As a former Descent player, this game is an excellent continuation. The game requires the ability to navigate a 3D world where up & down are not always apparent. (6 axis of movement) You never know when a robot will appear for battle. Finding the right path & secret passages requires strategy & reasoning. This tpe of is my favorite game of all time.

As a spiritual successor to Descent 1 & 2, Overload presents an interesting contrast to Descent 3. D3 brought a lot of innovation and experimentation, but with deeply mixed delivery. Overload, however, hews far closer to the formula established by D1 & D2, but with a thick sheen of polish. It's at once a joy to see a modern 6DOF executed so gracefully and a disappointment that its ambitions were so reigned in.

Credit where it's due, Overload isn't devoid of innovations on the first two Descents. They're clearly inspired by the double decades of FPS innovation between D2 and Overload, but they fit so snugly within Overload's design that they're still warmly welcomed. Upgrade points let you customize your weapons, keeping your arsenal fresh. Bite-sized audio-log storytelling smoothly layers over the action. Its challenge survival mode fits great (and should make a nice amuse-bouche between the main campaign and NG+/DLC campaign runs).

The lack of ambition are most felt in areas furthest from the core "shoot robots, destroy reactor, get out" Descent loop. The story, soundtrack, and level design are functional but mostly unmemorable. The art style also falls into this, only buoyed by the rendering tech ensuring a degree of visual appeal. (This is worst with the enemy design, which lacks much of any personality and makes many enemy types feel interchangeable.)

However, the degree of polish Overload exudes is really worth note. Every weapon has its use case, every enemy has their own way to challenge you, and damn if that classic Descent formula doesn't still work wonders. I can't even blame the developers too much for their limited artistic ambitions - publishing a 6DOF shooter in 2018 was ambitious enough as is. I'm still holding out hope that, someday, someone will take the 6DOF shooter genre to a place that isn't just flying spaceships to blow up robots & explode reactors. Until then, Overload is a good reminder that there's a reason people stick so close to the original formula - it still hits.

8/10

fun