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Review Overclocked : A History of Violence

Review written by ZFXGamer on July 1, 2008 at 09:08 AM

7/10

Good news for all adventure game fanatics and experienced pixel hunters, like me. The (cult) genre of classic point-and-click adventure games is slowly reviving again. More and more adventure games are finding their way back into stores. Like Overclocked , a psychological thriller made by House of Tales Entertainment. Can this game redefine the definition of an outstanding point-and-click adventure game? Serious investigation and a specific analysis of the subject seems appropriate!

House of Tales is a German company experienced in adventure games. ?The Mystery of the Druids? and ?The Moment of Silence? created by the same developers are both outstanding adventure games with a strong storyline. With ?Overclocked? they tried to cross their boundaries once again.

This time you?ll slip into the role of a former army psychiatrist, David McNamara. For your latest case you travel to New York City. Five youngsters were found across the city, all confused and suffering from what appears to be amnesia. They were all found with a gun in their hand. What is going on? It?s your task to solve the case of the five young people step by step by reconstructing the last week through flashbacks. When you arrive in New York City there is huge endless storm going on and besides the bad weather you bring along your own private problems. Your wife suddenly wants to divorce and where are those violent outbursts and nightmares coming from?

The dark psychological storyline is being told from different viewpoints. When you play as David Mcnamara your main task will be to try to cure the patients. The patients are taken to the psychiatric hospital of Staten Island. They are housed in a creepy hospital that actually looks more like a ghost house. Everything is broken and the hospital will close very soon. The only staff is a grumpy nurse and a strange conservative doctor. The other viewpoints of the story are the patients, when they are hypnotized you take over the control of the patient. The interesting part of the game is during the flashbacks. Here you?ll have to complete various puzzles and try to solve the story.

The interface is plain but effective, the cursor changes when you hover over interactive objects. Though most puzzles can be solved just by logical thinking which greatly improves the game play because you don?t have to pixel hunt. Below on your screen there is bar where your special items appear like your PDA, keys, pager, etc. Your PDA is an important tool in the game. With the PDA you can call other people or record conversations with the patients or just your personal notes.

The graphics aren?t mind blowing but acceptable. The music adds to the dark creepy environment. The deep strong storyline is a surplus as it really draws you in the game. When I started to play this game I couldn?t set it off because I wanted to know how the story would end! It?s like reading a good book.

Conclusion

Overclocked A history of Violence is a plain classic point-and-click adventure game. But the intense storyline and the addictive game play will easily draw you into the game. I think everyone who likes to read psychological thrillers will appreciate this game. The cinematic way of telling the story keeps you far away of boredom. Black is the dominating color so if you happen to be a flower boy or an old hippie stay far away from this game!

Reviewed by Fenn Segers

ZFXGamer