There may not have been a racing title that I was looking forward to more this year than Zordix Racing’s Overpass. Even though our preview of the game set my expectations up for a more realistic type of offroad experience, everything about it had me hearkening back to the good ol’ PlayStation 2 days playing ATV Offroad Fury 2. Unfortunately, those hopes came crashing down into the mud, much like my character in pretty much every single race. Overpass’ potential is bogged down by being almost too realistic to enjoy for anyone other than steadfast offroad fanatics.
Thoughtful Racing
If Overpass could be described in one word, that word would be: unique. Overpass provides a very unique type of racing experience. Rather than a fast-paced speed-fest, Overpass features slow and methodical gameplay where slow-and-steady patience is rewarded, and anything more aggressive is punished mightily. Players select from a range of offroad vehicles including ATVs and UTVs - with brands such as Yamaha, Polaris, and Arctic Cat - and utilize gravity and geometry to thoughtfully traverse over difficult terrain and obstacles that would definitely not be suitable for a Nascar, Formula 1, or even Mario Kart vehicle.
The delicacy and precision with which players must navigate each course is some of the most touchy in recent memory. One slight move too far in the wrong direction will spell certain doom for your rider, costing you valuable time. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to understand the mechanics of each obstacle, which range from driving over cement sewer pipes, climbing up and over a plateau of logs, weaving your way between (or on top of) mounds of mud, and climbing incredibly steep hills. While the realness of the movements feels pretty on point (when they worked), all too often, some of the weighted physics felt a little… off.
By all means, players are allowed to go fast. They just might regret that decision once they arrive at the next obstacle on the track. Not only can an obstacle turn your buggy or ATV upside down, braking too hard and fast could also result in an overturned vehicle. Generally speaking, most racing games have a certain feel in terms of how each vehicle handles, which remains relatively consistent in it’s flow of the game. Overpass doesn’t feel quite as consistent, as sometimes a fast and hard brake will be just fine, whereas other times - in the same exact spot - the same braking tactic will result in a loss of vehicular control. Perhaps this is related to the damage of the vehicle that happens over the course of the race (assuming you’re driving hard, or terrible enough to incur damage), but the inconsistency quickly becomes frustrating. The same can be said about climbing steep hills, which see players needing a good amount of speed to ascend. Often, my vehicle just… stopped out of nowhere. I seemingly had the speed and momentum to get to the top, but flat out stopped just before the crown of the hill. These moments were unfortunate in that they broke my immersion from the game.
For The Avid Offroad Fan
On the plus side, Overpass looks amazing. The visuals and movements of the vehicles are incredibly well-executed and really add to the game’s appeal as a racing sim. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the audio design. The music of the main menu seemed to work fine, but upon entering the game, the in-race audio was spotty at best. In every race, the vehicle sound effects didn’t show up for a good 30-45 seconds, but even then seemed to fade in and out over the course of the match. This is obviously something can be updated in a future patch, but it lessened the gameplay experience, especially at first when I thought it was a technical issue with my own audio setup.
Career and multiplayer modes are here as expected, but neither is incredibly engaging. The multiplayer matches I was actually able to partake in took a long time to set up, speaking mostly to the number of players playing the game.
The best thing that Overpass has going for it is the fact that its niche uniqueness within the racing genre. Not too many racing games feature the complex, raw realness that Overpass offers, setting it apart from other titles. Unfortunately, that is also its biggest downfall, since, for most racing genre fans, it’s just not that much fun. While the game succeeds in its mission to simulate the more complex nature of racing that avid offroad fans will likely enjoy, it doesn’t really have much appeal to the masses, making Overpass a title that is probably worth passing over.
A PC copy of Overpass was provided to TheGamer for this review. Overpass is available now for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC.
