I really don’t know where I stand with Override 2: Super Mech League, and even as I sit and write this review. I like the game – I really do. But at the same time, I actually hate it. But I still like it. I think I want to love it. But I hate it. I’m conflicted, and now I finally understand what my parents feel when they look at me.
Override 2: Super Mech League isn’t a bad game by any stretch but it’s nowhere near being a great one. I’d like to settle on good, but I can’t decide if that’s overstating or underplaying it. It’s got everything an immature man-child could want in a brawler: Giant robo-mechs smashing the shit out of each other in city-wide arenas. Yet, despite being larger than life with eye-choking beams of colour, it’s missing something, and not just an online community to keep the game going.
Override 2 is a follow-up to the original game which I never played, so I can’t really make comparisons. All I can tell you is that my time with Override 2 was frustratingly short and underwhelming, even though I wanted to spend hours inside it.
The game blends online and offline play seamlessly, meaning that if there aren’t any online players, you’ll be playing with bots. This is fine but the fractured nature of the game with its various game modes means you’ll most likely be playing with A.I opponents for most of your matches. This results in sitting around waiting for games to populate before the game finally gives up and throws you in with computer-controlled enemies and/or allies. I’d have preferred it if there was a clear divide between online and offline play.
The game modes are numerous, which is a good thing because variety is the spice of fighting games, but few of them stand out. The game’s campaign mode – which is also online/offline – did nothing to pull me into the story of corporate sponsorships battling mega mechs, but it’s a good a place as any to start, aside from the tutorials, though you don’t really need them.
Combat is simple and takes inspiration from Tekken in that your attacks for each limb are mapped to a different button, and in this case, it’s the triggers. Each mech also has an ultimate move that can be performed by pulling a couple of triggers at the same time. It’s easy to get stuck into, then, but there’s a clear lack of flow to the combat. Stringing together combos isn’t a thing in Override 2, though you can perform some small three-to-four-hit combos, providing your opponent isn’t paying much attention. But… as you’ll mostly play against A.I opponents who never sleep, eat, or falter, you can forget about it.
Ultimate moves are the big bad moves you can pull off to really put some dents into the enemy’s armour, though it’s a little convoluted. On each stage, golden circles will appear and you need to get inside these rings of light to charge up your ultimate move. I can see the idea behind it; encourage fighters to get into close quarters and batter each other out of the arena-within-an-arena. But on the other hand, I’d often miss them during the chaotic brawls as I got thrown around the destructible arenas. Maybe that’s more a Chris problem than a problem with the game…
The game modes boil down to either free for all brawls or team brawls. No matter which one I played, I could never really tell who was on my team and who was an enemy, so I’d spend my time mashing the attack buttons hoping for the best. It worked because I won quite a lot, but I never really felt like I accomplished anything. But I was still drawn to the game. Not because the online play was great, and not because smashing the A.I was particularly fun. I think it’s the general chaos that doesn’t ask for to much thinking. You get in the game, you smash some buttons for a bit, maybe pick up an overpowered melee weapon and smash everything, and then you do it again. It’s very simple and it doesn’t take much skill, unlike other fighting games like Tekken or Street Fighter. Complicated combos are thrown out in favour of smashing the buttons as fast as you can and then running away when things get too hairy. I’m a simple man and this is a simple game that complicates itself with too many game modes and too few actual players to share them with.
There is fun here and I’ve had some of it. It’s not a deep brawler and it’s no replacement for your typical fighting games, but it has a charm about it. And I’ll go back to what I said earlier: Giant robo-mechs smashing the shit out of each other in city-wide arenas.
Override 2: Super Mech League PS5 Review
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Overall - Not Bad - 5/105/10
Summary
Override 2: Super Mech League skirts the lines between good and bad without ever settling on either side. The online play is a nice touch to make the Leagues actually feel like there’s something at stake if you can actually find anybody to play with.
Review Disclaimer: This review was carried out using a copy of the game provided by the publisher. For more information, please read our Review Policy.
Reviewed using PS5 and PS4 Pro.
