OVERWHELM

OVERWHELM
N/A
Metacritic
84
Steam
68.495
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$9.99
Release date
11 June 2018
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
84 (195 votes)

You're outnumbered, low on ammunition and the paranoia sets in. This is an action horror-world where enemies get power-ups and you don’t.

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OVERWHELM system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.4GHz or equivalent
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000 or better
  • Storage: 200 MB available space

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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BFBFan
BFBFan

This game has become and still currently is one of my favorite platformer shooters. It's tough as hell but it deserves more recognition and praise than what it gets.

Horatio Svetlana
Horatio Svetlana

4/5

You can lower the difficulty in the options. I recommend you play the game until you understand it first, before you make your choice of difficulty.

Basically, if you want to experience Aliens in a game format then play this game. The most genuinely tense game I have ever played. Controls are TIGHT and satisfying for twitch reflex gameplay. Music and sound design are dread inducing. Metroidvania with a twist I won't spoil. Fucking excellent, but be willing to lower the difficulty if you think you won't enjoy the default difficulty.

Death_By_Orange
Death_By_Orange

Nice little horror revere-metroidvania romp

TemmieNeko
TemmieNeko

You are thrown into vague goal - collect 5 crystals.
you havw a map, 5 glowing targets, and a gun.
You can jump, air uppercut for more height + punch enemies and you can shoot.
you can also wall jump, Mario style. ( no ninja gaiden clinging to walls, you drop like a stone if you don't jump off )

You die in one hit, and if that happens - the area of the screen starts to lose the edges as a light source, making a smaller circle of the screen visible.
Die again, and they srhink it even more.

Did I mention you die in one hit?
Also, your ammo doesn't recover - and as it gets low - the light source can get REALLY small. You can't see your hand in front of your face.

Did I mention you die in one hit?

You find a crystal, and then it becomes a boss.
Partway through the fight, the lights flicker on and off, now the boss is gone...or is it?

Pretty good atmosphere.
Good challenge ( and they added an assist mode for ppl to enjoy the game if it's too hard )

As you kill enemies, the HIve grows stronger. enemies start to climb walls, spit acid, and it stacks for each boss you defeat.

good stuff.

Phiriix
Phiriix

7/10
สำหรับเกมส์อินดี้เกมส์นึง ที่บอกว่าเหมือนจะไม่ยาก แต่ยากเหี้ยๆสำหรับเราที่ให้ 7 ไม่ใช่เพราะเล่นไม่เก่ง
แต่หักเรื่องมุมมองที่แคบไปนิด พอเล่นนานๆเข้าจะมึนหัวมากๆ เพราะแทบจะไม่อยากกระพริบตา มอนส์เตอร์มาทุกทาง
ถ้าคุณชื่นชอบเกมส์แนวอินดี้ คอนทร้าล่าปีศาจ เน้นบุกตะลุยดันเจียน แม้จะมีอาวุธแค่2อย่างต่อยกับปืนเดิม แต่มันต้องใช้สมาธิและไหวพริบสูงมาก
แนะนำเป็นอีกเกมส์ที่น่าลองเล่น แม้ผมจะรีฟันเร็วๆนี้ ไม่ไหวจะอ้วก บาย

about my opinion this game not bad but really make me vormit alot from there game vision
can't play for long time just if you want to play challenging game This is One of the best Indie game you should try .

Jon
Jon

I loved the look of this game after seeing it at E3, but it feels like it just tries to pass off unfairness as challenging/difficult design. Here's a few things I picked out that aren't to do with the main mechanic:
- The player's high movement speed mixed with very tight viewport scale and random/obscured enemy placement means unless you inch through the game too carefully, you're going to take a lot of cheap deaths. Why allow the player to move quickly if it can only end poorly? A few deaths were caused from moving from one room to the next and being dead before the camera had switched to where I was.
- If the game feels like you're cheesing the bosses, rather than giving them extra movement options to get even with the player, it will just teleport them somewhere else out of view, forcing you to reposition (if the whole theme of the game is the base enemies getting the bosses traits when you beat them, where does teleporting fit in other than to hide design holes?)
- If the map is the same each time, and on new lives you can spawn in at bosses you've already beaten, what was the reasoning for removing all the player's map progress each life?

Don't get me wrong, the movement is fun and the shooting/punch mechanic is very tight, but I refunded it as I was simply not having fun after several resets I felt weren't my fault, and could see more of them happening before I completed it.

FreddyTheMonkey
FreddyTheMonkey

This game is for a very particular audience of players and is by no means perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot.

The concept of "enemies get power up, you don't" is amazing and with every boss defeated the game world itself becomes more treacherous and dangerous (the enemy placement is always randomized). Also, subsequent bosses will be more erratic, with your characters hallucinating more often, which leads to the bosses teleporting and to all kinds of little tricks to unnerve you. Overall, you have to plan your route by considering the difficulty of the bosses, the difficulty of how to get to the bosses and the powerup that your next target will give to the Hive. Every route has pros and cons and you have to plan the most efficient way for you to make it out alive.

The controls are responsive and satisfying but most of all, the atmosphere is amazing. It's scary, extremely tense and the great sound design contributes to making the player feel uncomfortable. Yes, even the LAST CHANCE sound is a perfect fit, but can be turned off if you find it so annoying. Getting to the last remaining bosses while nowhere is safe anymore, vicious enemies pop out of every corner and you are killed again and again until your last life is an incredibly draining experience, but in a good way. Completing the game without assist mode feels like a titanic accomplishment (I suggest not turning that on, since the games loses its very purpose and 99% of its longevity, since it's a very short game and if you set unlimited lives it will last very little).

The game has big fariness issues at times, though. The camera does not accurately follow you 100% of the time, and seems to be anchored to specific "zones". When you exit these zones, the camera follows you with a delay and that can cause you to run into some scorpion or flying enemy you coulnd't even see. This problem is minor if you play the game slowly and carefully, but sometimes you just want to blaze through an area you already did a lot of times. The issue is particularly evident when you are at 4 crystals (more enemies all around and no safe zones) and at 5 crystals (I won't spoil it but you'll have to move lighting fast and colliding with things you couldn't even see is very unfair in that very tense situation). Also, the Kraken boss moves its tentacles in such a way that they become impossible to dodge in certain situations. Once, I had a spider dropping onto me THROUGH A SOLID PLATFORM, making me lose a life in a pivotal moment. That is not fair at all.

So I can't really recommend Overwhelm at full price, because it can be an incredibly frustrating experience at times. But this discounted price is perfect, especially if you like ungodly challenge and a constant sensation of tension and discomfort. When everything clicks, Overwhelm is a little masterpiece, so you should really try it.

bepus
bepus

>Has more difficulty and style than content and interesting mechanics.

Get on sale.

kavika
kavika

The game is basically a boss rush + some medium-hard areas in between, that vary depending on the order you complete bosses in.

