Overpass is one racing game that I was looking forward to since it was revealed last year by Zordix Racing. As much as I like off-road racing games, Overpass introduces a brand new genre of off-road racing which requires precision and speed at the same time. The PC version of Overpass came out last month but since I requested an Xbox One review key for the game, I decided that it was best to spend a little more time with the game and publish my review when the console release date is near. So here is my review of Overpass on the Xbox One.
Overpass is essentially an off-road simulator which demands great patience and speed at the same time. This statement might sound contradictory but Overpass is not a forgiving simulation game because it actually demands you to be precise in the fastest time possible. The main goal in Overpass is to use special off-road vehicles such as buggies and ATVs and cross some of the most dangerous terrains planet earth can throw at you. These include bogs, mountains, rough desert terrains, and deep forest ditches full of rocks and fallen down trees.
Right after booting the game for the first time, if you jump in the Career mode, you start with a tutorial teaching you with the basics of the game. This tutorial teaches you all the different game mechanics and how you can use the terrain to your advantage in certain situations. You are also introduced to both vehicle types in the game and how you can drive them both in their own unique ways.
Overpass features a comprehensive Career mode where you take part in seasons and then complete races and challenges to win money, unlock parts and eventually new vehicles to use in the game. The Career races range from Hillclimbs to Obstacle Courses. You will be required to complete a challenge before unlocking the challenges branching near it. Once you win a medal in a challenge, you will unlock any upgrade part, gear or vehicle in its branching tiers. The whole Career menu is like a big tree and as you complete one challenge, it unlocks more challenges next to it.
As you continue to play and win medals, you earn season points and at the end of the season, if you qualify for the finals, you are taken into the Finals for the ultimate test of your skill. At the end of the Finals, depending on your score, you take the win and your winnings home and start a new season. Apart from the Career mode, you can have custom games where everything is unlocked for you right from the start of the game. You can also head online and test your skills against other players. The game also supports local multiplayer with Hot Seat and Splitscreen.
The most promising aspect of Overpass is, however, its gameplay which is absolutely brutal. Completing some of the levels in Overpass will have you tearing your hair out as you struggle to climb a steep section in deep mud and huge boulders in your path. You will need a different strategy for every hill climb and obstacle in the game. As levels change, you will face bogs, deep sand, loose gravel, and insanely huge boulders. Forest levels will also add rivers and fallen logs to the challenge.
However, you have plenty of tricks up your sleeve as well to tackle these environments and despite spending hours into the game, I have yet to come across a challenge that I was not able to complete. All it takes is to find the right vehicle according to your personal driving style. Power is not everything here. You have to manage your speed, acceleration and try to avoid wheel spins as much as possible. You can switch between 2WD and 4WD to gain an advantage in the game while also using Differential Lock for the toughest climbs and obstacles.
The levels are beautifully designed in Overpass. If you stop for two minutes and look around, you will notice that the environments are really pretty. From the deadly climbs of Old Canyon to the muddy bogs of Jungle Ridge, each level is really well-made. The lush scenery also pushes you to explore more of the location and reaching the top of that particular hill which is currently blocking your progress in the level. The final level The Pit is also one of the deadliest locations in the entire game and will really push you to your max in the Career mode.
Despite having only two types of vehicles in the game, you have a lot of different models in both buggies and ATV category. In the buggies section, you will find some of the best light off-road buggies currently on the market. These include Arctic Cat, Polaris, and Yamaha. My favorite buggy is the Yamaha YXZ1000R SE because it comes with a 5-Speed manual transmission. Most of the vehicles come with a CVT transmission which is really boring. They also tend to remain on the higher end of the RPM which is not very good for rock climbing in the game.
The ATVs, on the other hand, are more challenging to drive in the game. They are more agile but also less ground clearance causes them to flip over more often. However, with ATVs, you can shift your driver’s weight forward and backward to adjust the weight of the buggy and gain some added advantage as you try to climb or go downhill. Similar to buggies, you will find some of the best ATVs in the game ranging from Suzuki, Yamaha, Arctic Cat, and Polaris. You can also upgrade these vehicles in the Career mode to make them more powerful in all aspects.
That being said I have a lot of issues with Overpass as well. One of the most annoying features of the game is the camera and how to use it. A game like Overpass requires a decent view of your whole vehicle so that you can easily see where your vehicle is going. The game has a very poor camera control. For starters, the chase cam is extremely awkward. It sits at the top of the vehicle at an angle that the rear of the vehicle is always out of your view so you never know where your rear tires are sitting. If you get stuck while going up, there is no way you can tell where to reverse properly and where your vehicle is going since there is no back view key and the chase cam hides the back of the vehicle.
There is no camera rotation as well. There is actually but I don’t consider it because it is literally useless. Normally, in racing games, the right joystick is used to look around the vehicle and checking your surroundings. In Overpass, this is locked to tilting the rider back and forth on a quad bike by default and there is no way to change the controllers to your own suitable ones. To actually look around the vehicle, you have to press the R3 and then rotate the camera around which is extremely awkward yet again and often gets stuck in terrain. Why?!? Overpass requires a complete camera control overhaul.
Apart from this Overpass is a heavily dependent game on the terrain. The terrain dictates where you can go and where you cannot go. As beautiful as the levels are in the game, some of the surfaces are just plain sitting there without any solid footing on them. Your vehicle can drive through them like there is no mountain or ground there. This makes taking alternate routes extremely difficult since the vehicle simply rolls over if the ‘ground’ is not a ‘ground’ and merely an illusion. This forces you to take pre-set paths and eliminates the fun in finding your own way to the top.
My final complaint with how Overpass plays is that the developer has not fully utilized the vibration feedback mechanic of the Xbox One controller. I would have loved if every time my buggy or ATV goes into the ditch, the controller would notify me. Forza Horizon 4 is not even an off-road simulation game and it handles the terrain difference so well with vibration cues and acceleration and braking vibrations in triggers allowing you to know when to lift off and when to push it hard. What is the purpose of the console makers adding all these immersive features if the developers are not going to use them? Overpass needs to have a proper vibration system which includes acceleration and braking trigger vibration based on how much you press them, terrain sensitive vibrations telling us when the vehicle hits a bump in the ground and such. Currently, the only vibration the game has is when I would land a hard jump or hit a wall. This is PS2 level vibrations.
Final Verdict:
Overpass is a solid off-road simulation game and I loved playing it. It is extremely challenging and not for the weekend drivers. Zordix Racing has made an off-road title which really steps up the bar for this genre and I hope Zordix releases the next title in the franchise with proper off-road SUVs, dirt bikes and even trucks. The levels are beautiful and offer a great change of scenery every time you switch to a new location. There is plenty of content in the game to keep you busy for a long time. The vehicles are greatly detailed and handle really well. This is a great entry-level title for a great franchise to become in the future. However, I do have my concerns in overpass which I have shared above. Zordix should take these into account in their next title however it would be even amazing if we get fixes in the current title. The game also crashed two times for me on my Xbox One but otherwise worked fine. You can head over to the Microsoft Store and purchase the game right now if you want to experience some of the most challenging off-road climbs ever.
Final Score: 7.8/10
