Overlanders

Now here's a cool idea: It's a racing game, but instead of trying to come in first, you speed around the course trying to kill a giant alien monster. That's the premise behind Overlanders, a futuristic racing game that mixes elements from wipEout, Jet Moto and Godzilla. And if that description doesn't make you immediately want to play this debut release from Run-Down Games, then you and I have very different tastes in racers.

It's not very often we run into a new take on the racing genre. No matter the year, setting or type of vehicle, the goal is usually to go fast and get to the finish line before everybody else. There's no finish line in Overlanders. The goal of this game is drive around a race track trying to kill a giant monster that runs in the distance. The person who is ahead of the pack when the monster dies is the winner.

In most regards, Overlanders plays a lot like the wipEout series. We speed around the courses on a hover bike and pick up items that can be used to attack both the monster and the other racers. We get the usual homing missile, a bomb that will trip up those behind you, a shield for protection and bombs you can lob into the distance. While these weapons were easy enough to figure out, there were times when I wish the game was a little clearer about how everything worked. There's one pickup with four circles that seems completely useless. It doesn't shoot anything or attack the opponents; it just seems to float in the air and go away. What does it do? I have no idea, because the game doesn't tell me.

The action is split up into a single-player campaign and the online multiplayer mode, as well as a level creator that is apparently coming soon. The single-player campaign is a pretty straight-forward run through all of the stages, both forwards and backwards. There are no tournaments or different kinds of race types, it's just a contest where you come in first, second or third in order to unlock another stage.

The multiplayer mode is a bit more robust, thanks in large part to the shop where you can spend in-game money to buy upgrades and customize your ship. That's cool in theory, but I ran into a few obvious problems. The biggest issue is that there aren't a lot of people playing it, so you end up waiting around for a full minute and then load in with a bunch of bots. The other problem is that the so-called "random" stages kept sending me to the same track. I played six games in a row and got the same course. That doesn't seem very random.

But here's the real question: Why are the upgrades and custom parts only available in the multiplayer mode? Why can't I earn in-game coins while playing through the far-too-brief single-player campaign? The developers have already stated that they plan on adding this in a future patch, but it underlines a larger problem. Overlanders feels like the kind of game was rushed out the moment the developers got the multiplayer working. Everything else is either not there or feels like a placeholder. I am almost positive that the version fans will be playing in twelve months will be an entirely different experience from what we have right now. It doesn't say that Overlanders is in early access, but it certainly feels like it is.

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This isn't just isolated to the barebones modes, but also the terrible user-interface. This game makes so many questionable decisions that it sometimes feels like death from a thousand paper cuts. A good example of this is that you can't do everything with a controller. Yes, you can race around the track using a standard pad, but you can't pause or start a game. You'll need to use the mouse and keyboard in order to select modes, load into a match, change the options and even pause the game. And there's no way to restart a race without exiting back to the main menu, selecting the course, going into the waiting lobby and then pressing the "R" key in order to get back into the race. That's four steps when all we really needed was a restart button in the pause menu. Across the board, the UI in this game needs a complete and thorough overhaul.

And that brings me to my biggest problem -- the scoring system makes no sense. This is the kind of game where you can win without doing anything. I won multiple races because I was simply in the right place at the right time, speeding right past first place as they got the kill shot on the monster. Shouldn't that kill shot mean something? There isn't a lot of value in being out in first, since the monster takes a long time to kill and you're a target for everybody else. I like the idea of chasing the monster, but I'm not sure they've fully figured out the scoring and racing thing.

That's a shame, because I love the look and feel of Overlanders. This is hovercraft game that gets the mechanics right, and it's a joy to race through these alien planets. It's a lot dirtier and grimier than we're used to seeing in futuristic racing games, and I love the visual effects and tricks they use to create a bunch of convincing locations. I also like the gameplay and how they use the right analog stick to lean left and right. The core mechanics are sound, so I'm hoping that the developer will be able to turn the rest of the game into something special.