I like this game because it is bite-sized, focused, and has a minimalist aesthetic that successfully tells the story.

I like it better than similar games (Devil Daggers, Downwell) because I can accurately contextualize my progress against the total challenge that the game provides. Having obvious goalposts helps :)

It is a novel take on the metroid-ish concept, with less backtracking, and no secrets that I know of. That makes the game a bit short, and without a ton of variety. In return, it gets to focus on making it a balanced challenge, lets it focus on the decision-making aspects (which boss first, and which routes?), and lets it explore the variety is has, rather than just padding the world out with junk to collect (metroid) or items to use once and discard (megaman).

Buy it if you like bite sized action games that are a tad on the challenging side. Buy it if you like to support indie game devs who look to push the boundaries. If you absolutely need to maximize your dollar per hour, maybe buy a deck of cards, or go play with some sticks outside? Or play a JRPG or some F2P game. I heard those are huge time sucks...

Ignore my hours played. I've played the DRM-free (itch) version more than I've played the Steam version

Gamachara
Gamachara

I love this game! It shows how much can be done with just a few well selected peices. It gives me what feeling I call "The Doom Rush" I rarely find anymore.

To address the common complaints: This is an action game with some horror feel. That means you will feel cramped and that the odds are against you. The name of the game is OVERWHELMED!

TimebonesSSBM
TimebonesSSBM

Love the retro-hard style of platforming, fun to speedrun and fun to play my first time through. Difficult without being absurdly long.

ChrisP
ChrisP

Definitely enjoying this game so far! A challenging metroidvania-horror mashup

Inevitable
Inevitable

Not a long game, but a fun game. Don't buy expecting to get 30 hours out of it (unless you want to speedrun it) but it certainly packs a punch. Atmosphere is very well done, mechanics are pretty fun, and bosses are interesting.

Only complaint is that I would ask for more content, but as-is it's definitely still fun.

5PAceCowboy
5PAceCowboy

Absolutely fell in love as soon as I saw this on E3 haha. The mechanics are easy and fun. Love the fear and thrill trying to get through the game w/o dying lol.As a fan of horror and pixels this definitely takes the cake. I hope there's more like this genre.

Kudos!

Mike Death
Mike Death

5.5/10=average game
If this was 5 bucks or less I'd say go for it, but at 10 bucks it feels like an overpriced arcade game. I really wish there was a neutral review option.
My scoring scale: 1-4=the game sucked at varying degrees; 5-6=average game; 7-10=somewhere from fun to awesome

REVIEW
I dunno...this game was exciting and edgy the first few time I played it, but I never sat down for more than maybe 20-30 minutes each time. It's depth and overall content feels similar to an arcade game, but I've spent less and had more fun at an actual arcade.

1 weapon, 1 fire mode, 1 alt-attack (punch), no upgrades, no new weapons
The enemies change as you beat the bosses, but I still did not feel that was enough variation, especially if you have to start over often (a random variation each new playthrough could have been interesting).
Although I sometimes really like pixel graphics, I ended up wanting a little more. Spruce up the main character and enemies, add better lighting...when the creepyness wears off it's nice to have a pretty playground.

Anonicus
Anonicus

Eyes hurt from seeing Red alot, but it was fun for what I played of it. I recommend it.

drunken russian
drunken russian

This game proves you don't need cheap jumpscares and poorly drawn twisted faces to have a geniunely good horror.
It creates a realistic unsettling atmosphere in a pixelated artstyle without relying on the aforementioned gimmicks.
Gameplay is good. Solid platforming, well designed difficulty curve. I was expecting metroidvania esque upgrades, but instead it's the enemies that get upgraded as you progress - fine too.
Difficulty is high, but no complaints about that. It's hard but fair, and there is an assist mode for those who can't handle hardcore games but still want to experience the game.
Graphics are also good. Minimalist at first glance, as you descend into the hive you'll notice a lot of attention to detail in the backgrounds.

Second favorite game this year. Definitely recommending.

T h u g ?
T h u g ?

Fantastic atmosphere, graphics, audio and visual effects, gameplay and map design. I really enjoy the overral design and high levels of polish on this game, however there are a few issues that may need to be addressed.

Onto the shit:
Bosses will sometimes spawn underneath or several pixels away from you, and you're pretty much fucked if that happens.

The wall jump has been much more of a hindrance then a help, where i find myself bounding in the direction i was trying to flee.

The camera sucks, and youre far more likely to be killed by something that had barely entered your screen while your character was barely on your screen then anything else in the game. This can be mitigated by playing slow as fuck and inching your way around, but that really takes away alot of the fun and intensity of the game. Theres really no reason the camera should be as much of a problem as it is.

I've had several crashes midway through a bossfight, when it starts transforming. Will probably be fixed over time, but very frustrating.

With that being said this game is real god damn fun, and dripping in style.

Lorc
Lorc

This game is not as hardcore as it looks. In a good way.

Once you've killed a boss, you can start a run at that boss in the future. And just beat each boss on its own is a fun challenge, even if you're never going to manage all five in three lives.

It's a fun game.

Aurel
Aurel

About 4 years ago. I purchased this game at full price and decided to refund it when I finished it in less than 2 hours. I want to apologize to Randomnine because it was the worst move one could ever do to an indie game developper. I really enjoyed this game and despite that I tried to profit from the refund system. I dont think ill ever forgive myself for doing this, I was young and college was not quite easy. Now I can afford to buy my own games thanks to a job and I decided to come back to this review section. I want to let other people know that indie game developpers are hard working people, and that while the steam refund system is a great tool that helps custommers. Never forget that it can be abused and that in the end the ones who will end up suffering are those who poured blood and sweat in order to make such wonderfull games. So please next time you try to abuse the refund system. Think twice about who you are hurting the most. (This game is an 8/10 for me, its quite short but delivered a lot of goosebumps)

NecroWondo
NecroWondo

I don't know if my heart will allow me to beat this, but in my short time playing I can tell you some things already.
this game is a metroidvania-roguelike.
this game is a survival horror.
this game has absolutely fantastic sound, so play with headphones, in the dark.
this game is an asshole, but at the same time, pretty fair.
Im pretty overwhelmed, Its great.

FlyinPoulpus
FlyinPoulpus

A nice little concept wrapped around a boatload of bs deaths due to poor game design and balancing. If NG is forgiving and somewhat enjoyable, NG+ points out everything that's wrong about this game.
The two main issues are its RNG and its camera: most of the deaths you'll encounter in NG+ come from the ennemies jumping at you offscreen because of how the camera works. Stopping the camera so that it forces you to enter a new "room" blind with a high probability of an enemy jumping at you right of the bat is a silly and utterly flawed game design. It simply forces you to fire blindly into that new "room" entrance just to lower the chances of getting killed (spoiler alert: it doesn't always work). The fact that enemies take a random number of hits to be killed (1-3) adds to this randomness and can be infuriating sometimes.

