Overland

 PC
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Vandal
    Sep 25, 2019
    82
    Overland proves once again the talent of the team behind it, with a challenging and original adventure that relies on a solid turn-based strategy and survival-oriented gameplay.
  2. GameSpot
    Sep 19, 2019
    80
    Every movement you commit, every action you command, and every item or character you sacrifice for another will be an apprehensive decision. But taking each of those tough steps makes you even more grateful to hear the soft chime of your car's open-door alarm when you make it back, and the rev of the motor when you escape down the highway, relieved to leave another pack of abnormal creatures behind.
  3. IGN
    Sep 25, 2019
    75
    Overland’s increasingly weird apocalypse and clever approach to tactical survival makes it an interesting take on the roguelike road trip genre. A decent variety of perks and upgrades make certain party members feel indispensable and others very disposable, though they don’t have a ton of personality beyond that. Its controls and interface could be a lot better, though, and some no-win situations are drawn out a lot longer than they should be.
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  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Sep 23, 2019
    Overland isn’t that one friend on a road trip who has packed emergency supplies, and has the itinerary worked out to the hour. It’s the scarred, weather-chafed drifter you picked up along the way, and who’s seen things, man. The guy you’ll end up asking for just one more story, even though the last one they told stung so hard you swore you’d never ask again.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 26
  3. Negative: 4 out of 26
  1. iseeall
    Jan 13, 2020
    5
    An interesting puzzle/TBS game spoiled by clumsy controls and questionable learn-by-dying design. You control a group of survivors inAn interesting puzzle/TBS game spoiled by clumsy controls and questionable learn-by-dying design. You control a group of survivors in turn-based battles where they fight alien creatures, refuel the car, pick up items, move and destroy obstacles etc on small puzzle-like maps.

    Good:
    - decent variety of maps, and high replay value due to randomly generated sequences of levels and randomized characters
    - nice audio
    - the game is difficult and keeps up the "survival feel"
    - some unique mechanics, e.g. in one mission you have a generator which keep the street lamps on, and if you turn it off to siphon some fuel, light goes out and you don't see approaching enemies; you can smash smaller enemies with your car; enemies can push or destroy obstacles themselves

    So-so:
    - graphics are low-poly 3D models without textures, which doesn't look too bad (even has some indie style) but still doesn't fit all that much with the post-apocalyptic setting
    - nothing is explained. So, basically, you have to "try things out" to learn the actual rules of the game. E.g. what would happen if you "ram" obstacles with your car? Apparently, the obstacle (like a garbage container) would stay in place, and after the second ramming the car catches on fire and all characters inside it die on the next turn. Oops, didn't expect that at all. And sorry, no reload. I lost count of cases like that: when the rules were counter-intuitive or at least unclear, weren't explained, and learning them caused a situation where I'd want to reload - nope, no reload in this game. If you liked ADOM and other similar "permadeath" games, you might actually enjoy torturing yourself like that, getting a bit further in the game after every restart - just to learn a few new rules before a party wipe.. But I prefer when rules are known in advance so that it were a strategy game or at least a puzzle, not a "surprise me" experience..
    - a questionable choice of making the enemies essentially unbeatable. Each time an enemy dies, another one appears elsewhere on the map. If you kill an enemy with a pipe, then 2 enemies spring up! This shifts the game from TBS to puzzle feel (and makes it closer to Into the Breach game of 2018) which is something not many players would expect or want when they see a JA2- or XCOM-like game..

    Bad:
    - controls seem to be optimized for consoles? You can do everything with a keyboard even, without ever touching the mouse. Sorry but on PC I want to play with the mouse, and use right-click, maybe even middle-click and the wheel. Strangely, right-click switches between characters instead of deselecting (yet sometimes right-click exits menus?) Getting used to these clunky controls is almost impossible since, as said, the authors seem to not have cared for PC at all and focused on cross-compatibility with consoles and maybe mobile. Instead, they should have made separate, independent and completely different control systems for each platform. I'd also expect tooltips to appear over stuff at mouse-over. Also I'd expect mouse dragging to move items between inventories.
    - can't rotate the map! So, if an item on the ground is behind a building or a container, it can't be seen at all
    - can't see which items on the ground are lootable: no highlights. Can't loot by clicking on the item on the ground, instead you have to open inventory (by clicking on the character), then click on the item there to loot it. It's really a mess. Half of this game's difficulty comes from fighting with its horrendous interface and controls.

    Overall, I'm split on whether to recommend it or not. It's definitely worth a look, but I doubt that many players would have the patience to learn all its convoluted rules through dying, let alone fight through its clumsy interface.    … Full Review »
  2. BulgarianCritic
    Sep 21, 2019
    0
    A really boring and tedious game that should be named ''Collect the Gas'' because thats all you do in this game.There is barely an story andA really boring and tedious game that should be named ''Collect the Gas'' because thats all you do in this game.There is barely an story and the gameplay gets boring fast.Do not BUY… Full Review »
  3. PaGur
    Sep 19, 2019
    6
    While this is a nice game, I see a lot of wasted potential an inconsistency. The simplicity being 'Just get the gas and don't worry aboutWhile this is a nice game, I see a lot of wasted potential an inconsistency. The simplicity being 'Just get the gas and don't worry about anything', and the fact the characters do not have a decent story behind them takes away much what I would like to see here, and what probably the creators would wish me to see here. Some basic mechanics from the last decade would benefit the production greatly, and if lack of them is just a method of making the game more dificult - this is a poor choice.… Full Review »
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