Overkill 3 Review

Craneballs is back. With Overkill 3.

It’s a gritty affair, with a plot line that yanks the player into a dystopian future that lacks hope or societal order. Our main character is someone who is willing to unite the resistance against the evil Faction, and bring hope to mankind — all while sporting the tightest digital haircut, like, ever.

Overkill 3 is in the same vein as the previous two titles: cover system rules the roost. One big change from the earlier iterations is the fact that the player perspective is shifted from first to third person. This does make for some subtle changes, but the action is definitely not in short supply.

The tutorial is of the hands on variety, allowing the player to literally get things going. The controls are explained, and everything is fairly intuitive: gesture swipes to duck, with virtual buttons to do sundry things like aiming, shooting, reloading, and using special tools and power-ups. One gets to practice using said controls, as there are intro waves of very well-armed baddies ready to take our hero out.

The virtual environments are a big portion of the game. The opening one portrays a disheveled urban landscape, with all the crumbling buildings and untoward aerial purchases one could hope for. This blight creates plenty of objects to take cover from the opposing fire, aiming and shooting makes our guy to step out of cover. The enemy shooters sometimes make use of cover too, and generally fan out well, so taking care of them generally involves continued and quick actions. Clearing the waves earns leveling points, money and medals.

The game cash plays an important role, in that it allows for weapon and gear purchases and upgrades. The purchase system is very intricate, and any combination of game money and real cash can be used to make the game livelier.

It’s hard not to love the graphics. The gameplay environments morph from light to dark and in-between, but the basic gameplay remains the same. The developer tosses in some decent in-game upgrade opportunities (drones? Yes!), and the campaign progressions are not unbelievable. The freemium nature gets a bit busy at times though; should a gun have so many upgrade points?

In the end, the game provides enough action, so much so one has a chance to get over any such misgivings.

It’s all in the name.