The built-in assist mode is a poor attempt to mask these major flaws. Assist mode should be here to help less skilled people, not to fix some bad design decisions.
Unless the dev balances the camera and artificial difficulty of the game, I do not recommand it. There are far more polished indie gems of the same genre out there.

Woeste Wilhelmus
Woeste Wilhelmus

I really like this game. It is a great platformer with very smooth controls. I have played through the game 3 times now, using an XBOX controller, and that works remarkably well.
The sound effects and music significantly add to the great atmosphere of the game. The visuals are simple but work out well: not too much detail so as to make it a bit more difficult to spot enemies. This game is certainly tough on speedrunners: if you are not careful you will die, over and over again, by running into a hidden enemy, because enemies change position from run to run so you can't simply memorize the optimal path through the map. This is an intentional feature, that adds to the difficulty, and should not be considered a flaw, as some players do!
Another critique some players have is the camera and the dark sides of the screen making it more difficult to look ahead and spot hidden enemies. This is also very much intentional. And I guess aiming using a mouse would actually be more difficult if the camera was always centered on the player. Again, players need to adjust to how the camera works in this game and be a bit more careful when you can't see far ahead. And when you hear the sounds of the scorpions but can't see them, just make sure you don't jump into an area that you can properly see. After a while you will learn how to spot the hidden ones, because they are seldomly completely hidden but usually expose a pixel or two that can be spotted if you pay attention. And by aiming in a certain direction you can force the camera to move a little in that direction.
What I also consider to be a great feature of this game is that players can adjust the difficulty of the game. Slower speed, unlimited lives, unlimited ammo, aim assistance, etc can be adjusted if the default difficulty is too much. That way you can gain experience and step by step adjust difficulty as you get better in taking out enemies and avoiding death traps.
After you have defeated all 5 bosses and taken out the "core", you get a final mini-game which is very different from the rest of the game and in my opinion is not necessary.

Duncan
Duncan

Leaves you overwhelmed. Pretty much no replayability, other than that its a great game

Evagorn
Evagorn

Despite the fact that I had technical issues with the game, I still found it enjoyable while it worked. The atmosphere is definitely tense, and the gunplay is tight and responsive. The major issue is how normal enemies take anywhere from 1 to 3 shots seemingly at random, which is really frustrating when you're trying to run and gun. But for people up for a real challenge, give this one a chance.

H.P.Lovecrab
H.P.Lovecrab

A small roguelike that gets harder as you progress. Minimalistic artstyle similar to Downwell(albeit with only 4 palettes) and tense music contribute to the OVERWHELMing atmosphere of being surrounded by aliens on an alien world.

The game is very hard, and while it does adhere to the "horror", having to do the same thing over and over can get tedious so don't hesitate to try the assist options. Some things are definitely oldschool bs like camera not panning to the side when entering a room, aliens leaping at you off the screen(especially if you get hit once or twice which makes the visible area very small). The bosses will be hard at first, but only one boss made me try more than 5 times.

Nisu
Nisu

Was having decent fun at first, but personally, the dizzying camera just ruined it for me. Ended up rushing through the new game+ with the assist mode amped up to the max, to get the final achievement and be done with it. I appreciate what the game tries to do, but honestly I doubt I'll ever play the game again.

can I getta fry?
can I getta fry?

I recommend this game by a long shot because of its short lived addiction and weirdly fun gameplay. I said longshot because there is a list of flaws and conservatives

-Too little pixels. Right off the bat, I realized that I could barely diffrientiate the walls from my enemies once because this game has too little pixels. The concept and gameplay is nice, just way too low end

-Lack of soundtrack. once you've been playing for a few minutes, you realize feeling a bit awkward in the tune-less desolate gameplay

-Too harsh of penalty system. each time an enemy touches you, you die and must restart from last checkpoint. There should be some kind of hitpoint system instead

I'm sure there could be other flaws but It'd be wrong of me to hate on this game too much. Its not a bad platform shooter

Shameful
Shameful

This game doesn't work in 4k fullscreen for me unless I turn off v-sync and that is only to get it to a playable state. I still get graphic errors.

What it does right:
• Music is good.
• Your character controls well. Nice air jump, melee dash, and wall slide.
• Enemy audio is distinct and helps commincate what is around you.
• The palette swap feature is nice
• Has a nice creepy feel to it.
• The defeated bosses unlock as sort of restart checkpoints after you die and start again.
What it does wrong:
• Does not seem to run in full screen 4k on some people’s machines.
• Some poor design choices on camera that will kill you in annoying ways.
• Game length.

Just Neat:
• You ride in on a horse.

Icex
Icex

Tense, satisfying, and simple. Great little game

Chartreuse
Chartreuse

Definitely a fun game. Character controls are tight, graphics are very nice and refined, music is sparse (but that works for the atmosphere of the game) but good when it needs be. Bosses are definitely the highlight of this game, with each being unique in their own way and a pretty good test of one's control of movement. As other reviewers have mentioned, a small, but still significant, amount of deaths will come to what is in my opinion not good camera design. The slow panning will get you killed several times, leading to relatively frustrating deaths. However, all the other refined aspects of this game in conjunction with its brevity makes it worth it imo.

Very satisfying, either way, and definitely knows how long it needed to be to provide an entertaining and fun experience that didn't overstay its welcome. I will say, I didn't really get the horror vibe that the game was going for, but what atmosphere I did internalize was a very unique and poignant one.

Salamancer
Salamancer

This game was great. Interesting world, great concept, good gameplay. I can only hope that they make more games based on this world they have set up.

Steelo
Steelo

PROS
- Great and tense atmosphere
- Interesting concept and execution
- Polished pixel-graphics and color palettes
- Small but memorable map

CONS
- The Kraken boss
- Literally... just the Kraken boss

AsCii_exe
AsCii_exe

The core mechanics are way too plain for the game to orbit around them for so long without expanding them
The idea that as you progress the enemies are the ones who level up instead of you sounds interesting in paper but its executed in a fairly mediocre way

Argyle
Argyle

OVERWHELM is a refreshingly understandable game. There are five bosses, each spawns a new kind of enemy after their death, and killing them all wins the game. The controls are simple, tight, and satisfying, and each battle is a trial-and-error journey of discovery and growing skill. The game is easy to pick up, difficult to complete without becoming too frustrating, and doesn't demand hours upon hours of your time to have a nice experience. There are few games these days that have had me bust out pen and paper for planning; OVERWHELM is one of them.

Notorious Big the Cat
Notorious Big …

Beautiful art, interesting evolution mechanics, and tight controls make for a great game to jump into every once in a while and get better at.

