of Overclocked sees the player take on the role of the patients as they are questioned, playing and exploring their memories one by one. In reverse chronology, the player makes his way through the shards of their past and experiences frightening events that seem incoherent at first. The insights gained can then used back in the role of Dave McNamara to piece together the interconnections between the victims and open up new lines of questioning. [Anaconda]

Anaconda / Lighthouse Interactive
Adventure
Players: 1
M (Mature)
Developer: House of Tales
Released April 7, 2008

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

69 / 100

Critic Reviews

85 Worth Playing
The graphics and sound work really well together to create the atmosphere.
80 Adventure Gamers
can easily recommend Overclocked, but in doing so I will reiterate that the game will not be for everyone. It is, first and foremost, a game that has a story to tell, and it's this tale that takes precedence over the whole adventure.
78 PC Format
An adventure game worth perusing, but it's not a perfect example of the genre by a long shot. [July 2008, p.110]
75 GameSpot
Overclocked may be awfully grim, but a deep story and smart, subtle puzzles make it captivating in spite of its macabre tone.
74 Cheat Code Central
The game's odd, dark storyline will keep you pushing onward to the conclusion. The patients' experiences are creepy and compelling, particularly since you're only given bits and pieces of the equation at a time.
70 IGN
The haunting main theme (especially if it's dark and you're overtired) and gloom of rainy New York adds an appropriate layer of anxiety to the experience, which is short enough to play in a single weekend day sitting if you're really on the edge of your seat.
70 AceGamez
Overclocked: A History of Violence is an excellent game - if you're looking for a mature adventure that will get your heart pounding then this is definitely for you.
70 Computer Games Online RO
The game's strong points remain the atmosphere and the script, but if you're not willing to compromise when it comes to graphics and game length, you won't be able to enjoy the two things the producers got right.
70 Play (Poland)
An average adventure game with mediocre graphics and a hero who looks like he could use his own professional help (he's a shrink). On the other hand, dark story with a psychological twist, eerie piano music and screams of tortured girls in the background might do the trick for you, if you're into that kind of... entertainment. [June 2008]
68 Jolt Online Gaming UK
Overclocked’s complex and rich setting is ultimately just that – a setting. Too many things let the game down for it to be truly recommendable, like stiff animation, poor audio editing and a lack of insight into your own character’s agenda.
67 Just Adventure
Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that it was quite underwhelming. In all fairness, Overclocked is a decent adventure game with a unique premise that’s worth a look if you’re a fan of adventure games. Just don’t expect too much.
67 GameShark
Because of the relative simplicity of the puzzles, the game plays more like an interactive movie or novel than it does a true game, but its story is so compelling that you may not mind too much.
65 Armchair Empire
At any rate, Overclocked: A History of Violence has a good story going for it, you just have to know that will only come after some "digging."
60 GameZone
The plot is clever but the game seems to miss the mark when it comes to production value, I think with some better dialogue and voice work we may have had a sleeper hit.
56 PC Zone UK
That Overclocked isn't better is sad because there's a good story being told. [July 2008, p.85]
48 PC Gamer
Unless you're jonesing for an adventure game fix, your time's better spent rearranging your Netflix queue. [Aug 2008, p.72]

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