Overclocked: A History of Violence

The Good
I'll tell you right up front that I didn't much like Overclocked. True, I'm not one who really enjoys horror, in movies or my games - and this is one of those games that borders on it, or at least reveals horrific events.

You play David McNamara, a psychiatrist, who has been called in to help 5 teenagers who wandered back into New York City screaming, half-naked and displaying other signs that they have just experienced a major trauma. They were sent to an old hospital on Staten Island where they were examined and medicated. Getting them to talk is David's first objective, and at first that seems like a very daunting task because they are completely "out of it." Eventually he will find a way to communicate with one of them. All conversations with them are recorded automatically in David's PDA. Playing back the correct recording to the right person at the right time is only real "puzzle" in the game. "Flashbacks" occur then which reveal pieces of their memories a little at a time until, eventually, it all becomes clear.

Besides the teens, there are other characters to interact with including David's estranged wife, the hotel clerk, some bar patrons, a police investigator, the strange doctor and nurse at the hospital. I enjoyed the familiar-sounding voice of the main character and thought all of the voice actors and actresses did a good job representing their characters.

The locations are few but just enough to get the story told. They include David's hotel room and the hotel lobby, a bar, the Staten Island Ferry area, the hospital and then an old barracks where the kids were housed. It is dark and raining during the whole game which increases the gloomy feeling of everything.

The interface was straight forward, the point and click actions were easy to accomplish, the inventory was minimal and there were no problems installing or playing the game.

The story is by far the best part of Overclocked. There is an interesting subplot involving David and his wife, an unusual "accident" that caused her harm, and David's unprovoked and sudden fits of rage. This added a personal touch and made me connect with the main character.

The kids' ordeal is revealed slowly and the shocking truth comes as quite a surprise when it is revealed in the end. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that the experience the teens have had and David's sudden bursts of aggression are connected. The ending stayed in my mind for several days after finishing the game.

The Bad
It takes an unusually long time for each one of the flashback cut-scenes to load. During the wait, you are faced with a black screen in a frame where the gameplay screen should be. It can take up to 3 full minutes for the scene to load. So, don't worry if that happens to you. There's nothing wrong with your game that everyone else hasn't experienced.

The graphics are not up to par with recent games. The motion is not full 3D, like advertised, and the movements of the characters aren't very lifelike. Neither are the graphics of the characters themselves. The purported wonderful facial expressions were just mediocre.

The music drowns out the voices at times and changes in intensity and volume, so it's impossible to find an agreeable setting. I had mine set to the lowest setting and it was still louder than it needed to be. There aren't very many sound effects to speak of. I remember the constant call of a crow together with howling wind in one segment that was repeated too often and made me frown.

The Bottom Line
Overall, Overclocked is a decent adventure game that might appeal to fans of the genre, especially those who like mysteries of this kind. The gloomy atmosphere coupled with the strangeness of the story could put this title into the horror category. Children should not play this game because of the violence, blood and anger depicted in it.

However, although the story is compelling and the acting good, the game as a whole didn't measure up to its potential, in my opinion. Game design flaws (long cutscene load times, blocky graphics of the characters and their movements, music volume fluctuations) held it back from being better.