Just be prepared that it is a lot of losing, and you really need to grind to get good enough to finish the game, and once you do that, it's quite short and sparse of content. Regardless, if that sounds fine to you, I'd go ahead

maple
maple

I generally wait to 100% games to write reviews, but I don't think I'll be finishing OVERWHELM's NG+ anytime soon, so I may as well write it now.
When I first got this game I thought my conflicting feelings would not clear up, but after completing most of the game (Besides from NG+) I can say that my feelings have settled down on "surprisingly positive with a side of salt". Let me elaborate on that.
On my first run to a boss, I didn't really expect much from the game, just a very atmospheric platformer. My opinions worsened once I actually got past two bosses, as my frustration only grew. I am no stranger to hard, borderline unfair games. Not something like Dark Souls, but something more akin to Darkest Dungeon or anything Foddy has ever made, where the game is actively trying against you, where it is out to get your blood and not hiding this fact at all. A rare breed of game, and one I'm particularly fond of. OVERWHELM is a bit more complex than that though.
After settling down on a good boss order that would not end with me losing all my lives, I practiced over and over the boss fights until I could pretty consistently clear the game. I enjoyed the last parts of the game, and the tension of getting the last crystal back to base is a feeling akin to that of first clearing the Darkest Dungeon or getting done with a particularly hard part of a hardmode run in Hotline Miami. However, what stuck with me was not the frustration or the enjoyment, but the atmosphere of the game. I wanted to keep trying because there was something calling from the crystals, there was something more than "just a hive". But of course, there always is a hive.
I said "positive with a side of salt" because the game had me constantly on edge, waiting for screen transitions as to not get killed by a scorpion hiding out of sight, or pausing every once in a while to get up from my seat after a particularly tense walk between rooms, and although a friend of mine said "that doesn't sound like something enjoyable", it is exactly because I felt that that I can remember the vivid moments of fear that I felt, the tension of going back with the last crystal, or the first crystal, or any crystal at all, the tension of crawling up against the wall, waiting to see if anything jumps from the other side before you can go in. In essence, OVERWHELM is what every horror game should strive to be- the natural, non-programmed jumpscare of Darkwood, which if you analyze is not even strictly speaking a jumpscare but a very hard rise on tension that happens naturally with the stakes of the game. And this game is not like Dead Space or any other pretend horror game- the unfairness and frustration does not deter from the experience, it is the true definition of an atmospheric horror game BECAUSE it is unfair, BECAUSE it is stressing.
However, this is by no means a perfect game. Certain bosses become just sludge-throughs in further playthroughs, and certain enemy powerups make them EASIER to deal with, thus removing a bit of the tension I mentioned. Furthermore, and to avoid spoilers I will refrain from saying exactly what it is, but the last-last section of the game suffers from somehow being more visually impressive than previous setpieces, but being more shallow and less tense gameplay wise.
All in all, a very solid game. Just for the atmosphere I'd go back.

Ohayo Gofuckyourself
Ohayo Gofuckyourself

It's exactly what you expect. I could just end this review right there.

This is really one of the tightest experiences I've ever played. It looks great, it sounds great, it feels great. Each of its aesthetic aspects reinforces and enhances the other.

The Harvinator
The Harvinator

Tight controls, gorgeous pixel graphics, cool soundtrack, and a reasonable price.

What's not to like?

Oh and they added local co-op too.

Great game, every death feels like it was your fault. Negative reviewers likely suck at the game.

Merim
Merim

Very short, but VERY difficult game. Whole point of this game is collect crystals and use it to open the core, then you destroy the core. After that, you escape. The game sounds simple, but its not. If you take a single hit from an enemy, you die. There are boss battles as well, however they also have the power to disappear and reappear (Yes, ALL bosses) and you just have to rely on your instinct on where they may be. Not only that, but for every boss you defeat, the enemies will become stronger making it harder for you to progress. There are NO powerups in the game, there are checkpoints if you die.

You also have lives and limited ammo, if you lose all of your lives you have to start ALL over again. The game was nice enough to add one in the setting called "Resist mode" in case if you are in a hopeless situation to beat the game. Regardless, whether you use it or not, the game overall is still difficult. It also has a creepy, horror vibe as well. If you are getting this, best of luck.

Enorflame
Enorflame

It is a 2D shooter that subverts some tropes, it gets harder, not easier, on your last life and you don't level up, the enemy does. Because of these things, and you losing most progress on death the game has an oppressive atmosphere.
Combined with the dark color scheme and heavy soundtrack this makes for a great combination.
Or as the professionals would say it: "It really makes you feel like Overwhelm".

^;..;^ | ViralOmega
^;..;^ | ViralOmega

Quite enjoyed and raged over this games' challenge. Every boss you kill makes the normal enemies outside boss rooms to become just a little bit more annoying and to beat the game requires you to beat 5 bosses. It was a short game, but beating it was very satisfying

gladius
gladius

Hotline Miami + Metroid

It's hard like my dick

pastellexists
pastellexists

Overwhelm is a game with a well defined scope and direction.
The platforming, while not particularly interesting by itself (try Celeste for that), is tight and responsive. The combat is relatively simple but definitely best played on a controller.

The gameplay is fairly simple. There is a small Metroid-esque map with five bosses positioned at it's extremes. You must defeat all five of these bosses without dying to beat the game. You may take them on in any order, but defeating them will grant all the normal enemies an additional ability corresponding to the boss defeated. The primary challenge is to find the optimal order in which to beat the bosses, sort of like a reverse Megaman game.

The visual style is oppressive and harsh, with a two-tone graphical style that may be hard on the eyes. By default, the colors are black and red, however there is an option to change the color scheme to a sepia-like brown and yellow, a Gameboy inspired set of greens, and a black and blue. I find the atmosphere of the game is best experienced with the original colors.

The music is this really grungy and crunchy synth bass style which contributes to the oppressive and stressful atmosphere of the game. An excellent soundtrack.

The game is very difficult for the average player, and as such it includes some difficulty and accessibility options. Instead of a classic Easy-Medium-Hard difficulty system, the game's difficulty setting is your reaction-time in miliseconds. Additionally, there is an assist mode which will provide you with an adjustable aim assist, the option to pause while viewing the map, unlimited ammo and unlimited lives.
The game is very enjoyable regardless of what options you pick, but I would implore you to give the game a good long try before turning on any of the assist mode options.

As some closing side-notes, the game does have a co-op option, which is local only but supports Steam Remote Play Together.

In conclusion, Overwhelm is an oppressive and tight Metroid and Megaman inspired twinstick platformer with an interesting gimmick and a small scope which lets it spend a lot of time on making the few elements it does have culminate in a great experience.

Abishai
Abishai

While I recommend this game, it is with some major caveats.

Overall, this game is a great indie game. The central idea is cool and mostly works well. I love the art, sound, and music. Movement is great in most places, though there are a few sticking points - particularly for me in jumping around in close quarters.

The biggest drawback is the difficulty. It isn't that the game is hard, it is that it is punishing to unfair. Resetting the whole game is great and a lot of fun. But towards the end it essentially amounts to a twenty minute walk back to the boss you're trying to beat.

Eventually, I just turned on assist mode. Assist mode does feel a little like cover for bad design, and it did take a lot of the fun and tension out of the game towards the end, but still worth it.

