Overclocked: A History of Violence

I'm a huge adventure game fan. I love the games where you get to meet characters, have a mystery to solve and get to use your mind to get to the end of the game, rather then gunplay. What I found different about this game is the character development and backstories. Very well thought out and the characters have depth to them. The plot was a lot of fun and you wanted to see what came next, but like I said the characters are what really drew me into this one! It was like reading a good book you couldn't put down! Highly recommended for any adventure player!

Overclocked definitely has some flaws, but I still enjoyed this game quite a bit. As some other reviewers have mentioned, the puzzles are generally easy. As psychiatrist David McNamara, most of the gameplay lies in playing audio clips of patients' sessions in order to stimulate the other patients' memories. It's usually pretty easy to figure out what clip you need to play, and to whom, but the clips are all short so it's not a big inconvenience if you accidentally pick the wrong one. Once you stimulate the patient's memory, you go into his or her memory and actually play as the patient, which is a pretty cool device. The flashback puzzles are more varied, but they're still pretty easy. In most cases, your location and inventory are so limited that you can't help but figure out what to do. I have to give credit, though, because the puzzles are all pretty logical and use real-world objects, so don't worry about having to open any antique puzzle boxes or anything like that.

The backstory of what happened to the patients is okay, but a bit hackneyed. It won't take most people long to figure out what happened to the kids. I could forgive that if the characters were a little more interesting, but sadly, the patients are all pretty bland. That makes sense when you first meet them in the mental hospital, but as you go into the backstory (the flashbacks unfold in reverse chronology, "Memento"-style), the characters should have become more distinct, and they just didn't.

What saved the game for me, though, was David McNamara. He's easily the best adventure game character I've come across in a long time, and the side plot about David's personal demons and imploding marriage was far more interesting than what happened at the hospital. David isn't always a nice guy, but that's part of what makes him such a good character. There were a couple of times when I cringed at his actions, and one point where I flat-out tried to stop him from doing something (without success), but he is definitely the most interesting part of the game.

Despite the game's subtitle, there's not as much violence as you might expect. There are a few murders, although you only see one of them happen. There is one disturbing part of the game where you're forced to commit an act of violence, and even though it made sense, I still had a hard time going through with it. Still, unless you're very sensitive, that shouldn't stop you from playing this game.

Overall, I enjoyed Overclocked. The gameplay was logical, and the story ranged from "okay" to "compelling." Most of the voice acting was quite good, and the backgrounds were sparse but appropriately gloomy. The ending was mostly satisfactory, although there were a few loose ends, and the very last scene was a big "huh?" moment. Still, if you enjoy adventure games, I'd say this one is worth picking up.

Interesting game, bit straightforward with little surprises and not that difficult to finish. For the experienced adventurer it's a few hours' gameplay. The cinematics are nice, the environments nicely detailed. An overall interesting game, though a bit short and easy.

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