Overpass
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Zordix Racing
Published By : BigBen Interactive
Category : Sports, Racing, Simulation
Release Date : Mar 17, 2020

The world of racing encompasses a lot more than what one might initially assume. Right off the bat, most people would jump to thinking of some track with a bunch of tracks whipping around, or maybe even rally racing and hill climbs, going from point to point through technically advanced tracks. However, there exists another type that most might not even be aware of, but it gets thrust right into the spotlight with Overpass on the Nintendo Switch.

Where most other forms of racing will see you rubbing against your competition trying to beat them out, Overpass puts you on technically advanced courses by yourself, and once you see even a fraction of one of these tracks you’ll be glad you’re alone. Where rally racing forces the technicality on twists, turns, and verticality, what you’ll get here takes all of that and ramps it up a few notches.

These tracks are loaded with all sorts of obstructions and obstacles, and while you are technically in a race, speed won’t necessarily be your friend. You’ll want to set the fastest time against your other competitors, but you can only do that if your car survives the treachery in one piece.

To start, you’ll need to select your vehicle of choice, of which you have two : an ATV or UTV. The only real difference between the two is that your body is contained within the UTV, whereas on the ATV you’re out in the open. With this comes the ability to potentially have a better chance of saving your vehicle since you can shift your body weight on the ATV to try and counter any spins or rolls.

No matter the vehicle, your journey will be quite tough. The tracks will be covered with rocks, mud, steep hills, balancing seesaws, and various other objects to get over. Some of these will just be naturally in the middle of the track, while others are required obstacles you need to get over instead of finding a way around. You’ll know the difference between these because the mandatory objects are marked by a pair of red flags for where the obstacle “starts”.

At the end, whether its a race, a climb, or a point-to-point sprint, you’ll be ranked based on your time. Through the race, there are several chances that you could end up extending your time and ruining your own placement. The tracks are generally roped off by a yellow ribbon, and if you wander off the track out of bounds and cut the ribbon you’ll add a couple of seconds to your time. The same goes for the red-flagged areas with obstacles. If you hit these flags, don’t cover the obstacle properly or skip it outright you’ll suffer a great penalty.

To play Overpass you’ll get to choose between just dropping into single events, or embarking on a career. If you choose the career, you’ll find yourself on a web of events for you to choose from. Each season in the career consists of twelve rounds, and each event you run makes up a single round. You’ll be able to choose which event you want to run if you have multiple available, or you can snatch up plenty of upgrades too. These will get you different vehicles or systems improved to help you cross the rough terrain.

This was easily a game I enjoyed playing, and I got hooked on it a lot more than I’d expected. I’ve always been a fan of racing games, especially the more non-traditional ones. What sets Overpass apart a little bit is the realistic approach it takes to crossing the terrain before you, because this makes all of your obstacles actually feel like a challenge. The damage your car takes is real, so it really is about carefully navigating everything instead of going at it all full-speed and hoping you can use a rock as a launching ramp.

So if you like racing games, and even find yourself more drawn to rally-type games, Overpass is definitely a game for your library. It’s fun, it looks beautiful and feels great to play, and it can quickly sink it’s teeth into you. The first night I fired this up was just to check out the tutorial and learn the ropes of the game, but I couldn’t set it down and found myself halfway through the first season of my career before long. This will certainly feel at home for anyone who loves off-road racing.