Flutabaga
Flutabaga

Short but sweet. The pacing of this game is perfect to me. Death can happen so quickly but since the game is so short, it's not to frustrating to lose your progress. It does keep you on your toes though. The fast pace, enemies, atmosphere, and death mechanic work together to create a fantastic tension. The game made me jump several time (more than i've jumped from any other game). Overwhelm only took me 4 hours to beat but I enjoyed every minute of it thoroughly.

Now all that being said, this game did appeal some of my specific taste. Things like the metroid feel, death mechanic and thick tension. If those things don't appeal to you then I doubt that you'd enjoy the game as much I did.

Valithin Drathyr
Valithin Drathyr

It would be a fun game. But a majority of your deaths come from things that are sitting right off screen and are unavoidable.

SamuraiCupcake
SamuraiCupcake

Everything about this game is pure irritation.

The monochrome color scheme hurts my eyes.

The music is mostly non-existent. When it plays it is discordant and unpleasant.

The warning sounds are so horrible it made me go to mute sound effects. Thankfully there was an option to mute just that. Thank you.

Enemies kill you in one hit and you have 3 lives. This would be an interesting game design, but the main character moves too fast and the camera is so close to the player that you'll only have half a second to break before running into the weakest enemy and instantly die. This forces the player to constantly move a sec than break-move, break-move, break. This totally breaks gameplay flow. Plus, if you bump into an enemy right from the get-go and lose my 1st life (which happened multiple times), you can't restart, so I have to kill myself. So much face-palming right from starting this game. :(

Dying makes this annoying effect around the screen. It serves no purpose other than being irritating and limiting your view, which is already limited due to aforemented close camera.

Bosses are, dissapointingly, uninteresting. This was what I was excited to see. Also, if you manage to kill one, you don't get an upgrade, but a crystal for the hub. It also makes enemies stronger. I died on my way back, since I was stuck due to not being able to reach a ledge, and fell down on top of an enemy (which you would think would kill said enemy à la Mario, but nay). Lost all my progress.

Lost the will to continue playing this exercice in frustration.

I commend the effort, but this game is the definition of unfun. :(

Talen Lee
Talen Lee

Really enjoyed it after I admitted my limits and turned on assist mode. This game is really good at making itself more approachable, even though it's still fundamentally difficult feeling. Good accessibility on that front.

Funny Plant Enby
Funny Plant Enby

I've beaten this game already and just trying to complete NG+ but i have to be honest, the difficulty is pretty cheap when you're just going down some stairs and immediately get killed by an enemy offscreen you didn't have any time to react to, but thats my only gripe with this game, everything else is great! but be careful with this game if you get angry quickly

ArYahn
ArYahn

Overwhelm's a bit rough around the edges and I certainly couldn't fault someone for disliking it, but I found it compelling. For me the game is at its most satisfying on those rare occasions where it throws out something completely unexpected and I manage to survive it, and at its most irksome when it kills me with something I have "no chance" to react to.

The map area is pretty small, I discovered and fought each boss within the first half hour of playing, but it took me nine hours to clear normal and eleven after that to beat new game + . There is a pretty real unfairness to Overwhelm in how much of the challenge comes from the way it blindsides you constantly, and NG+ doubles down on that. A lot of the difficulty comes from stumbling into enemies during screen transitions (lacking vision), teleporting bosses (which occasionally act janky) and my personal pet peeve: enemies randomly taking extra shots to kill. I really think there should be some sort of visual cue that a hugger is going to take three shots at the very least. It really spoils a clutch snapshot to have the enemy randomly barrel through it and kill you.

Anyway, these hurdles do a decent job of creating tension, but also make the game largely about map knowledge. While I definitely discovered things about the mechanics of the game from playing, and very obviously improved in terms of execution, I believe the majority of my actual progress was just down to memorizing spawn locations (or rather having the memories beat into me over the course of many game overs). The added spawns in NG+ in particular really drove that home for me. I went into NG+ with a swollen ego thinking it would take less time to clear than normal with all my built up skills and knowledge, but it almost felt like starting from scratch.

Unless you hate platformers (why are you here?) it's worth trying.

Tsaruskie
Tsaruskie

Well, after having fought the five starting bosses, I think I can say a little something on this game.
Your camera is your number one foe. Most of the times you die, it's because your camera decided to wait until you're on top of an enemy before swinging around to actually show them. The camera is clearly working for the hive. In addition to that, I found that using a gamepad renders the game unplayable. The jump would double-trigger all the damn time and the punch seemed to decide when it felt like actually working. Gamepad works fine for other games, so I'm reserving judgement against it. Good gamepad. The mouse sensitivity feels a bit on the low side, and I'd love to increase it, but I couldn't find an option. So the odds are stacked against me, it seems. The bosses like to teleport when the game feels like you've got too much of an advantage. Doesn't exactly make them more difficult, as their AI doesn't seem to be able to grasp the stages they're actually in. Usually you'll die to them because they move faster, so checkmate. The game mostly boils down to trial-and-error and luck. Not a fan, but it's not bad. Might be for you, though I can't see it having much in the way of replay value.

Johnny O'english
Johnny O'english

Amazingly simple game play! Very simple control. Mass old school difficulty. Large amount of replay. Worth the pick up

CoolGhoul47
CoolGhoul47

There is a good game hidden somewhere in Overwhelm, but as it is there are too many problems that add up and nonsense mechanics that end up making me unable to recommend the game to anyone. The keyword here is annoying: Overwhelm is not a hard game, it's an annoying game.
You don't have a healthbar, you die in 1 hit. You have 3 lives and no continues. This system doesn't really work in this particular game.
Enemies die in 1 hit. Usually. Sometimes the same enemies take from 1-3 hits to die. There is no indication of when each enemy has extra health. This random damage mechanic, combined with the fact that the player dies in 1 hit, leads to countless frustration. This mechanic is so baffling i have no idea why it exists.
Enemy design is uninspired. For most of the game you'll be fighting scorpions, flies and jellyfish. How nightmarish.
The player's field of vision, the screen size, is small. Very small. When you die once, the screen gets smaller. There are certain sections in the game world where your field of vision gets even smaller. Not only that, but the player character has a fast movement speed. These two mechanics combined end up leading to deaths, especially from enemies that rush you from outside the screen.
There is an ammunition system, you hold a maximum of 99 bullets for your gun. This system feels pointless, ammo management doesn't really add anything to the game, especially due to the fact that the player only uses 1 gun through the whole game.
You have melee attacks. They are terrible to the point of being useless.
The game looks better with the green filter instead of the red one.

