Developer: The Balance Inc
Publisher: Modus Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS4
Override 2: Super Mech League – Review
Fighting as huge robots; when was the last time that you did something like that? It could be years ago because this genre has been pretty absent for a while, unless you know about the first Override game that came out in 2019. Lucky for those who linger to the old days, there now is a game that takes the quality of modern titles and puts it into the forgotten genre. In Override 2 you will follow in the footsteps of an aspiring mech pilot that will fight his way to victory. Will you be the league’s winner or will you prove your worth during online matches?
Story
You step into the shoes of a young aspiring mech pilot. With great power comes great responsibility, but you have the luck to be at the right place at the right time. You meet a woman that is a former pilot and she will guide and train you, for a price. You then have to win events, get sponsors and go for the championship title. Later you will be able to purchase new suits and customize them to your liking. That is basically all the story progression that you have in this game. Override 2 is just an arcade game with a few interactions along the way.
Graphics
Override 2 is a beautiful game to play and enjoy. Being made and released at the end of a generation’s lifecycle does show its flaws. While the graphics look amazing, with high quality and properly polished, playing this on the older, basic PlayStation 4 will have the game run at around 25-30 FPS, making the experience feel really choppy at more hectic battles. There is a large range of different mechs to choose from, all with unique visuals and animations. The U.I. is easy to navigate with and the controls are shown on the screen at all times, which is ideal if you pick up the game after a while or just want the ease of knowing the controls.
Sound
Just like the graphics, the sounds in Override 2 are great. The music is really upbeat and puts you in the right mood to beat up some robots. The sound effects are nicely done as well, having a proper ‘oomph’. Shooting a gun isn’t just a ‘click’, you hear the movement of all the actuators of the suit, as well as the clanging of the metal upon impact and much more. Another nice bonus is that interactions between you and your mentor are fully voiced, so you can just listen to them instead of reading them.
Gameplay
Override 2: Super Mech League is a fighting game where you are dropped into an arena to battle other suits. The game only has two modes to play in; quick match and league. Quick match will quickly connect you to other players to play a random match, while league serves as the story mode of this game. When starting in the league, you will be informed by a former pilot that you will need to make your name known in the circuit, before your career can really take off. After winning some matches (that you can play with/against other people or bots), you will be invited to the first championship. After also winning this, you will receive your first paycheck and you will be able to start purchasing mechs. Now with the first earnings, you won’t have enough cash but you will still be able to borrow the basic suits to keep on earning cash. After making the purchase then you will be able to personalize the mechs by customizing the armor and accessories.
From here on out it feels like the game is really repetitive as you just pick a match, beat opponents get money, rinse and repeat. This formula is ideal if you want to pick it up and play a few games but not that amusing if you like to progress through a real story. In the league selection, you will always have the choice out of one out of three events (like 1v1, 2v2, free-for-all, etc..), so there will be some variety. Nonetheless, even the latter eventually boils down to the same thing, albeit with a different lick of paint.
Each mech has different capabilities and moves; some will utilize ranged attacks while others have more powerful throwing moves. This means that besides looks, you will also pick your mech depending on what moves it can perform. Controlling the game is pretty accessible and easy, as the controls are always on the screen. The game starts with a short tutorial teaching you all the basics in movement and combat. You will be taught how to pick up items to your advantage, from swords and hammers to bombs and guns. Weapons will degrade and break, so watch out for the indicator signaling that the item is wearing down. There are a few maps to play on and each one has unique sections, like a charging place to charge up your special move and incoming bombs that will hurt you. On top of that, each mech has a special move that can deal a nice amount of damage but isn’t overpowered so it only wears the enemy down a bit or can act as a great finish to an intense battle.
Conclusion
Override 2: Super Mech League is a nicely made game with polished graphics and fitting sounds for a mech battle. If you play it on newer hardware then you can fully enjoy this spectacle in its full glory compared to the original PlayStation 4’s somewhat dated hardware. It is still very much playable on the latter, things can just get a bit choppier at times. The gameplay is pretty fun with the items and special moves giving combat that little extra fun factor. Matches are quick and make the game ideal for some short gaming sessing. Sadly there isn’t really a fleshed-out storyline that would be great for a game such as this.
Override 2: Super Mech League – Review,
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