In recent history, mobile games have been moving past single-player puzzle games and RPG's, and expanding more into real-time multiplayer games. With titles like Call of Duty and PUBG entering the mix, mobile gaming is becoming more viable as an involved form of entertainment. However, there will always be variations on games, especially with the fast-paced world of mobile apps. Let's take a look at Overdox, a fairly recent entry into the world of mobile games with a relatively fresh spin on a classic format.
In a Nutshell
Overall: 3.8 out of 5
Pros:
- Fresh, interesting spin on the battle royale game type
- Nice overall visual design
Cons:
- Relatively steep learning curve
- Has some imbalance in terms of equipment
- Awful queue times in relation to amount of game time
Aesthetics and Graphics
Overdox is actually a very nice-looking game. The menus and buttons have a futuristic feel to them, and is very reminiscent of Tron. Your player character is always visible in the menus, and it definitely highlights the effort the developers poured into the armor designs. The armor sets are very unique, and you can see very different inspirations from the oriental styles to the futuristic mech styles. You can also change the gender of your player character, and the armor sets change in accordance. I have mixed feelings about this, as some of the women's armor designs change to make them look 'more attractive.' The iron skull helmet for example covers the male face, but reveals the female in full makeup.
In-game graphics are also really good. The monsters keep with the theme of 'futuristic battle game' as they are all some sort of robot. The landscape differs and it is clear that the developers had the intention to portray the settings as simulations of various eras and locations. The textures look pretty good, but in saying that, the camera angle is quite far from them. I have a suspicion that zooming into the map would reveal pixelation, especially on low quality graphics.
Sound
The sound is a bit weird for me. I can't objectively say that it is a detractor, but the entire soundtrack is electronic and very dubstep. This music choice actually fits very well with the aesthetic, but I definitely prefer to turn the music off in this game. Part of the reason this is is not just because I'm not a big fan of the music genre, but also because the mixing is very strange.
Sound volumes are seemingly at odds with each other. The tally sound after a match is incredibly piercing to the ear, especially on headphones. For some reason the sound gets seriously magnified. In-game sound effects like weapon noises are also relatively quiet compared to everything else. Monsters don't make any noise for some reason, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is because their sound effects are drowned out by the music and other sound effects.
Gameplay and Mechanics
The game is a fresh take on the battle royale format in that the number of players is limited to twelve. The biggest difference though, is that it involves melee weapons. There are several weapon types in Overdox, each with a different attack pattern of three or four attacks. For example, the giant sword has three attacks: a short dash with a stunning swipe, then an upward swipe that also hits behind you, finished with a two strike combo. The staff on the other hand, has a forward poke, a forward swipe, a backflip with an upward swipe, and a flourish combo to finish the series.
The variety of weapons coupled with a systematic series of attack patterns creates a chess-like method of fighting. There is actually a bit of thinking on your feet in this game, and it does set the difficulty a bit higher. To add to the difficulty, there is also a stamina system that needs to be kept track of. Each swing costs a certain amount of stamina, so it is impossible to spam your weapon's strikes. Stamina is also used by blocking and dashing, so a lot of improvisational planning is in play in this game. That said, Overdox is made slower-paced compared to traditional battle royale games as a result of these design choices.
The weapon types have three levels: basic, uncommon, and rare. The basic weapons all have the same activatable weapon ability of healing and preventing some damage for a short period of time. The uncommon and rare weapons have unique activatable skills for each with different effects. Other activatable skills can be found on the battlefield in chests, shops, or killed players. These other skills can be the difference between victory or defeat as they provide additional utility. With these extra skills, you can create temporary obstacles, traps, or alter your opponent's controls to provide you with a bit of an advantage.
Other equipment include armor and drones. The armor works like the weapons in terms of acquisition: through loot boxes. They also have the same rarity system. Using armor from the same manufacturer grants bonuses to your character. Matching head, body, and shoulders from the Far East manufacturer, for example, grants a percentage critical chance to each strike. The drones are unlocked by progressing your account through achievements and specific objectives. The better drones require batteries that are obtained through loot boxes to be usable, but the basic one grants some minor advantages.
The armor and weapons have health, damage, and weight properties. The weight affects the movement speed of the character. These pieces can also be smelted down to gain X-coins, which are a currency that you can use to get skins. These skins don't have any tactical value, but they do make your character look interesting.
As of writing this post there are only four maps for the free-for-all game mode, and one for the team battle mode, so map knowledge is easy to acquire. It also means that there isn't a lot of variation from game to game. The only things that change are the contents of the the shops and chests.
While the free-for-all game mode is fairly easy to guess, the team battle is a bit different. There are respawns in the team battle, and the team that has the most kills in three minutes is deemed the winner. In free-for-all, once you are eliminated, it's game over. If it sounds like the game time is really short, it is. Unfortunately, there are massively long queue times to get into the game, so when you do lose out early on there is another lengthy waiting time ahead. This fact may change the future, as the game is new and there may be more players coming to join the game, but at the moment, the two game modes suffer from the waiting time.
Some Gripes
Apart from the weird sound mixing and the gender differences in costumes, there are a couple of minor things that did annoy me during my time playing this game. One thing was the wording on the daily tasks. There is an objective that says to play a game using a certain weapon. However, the quest was meant to say to kill players using the weapon. I can give this a pass as the developers are Korean, and English isn't their first language.
Another nuisance is the auto-targeting in the game. The character automatically tracks interactive objects such as opponents, barrels, and chests. Putting two chests next together, such as in the Death Asylum map, causes real headaches. I spent an unnecessary amount of time opening the same chest multiple times as the play area closed in on me. Another time was when I was killed because I missed an attack, my character choosing to hit a nearby barrel instead of the opponent near my.
A final quirk is not so much a bad thing, but slightly decreases the professionalism of the developer. There are multiple occasions when I wanted to spectate after I was eliminated from play. However, the game registered my watching as me being inactive, so it threatened to kick me from the game. I tried to do things on my touchscreen to prove that I was still active, but I got kicked anyway. This one is an intermittent bug, and I couldn't replicate it consistently, so again I don't blame the developers for not yet eliminating this.
Final Thoughts
As a personal opinion, Overdox gets a score of 3.8 out of 5.
The game has a lot of potential and it can be a successful game in the future. It has some things to be cleaned up, but I do believe it is still early in its life cycle. I don't directly recommend the title, but I will say that it is worth a try if you're looking for a game to try. Granted, it has a high learning curve, but fans of games that require some planning combined with action sequences will actually enjoy this game.
Thanks for reading! Check out my other reviews by clicking here, or if you want to read about my experiences outside of Canada, click here.
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