Hole
Hole

I do sincerely like this game, but it crashes for me so frequently I can't really play it or recommend it.
The atmosphere is expertly crafted, it's a great and visceral world. However I am taken out of this world very frustratingly and abruptly because it crashes in most of my runs. The crashes take a lot of progress, from the best case of just sending you back from the world to the start, to the worst case, deleting all your progress late game.
If the game were patched into a much more stable state I would not hesitate to recommend it, but as it is I can't say its a good bet. Perhaps it crashes so much because I am on a low end PC at the moment but even so, I bought this style of indie game with my PC's limitations in mind.

Mr. KitKat
Mr. KitKat

This game is fucking awesome like holy shit dude

jesusmh4u
jesusmh4u

This game has made me and my little brother rage quit so many times, but we keep playing the game.

Pogobro
Pogobro

Indie Absolutist

TL;DR at the bottom

Achievements Earned 10/10 = 100%, Achievement Difficulty = Easy/Normal

Rating out of 10 Stars =

* * * * * * * * * *

Overwhelm is a short game, in fact, there isnt much content besides the bosses. The story is minimal and doesnt amount to a good one either. The exploration is purely just slightly hazerdess enviroments along basically linear paths that lead you to the boss fights. All in all the amount of content is kind of laughable, even for a indie game.

However, the Bosses...

Bosses are my favorite part about games, I love having my skills be put to the test, and this game has some good ones. Each boss is unique, although the amount of attacks they have is at max 3. You character dies in 1 hit so the challenge is to learn the simple patterns to perfection. The bosses evolve along with the mob enemies, each boss you kill upgrades the next ones. The difficulty of the game comes with having only 3 lives to kill a boss. Once you kill a boss your lives reset, but you have to kill all 5 bosses in the same run. Its almost a roguelike element if you will.

The game also comes with a NG+ that increases difficulty, but it doesnt change enough to increase replayability. The achievements are straightforward to get. Beating the game gets you nine of the ten, and the last one is for completing NG+.

Again, this game is VERY short. Expect a playthrough to last a single or two sit downs. If you dont like the 3 lives mechanic, there are options to turn on infinite lives, which dont effect progress or achievements.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This short, combat focused platformer has some very entertaining boss fights, but is hindered by boring exploration and next to zero replay value. The content does NOT equal the asking price of 9.99 USD: Waiting for a sale is suggested

low_res
low_res

This game is a difficult game, no joke, but the atmosphere and general vibe of it are to die for. Everything about the game is trying to focus on a specific atmosphere and gameplay style, and that's in my opinion what makes a great game.

Deafsnivz
Deafsnivz

My score: 8/10

I confess to using assist mode after being frustrated in the last 30 min of the game.

Pros
* Controls are very snappy and well made. It feels very good to play the game.
* The atmosphere is scary as hell. I found myself nervous to continue on through the game at certain points.
* The soundtrack is quite amazing.
* Unique game design- as you beat bosses, the enemies gain powerups, not you.
* Assist mode if you find the game far too hard for you.
* Good enemy and boss designs.

Cons
* Extremely difficult, unfair near the end of the game.
* Camera seems to work against the player sometimes.

Final thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. It was well made, had super crisp controls, and a great soundtrack to boot. However, the ending sequence is actually quite unfair. I was glad to use assist mode to get infinite lives and beat the game.
I hope to see more games from the developer using this style of gameplay! There is definitely a lot of potential here!

SpectralFX
SpectralFX

Premise
I am not an avid fan of the retro indies because they typically lack the trademark level of difficulty we had back in those days. Games of this genre are often retro in art style only ... but boi, not this one!

Core gameplay:

This game is a twitchy shooter, its all about you're ability to spot some baddie and shoot them until you can tell they are dead(don't skip that step). It comes down to your reflexes and strategy. Elegant and simple.

The Horror tag means mostly that it tries to creep you out in the process of the above by messing with you in various ways (UI, sound, spooky shifts). it does that pretty damn well if you ask me, I am not of the nervous kind but it gets me still (they hide baddies good, but in a fair manner), that's why I like it. I am not a big horror fan either, I just like the run for your money this game provides.

Some people complain about the camera among other things, but in the end of the day, this game is mostly about your reaction time, you can adjust the amount of time the game provides you to react in the options with a slider. test your reaction time with some app online if you're having too much trouble and it should enhance your experience (actual health of the player is a factor in that, this games is fair for it tries to offer a chance to all, while not compromising on everything, I find that admirable).

the game is meant to be fast paced and you will not get anywhere by trying to take it too slow. react to threats correctly and fire in anticipation of potential hidden threats. This way, you'll have a much better time, the game is relatively generous on ammo at first (at least, until you get to later parts).

Overall, very solid gameplay.

Level design:
To me, a good level is a level that you can play over and over, know its paths by heart, but somehow, you don't mind doing the trek because the journey is its own reward.

This game has that, but they didn't try to reinvent the wheel either. You get some check points and 3 tries to complete a segment, this game is 100% fair, considering what it wants you to do. If you ultimately fail, its on you.

Also, beating the bosses is only a fraction of the job, you still have to crawl out of there with your prize if you want to be truly be victorious...

and oh boi,

Iet me tell you, this game will make you want to crawl!

Art direction is solid.

The music gets repetitive at times, but its more ambiant music so it gets a pass. it's beauty in simplicity really (for those like me that can see beauty in horror themed, dystopian flavored works of art, at least).

In short, they kept it simple, and it looks and sounds damn good.

Can this game be replayed?

Heck yes!

But in the style of an old school game that you dust off in front of your friends to show off that you haven't lost your edge and then ask them if they feel up for it at parties.

its replayable solo as well, because you can choose different paths, which in turns will affect what kind of monsters spawns where. There is a game + too.

Conclusion
If you get the chance, toss a bone to these indie devs, they deserve it on this one!

cee-jay
cee-jay

Do you like Aliens or Metroid ?

Well it's my case, and i could already claim that Overwhelm is One of the best game i play in those recent years.

in overwhelm your a space marine sent down to clear aliens in a nest where your foes evolve each time you beat a boss, action pack survival with an intense feeling of a glorious shooter.

Thanks to Luma from Gamekult to make me discover this gem.

Fezzes
Fezzes

Minimalist, tough as nails Metroidvania/Roguelike where you don't get more powerful as you kill bosses but the dungeon, enemies and bosses evolve to be tougher.

Aplove
Aplove

A beautiful, challenging platformer that has definitely earned its name

PROS:
- Awesome colors/pixel art
- Gameplay is smooth and punchy
- Boss fights are awesome
- You can choose which path you take, each one equally as challenging

CONS:
- Very hard, I don't think it's physically possible to beat without assist mode on
- Camera movements made it difficult to see certain enemies, which led to several of my deaths

Overall a very nice game, would not recommend unless you are a true hardcore gamer

Maria
Maria

An EPIC but very difficult little platformer shooter 56/100

Scooter Fox
Scooter Fox

The cover art is the best thing about this game.
I don't mind minimalistic graphics, they're aren't bad actually (nice choice of palette here), but I do mind heavy reliance on reflexes and limited ammo, even if the latter doesn't matter that much. It's just not a game I want to play more and git gud at.
I'd give it a neutral review if the option was there though.

