$29.99Overload Zero-G Shooter in Dark Tunnels
Fly through maze-like mining tunnels, destroy malfunctioning robots and escape before the reactor blows, with full freedom of movement in every direction.
Is Overload worth it?
Overload is worth it if…
- you want a shooter where threats come from every direction, not just ahead
- you played Descent years ago and never quite got over it
- you like maze-like levels with secrets, keycards and hidden upgrades
- you enjoy score attack runs and climbing leaderboards
- you can handle a game that is tough and disorienting at first
Screenshots
Six directions, no floor, no mercy
You pilot a small ship, not a soldier on the ground. Up, down, sideways, roll: every axis is yours, and so is every threat, because robots come from any angle, not just in front. That freedom takes a few hours to click, and once it does, dodging a missile by flipping upside down and strafing along a ceiling feels like nothing else in a shooter. The levels are dense mazes of tunnels and rooms where getting lost is part of the challenge. An automap and a holo-guide you can deploy at any time keep you from wandering forever. You can save anywhere, which matters, because this game is tough.
Reactors, survivors and a very short fuse
Each mission sends you into a Saturn mining outpost gone wrong: destroy robots, rescue survivors in cryotubes, find the reactor, blow it, then escape while the whole base counts down around you. The campaign spans 15 full-size atmospheric levels with lava, forcefields, ambushes, lockdowns and secret rooms hiding extra weapons and upgrades. Your ship and its 16 weapons can all be upgraded, so you can build around the loadout you like. Twenty-plus robot types and three massive bosses keep the fights varied, and five difficulty levels range from a casual challenge to genuinely punishing.
What can you play besides the campaign?
Does it work in VR?
It supports Oculus and Vive, and the cockpit view is a real treat if you have the stomach for it. Fair warning: full six-degree movement in a headset is a lot for some people, and motion sickness is a real possibility. The flat-screen game stands completely on its own, so treat VR as a bonus, not the point.
Can you play it solo?
The whole game is built around single-player: the full story campaign, the challenge modes and speed run mode with advanced stat tracking are all solo. There is no co-op, but the multiplayer is separate PvP, so nothing in the single-player experience depends on other people.
What about the music and story?
The soundtrack comes from the composers behind the Descent games: Dan Wentz, Allister Brimble and Jerry Berlongieri, and it pounds along with the action. The story, written by the writer of Freespace 2, unfolds through briefings and audio logs as you investigate accidents on the mining moons, and it turns darker than the robot-blasting suggests. It is a backdrop rather than the main event, but a well-made one.
