There is a catch, however, that makes the playerbase divide on whether the game is worth their time or not: Huntdown: Overtime is a roguelite.
This transition into roguelite is huge and unexpected. In this review, we'll look closer at what makes Overtime another neon-soaked masterpiece of the run-and-gun genre, and in which ways Early Access stage hinders the experience.
The Vibe: Pure Classic 80s VHS Experience
Let's start from the most obvious - the visual part of the game. Artistically and atmospherically, developers have delivered a second masterpiece here. Pixel art looks amazing, especially due to dynamic lighting. Every single neon sign casts a beautiful, yet gritty shine.
Overall, the game feels like the most awesome version of Kung Fury and RoboCop. Bosses are loud, insane and totally corporate. The dialogue is absolutely hilarious, and with excellent voice acting, there's a boss who reminds me of Bobcat Goldthwait's character in Batman Forever. You can really believe in the game's setting. To top it off with an original soundtrack that uses the best tracks from the previous game with massive new ones, and you've got yourself a game full of style!
The Shift to Roguelite: For Better or for Worse?
This point needs to be addressed separately, as it is one of the key aspects that led some players to dislike the sequel. Compared to the original game with handcrafted, linear levels, Overtime features roguelike elements, such as the loss of your progress if you die and restarting with a certain amount of money spent on character upgrades between runs.
On the one hand, this is a perfect way to make the game more replayable. There's an interesting progression system that reminds you of very early Dead Cells: you get a run, collect your currency, and purchase new guns and/or modify your cybernetic parts to customize your character.
Another thing that I appreciate in Huntdown: Overtime is infinite ammo for weapons you obtain, which makes gameplay even faster and more adrenaline-filled.
On the other hand, for fans of the original game, it may come as a huge disappointment. With the introduction of roguelite elements in gameplay, many interesting and unique challenges are lost. Instead, you find the same layout of corridors and platforms throughout the game, which turns the early game into a grind.
Combat, Cybernetics, and Cuffing Bosses
One of the best aspects of the game is its gunplay, which has always been incredibly tight and satisfying. When you finally nail a nice combination of a weapon and cybernetic parts, Overtime becomes an endless source of fun.
However, the systems around this gameplay require a lot of Early Access polishing.
- Inefficient Balancing System: Since the developers had to make a game with roguelike elements balanced enough, they chose a lazy option of increasing the number of HP for enemies. As a result, the game requires nothing else but shooting, rather than trying something more sophisticated.
- Cuffing Challenge: In addition to regular bosses, Overtime offers players the option of cuffing them for bonus rewards. You can do this by dropping an enemy's HP to 25% and defeating him within a certain time via button mash-up mini-game. The problem is: enemies continue attacking you during that time, which means the cuffing mission is often impossible to achieve.
- Uninspiring Upgrades: Most of the permanent upgrades aren't really exciting because they only change certain parameters by 5%-8%. The same applies to some cybernetics which, for example, allow to glide a little. That wasn't exactly what I expected from roguelite!
Early Access Bugs and Problems
Since this is a relatively fresh game, there are many bugs that the developers still need to fix. Players report softlocking and even an infinite loading screen. Another weird problem is the game getting stuck in a speed mode and moving at an incredible pace. Performance optimization also leaves something to be desired since smoke and gas cause terrible FPS drop.
Finally, it's quite disappointing that there's no co-op feature in Huntdown: Overtime as it would be perfect for couch gaming.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Overtime is an incredible achievement on the stylistic plane, with a certain mess inside. While the game has an incredible gunplay, impressive pixel art, and unique atmosphere, it lacks in terms of gameplay features.
Nevertheless, as the developers keep polishing the game during Early Access period, this might turn into a worthy successor of Huntdown.
Final Score: 86/100