Fansonicx25
Fansonicx25

I really wanted to like this game because the concept is super cool. But I thought that there wasn't enough incentive to continue when it gets harder. Maybe it's just not my style of game and I REALLY liked a lot of things like the old school graphics, controls and gameplay. But if I'm scared of just playing the game than why would I ? But I have to give the devs some credit it was fun enough to tell my friends about the game if they want to try it. I'l just have to warn them about the stress inducing gameplay and VERY little incentive to play again, but I would tell people to give it a try. Just to be clear, I don't think that the difficulty is bad (I played other hard games like Cuphead, The Messenger and Celeste and always have a blast) but the fact that the HORROR part of the game makes me not want to touch the game ever again. One could say that that was the point of the gameand I would say that the point of a game would be for people to want to keep playing it. But in the end, it is just my opinion and if you like games that are so hard you break your controller and that punish you for wanting, for DARING to continue the game. Then this game may be for you. But for people that don't have enough time, effort and patience to put in a game tough as nails that doens't hold any punches, then pass on this one my fellow gamer.

Vantier
Vantier

Disclaimer: My scores/reviews are almost always based on having bought the game at close to the "lowest historical price" on steam at time of purchase.

Quick score: 5/5

Linkblade
Linkblade

High Intensity Short-Metroidvania

Look at the cover image of the store page (screenshot 9 of 9). Those beads of sweat on this alien hunter's forehead aren't there for no reason! This game is pure intensity, you gotta focus all the time, one mistake gets you killed. I'm exhausted of the pressure this game puts on me ... and I like it. OVERWHELM is overwhelmingly positive in my books!

What is awesome

+ thrill kicking soundtrack
+ accelerated fall and movement speed
+ no usual double jump, but a punching dash attack able to be directed to where the mouse cursor is
+ limited sight requires you to act quick, it's mostly fair
+ think of the game like a short but hard metroidvania. Tricky enemies, ruthless bosses, a bit of backtracking, but no upgrade items or save points for you. The enemy hive is upgrading. You're being held as uncomfortable as possible.
+ one hit and you're dead, you have 3 attempts to bring back a crystal or kill a boss to reset your attempts. If you die three times in a row it's game over and you have to start a new run of the whole game. But once you kill a boss you unlock a spawn point from where you can start a new run, so you don't have to walk the whole way up to the first boss of your choice again. This saves time and you can practice the boss fights quickly. But to win the game you have to kill all bosses and walk all paths in one go without dying three times in a row.
+ Each lost attempt narrows your sight, the music/ambient sound intensifies and the enemies randomly spawn elsewhere. Also good is that you don't respawn way back somewhere, but short before the spot where you died. This game doesn't waste my time, but makes good use of it.
+ Killing a boss makes the enemies evolve, enhancing their abilities or spawning new enemy types.
+ limited ammo. This is usually an annoying feature in a game for me, but here it's done just right. Being limited to ammo lets you consider your shots more carefully. And you're never helpless, because if you're out of ammo you still have the punch, which is riskier to use, but powerful. So you still can survive if you master the punch attack.
+ boss fights have a very neat game idea. The moment you find yourself getting the hang of it, the game just glitches and puts you in a totally different situation. It always wants you to feel uncomfortable.
+ winning this game most of all requires skill and not endless repetition time. I feel proud when progressing in this game.

What some may don't like

- it's very red, pixely, hard, ruthless and not fair sometimes.

For whom this game is for

OVERWHELM is for players who like fast-paced skill based and tactical combat, being constantly under high pressure and having to focus. Only for players with persistence to try again.

If you like this you might enjoy

Hell is Other Demons
BUTCHER
Nongünz
Downwell
GoNNER
Valfaris
ScourgeBringer
Akane
Ruiner
West of Dead

LegendaryFirewolf
LegendaryFirewolf

It's a clever idea executed well. Also, beware the jumping spider.

orange juice
orange juice

A cult classic my first 5 out of 5.

-SSB- Mr.Fox
-SSB- Mr.Fox

A masterclass in tight controls / Movement, and melding horror with gameplay

Anyone who says "this death didn't feel fair" is absolutely wrong. There is always something you could have done to get out of a situation. Whether you should have pre-fired a upcoming screen or reacted faster to a boss blink, its ALL on you. You eventually get so good after a few hours that you find yourself going faster and faster, making less mistakes and hitting shots you wouldn't have dreamed before. You start memorizing the map and planning the most optimal routes, saving your most confident traversals for last as they get increasingly more difficult with each boss defeated.

This game is not for the faint of heart. If you give up easy, go spend your 10 bucks elsewhere.
BUT if you like to work towards a satisfying victory, and pop TF off when you finally beat the game, then by golly this is the cheapest god damn dopamine shot I've ever bought in my god damn life.

󠀡󠀡6
󠀡󠀡6

if you like 8bit retro shooter games then you'll love this, its simple and cheap but very difficult. the artwork for the game is also great and it makes the game pretty scary along with the difficulty, like seriously if you're playing this in the dark i wouldnt be surprised if you got jumpscared a couple times.

for the price...5/4

Scott Bennett
Scott Bennett

Great fun glad it has the assist mode it is a very hard game and that made it playable for me.

BaconSlime
BaconSlime

a short horror game with great pixelart where you're always on the edge on your seat

SonicBlue22
SonicBlue22

Very high-quality game for your money that deserves more popularity.

Biggest complaints other people and I have are from the extra difficulty mode you get after completing the game for the first time. This mode increases boss and enemy difficulty from the start. It tends to prenunciate the single major flaw this game has: enemies from off-screen. Normally enemies do not attack and will give you enough time to react if you are paying attention. However, the large map is divided into what you will find to be these kindof 'camera-locked zones'. The borders between these zones is where this will happen the most (rarely, a speedy boi will fall from above, but it happens so rarely without audio cues that I personally find it acceptable). On these borders, your best option is to scooooootch ever so slowly between so the camera will slowly shift to the other side, hopefully revealing the enemies that are hidden in the next 'camera-locked zone'. Worst case, you will find an enemy literally as close as possible to this border which will kill you instantly. Normally in that situation (not that you can know if you are in that situation until you kill said enemy or be killed by it) you need to either bait the enemy out by standing near the border, or shoot blindly across the border. This is only really a major concern with the spawn rates after getting to the 2nd to last boss in the extra difficulty (New Game+).

Fish
Fish

Very challenging. Short experience but very worth it.
Has new game plus; it's painful.


DON'T STOP

huge_hollow
huge_hollow

The camera is very wonky and enemies constantly gank you from offscreen because of it. Bosses teleport whenever they feel like it. Enemies will randomly take extra hits to kill with no explanation or warning.

Pulo Pwner
Pulo Pwner

Loved playing this game in coop. It's very hard, but it's fun to strategize in each run where to start and where to go next after each boss. The visuals and the music/sound effects really add to the tense atmosphere and the feeling of impending danger. Highly recommend it for coop and I guess for solo too, although I haven't played it alone.

