Overload is an ode to Descent and the fans who have longed for a true, modern successor. It delivers to those fans in spades as it reproduces the Descent experience fantastically well. There’s plenty to see and do even when you’ve completed the main game though the lack of a community to drive the multiplayer is a worry at this stage. Still, if you’re don’t care too much about online play and are a huge fan of Descent then Overload was made for you.
This game represents what happens when a group of responsible, intelligent, talented people set off on a common goal - to create something truly innovative without compromising in a world full of clones, sequels and copy cats. To anyone posting a negative review of this awesome game - which accomplishes exactly what it promised - Nobody is taking you seriously!
Growing up with the Descent series, this game is a dream come true.
I supported both Descent: Underground and Overload on Kickstarter. Very happy at least one of them turned out worth the money.
Overload, as an heir of arcade games, inherits its qualities and its flaws. It’s a pure exponent of fun and has a visual component that creates magnificent frames, but doesn’t have enough content to support its great mechanics in long term, making an imbalance between its role as an experience and its role as a product.
Overload comes out of that school of thought that, in the 90s, made the FPS great: a fast-paced, fast, punitive and very particular shooter in its movement system. A title that carries that philosophy to the present day, but carries with it a loyalty to the past that structurally feels the weight of time.
As a “spiritual successor” to Descent, Overload accomplishes what it sets out to do, bringing it twenty years into the future with new graphics, weapons, and gameplay. However, it seems to have skipped many of the lessons that game developers have learned along the way, failing to adjust the game for modern expectations as it succumbs to the repetitive level designs that so characterized past limitations.
Overload is the spiritual successor to Descent, and as it was created by much of the original team it shouldn't come as a surprise to hear they nailed it. If they still owned the IP, they could have called it Descent 4. To be honest it's more like a successor to Descent 2 than the slightly divergent Descent 3, but that's a good thing as D2 was always my favorite. Bearing in mind this was a small team with a very small budget, what they've produced here is nothing short of stunning. A meaty single player campaign with an interesting story, a good selection of "challenge" levels where it's you against a horde of bots, and multiplayer, not to mention New Game +, dozens of secrets to find (and secret levels), and a raft of achievements, this will keep you busy for a while.
The best part of Overload is the feel of flying the ship. Like I said, they absolutely nailed this, and it's critical in a 6 DOF game. Keyboard and mouse are as good as it gets, but you can use any combination of joystick, gamepad, Steam controller, HOTAS and whatever else with the thorough control options. Graphics are sharp, clean and beautiful, with some AAA quality lighting, although bear in mind this isn't a 100 million dollar project so temper your expectations. The explosions though are a thing of beauty, and as you'll be creating lots of them, this is a good thing. Dogfighting consistently feels awesome, which is why I've put hundreds of hours into it so far. It's hard to explain how good it feels, but there's a free Playable Teaser available if you want to try it out. Special mention to the soundtrack which gets the Descent feel down perfectly, and is a great slice of industrial-tinged electronica in itself, and includes contributions from all three musicians from D1, D2 and D3.
I've put maybe a couple of hundred hours into this game, so the honeymoon period is well past, so when I tell you this is my game of the year (despite my probable bias given how long I've been waiting for another Descent!) I'm being quite serious. I never expected the same devs would get back together and give us such a perfect modern Descent, but I guess not everything in the world has gone to **** yet.
This is a worthy successor to the Descent series. The six-degrees-of-freedom experience feels amazing, the graphics are good and the music is stellar. There are some minor gameplay nitpicks. I would've liked to see some more creative and different levels as well as more use of the system that allows for other objectives than blowing up the reactor, seeing the tech is clearly there for it. I do believe however that the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion.
Update: With the level editor, the game definitely deserves the full 10 rather than just a 9.
Awesome game!!!! I hope we will get a sequel. This is Descent 4, wink wink ;). Gameplay and music are amazing. Voice over work is professional. Multiplayer is solid. Can't say anything bad. If you have money buy this. You wont be disappointed!
While the developers have nailed the sense of movement I've hankered for since Descent/II, the levels feel bland, enemies are hard to see and identify in the color scheme and weapons are hard to aim and feel generic. In combat I found myself just holding down the mouse buttons until the mess cleared before rushing to the end of the level to get it over with. Overload is on the right track, looking forward to Overload II.
SummaryA new six-degree-of-freedom shooter with intuitive controls, lighting and graphics. From the creators of Descent, Overload is zero-gravity robot-blasting combat. The game supports online multiplayer with up to eight simultaneous players in both individual and team modes.