Firebirb
Firebirb

Excellent action game with a cool mechanic, like Megaman in reverse. Definitely worth a play!

bahume
bahume

OVERWHELM is a hard game, it took me dozens of runs to get it.
The controls are good and you will learn from every death.

MFG38
MFG38

Overwhelm is a unique little gem. It plays similarly to a Metroidvania, but there's a twist - instead of the player gaining powerups and/or extra abilities, the enemies get stronger the further you progress. With that central mechanic, as well as the oppressive atmosphere created by the game's visual style, music and sound design, it evokes a sense of dread that very few games manage to for me. For that alone, Overwhelm gets my recommendation without hesitation. But of course, the game would be nothing without presentation to match - and boy, does Overwhelm deliver on that front too. The art style, music and sound are all great and work together incredibly well.

(Protip: Don't hesitate to use Assist Mode if you feel like you need it. I know I did.)

Lyra
Lyra

I just realized I hadn't written a review for this game, and I should. This game is really stylish, fun, and terrifying. It does a great job at building the tension as you play. Very much worth picking up, especially at sale price.

Geo
Geo

Its a decent game, but it has a fair few.. questionable design choices.

The concept of the game is that you need to kill 5 bosses and bring back each of their crystals, 3 deaths and it's game over, so it's meant to be a challenging game. The gameplay is alright, the bosses are pretty similar functionally but they have cool designs at least.

For me there are a couple of things that I really disliked, the camera is extremely janky, sometimes it wants to go in the opposite direction of you, sometimes it doesn't move until youve walked over a certain pixel and while this may not seem that bad, enemies one shot you and they can jump extremely quickly from off screen meaning that you can effectively be insta-killed because the camera refused to move.

However, this could be forgiven if enemies died in 1 shot, then you have a chance to survive if you react fast enough, unfortunately the second design choice that needs looking at, which still baffles me completely is that all enemies take 1 shot 50% of the time, but then sometimes they can take 2 or even 3 shots to kill and there's no way to know which it is, 1 or 3 hp? so often an enemy can jump at you offscreen, you land a quick shot and then die instantly because it was a tankier version.

Each of the first 2 deaths also reduce your fov pretty signficantly, the second death you essentially only have half the screen, interesting as concepts go it really, really adds to the problem stated above.

For its price though I think its a decent pick up for a few hours

solamon77
solamon77

MASTERPIECE. One of the coolest little games I've played in a while. Just goes to show, you don't need much more than the Gameboy resolution and color pallet to make a dynamite experience. Oh, and that end sequence is amazing! Blew my mind!

AirMan121
AirMan121

Pure, adrenaline-pumping fun. Few things are as satisfying as evading a fatal blow with a jet punch against your attacker. Just get it.

___flat
___flat

play it, its so much fun. its super hard tho cuz i suck, but i have friends for that. sadly they suck too :)

KikuchiyoSeven
KikuchiyoSeven

One of the best couch co-op experiences I've ever had. Me and a friend finished it in three sittings and we had a blast, hope they make a sequel!

CHAOS_FANTAZY
CHAOS_FANTAZY

Where OVERWHELM succeeds in creating an atmosphere, it fails in delivering on the premise of its gameplay. The novel concept of "a game where the enemies get power-ups instead of you!" is boiled down to cranking up the bosses' health and cramming more and more enemies into the increasingly tight corridors. Exactly one power-up changes one of the enemies' behavior, and the bosses' never change, instead opting to up the ante by letting them spawn enemies. It's all a very cheap form of increasing difficulty, which makes the whole gameplay experience fall rather flat.

Tack on additional gameplay problems, like enemies being able to freely move between rooms while your camera won't let you look between rooms, enemies' health being wildly inconsistent, and random teleporting bosses that, while adding to the tension, can frequently result in a cheap shot (I can't tell you how many times the lizards appeared right next to me and I was left with no recourse), and OVERWHELM becomes a very hard recommend. Ironically, I find it rather underwhelming.

coronavitae
coronavitae

I strongly recommend this game, despite some issues.

Retro graphics, especially monochrome, can be an excuse for lazy art, but not for Overwhelm. Every aspect of the game feels finely honed, and the gameplay combines with the music and art to create a real survival-horror experience despite the gameplay being purely action-platformer. To describe it in a spoiler-free way: there are serious consequences to dying in this game, but there are also incentives to take risks and rush through the environment. The tension that results is great.

Sadly, about the time you figure out the way the game works, the crashes begin, at least for me. The game regularly crashes for me, and for at least a couple other players on the steam boards. This actually isn't a big deal (though it obviously should be fixed), because there is a hidden save system that allows you to continue from almost exactly where the game crashed. Still, definitely a work in progress in terms of stability. The message boards indicate that the NewGame+ mode is also a work in progress, but I haven't gotten that far.

I would strongly recommend this game in particular for fans of shorter games. The game seems to be worth its full-price, especially if you play NG+, but I think it's especially good if you want a refined game design with a fresh concept, but not necessarily a time-filler. I have played 1.4 hours as of this review, and I think I will play about 3 hours before finishing the main game, before occasionally returning to the game for a few quick sessions over the next few months. That's good enough for me, as I've loved every minute of it.

Sush-P
Sush-P

Honestly one of my favorite games out there, despite my low playtime.
It's not without problems, the camera is frustrating when transitioning between areas, the cavern section that limits your field of view is more frustrating than scary, and the basic enemy having random health is just daft. But no game is perfect, and you have to give and take a bit with these frustrations.
For each problem that Overwhelm has, it makes up for tenfold with:
An interesting concept.
Well-made level and world design that encourages you to learn its layout.
Great pixel art with a limited palette, and art in general.
A sense of dread, created by the amazing soundtrack, dark art, and tough game design.

The game's great, and now that I'm done writing this review, I'm going to go check out what else the developers have done, peace.

The guy
The guy

I really like the concept of enemies getting the abilities of the bosses you defeat, but the game just isn't that fun. The camera is inexcusably terrible since it snaps to each screen instead of the player, but the screens are super small and the player is very fast so it absolutely ruins immersion. In addition, the controls are fast and loose, which can be just fine for a fast-paced game but doesn't fit here because it falls at odds with the slow, careful gameplay encouraged by limited visibility, difficult-to-see enemies, and instant deaths. I was also very disappointed by the bosses. I faced all of the initial bosses and beat half of them in my 30 minutes of playtime, and they're all kinda lame. Jump in a circle, shoot, repeat until dead. They hardly react to the player, and you barely need to react to them beyond just walking the other direction. My last complaint is that if the game is as small as it seems to be, it's a ripoff for even $10, although I don't care to play more and find out if there's hidden content. All in all it seems like the devs had a great concept but failed to plan out a genuinely decent set of mechanics to build it into a good game.