Developed By: Caracal Games
Published By: Plug In Digital
Categories: Action, Adventure
Release Date: 04.10.2025
Price: $34.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to combine No Man’s Sky, Hi-Fi Rush, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater into one game? Star Overdrive is the high-speed action game from Caracal Games that you never knew you needed. It’s a sci-fi, open-world, thrill ride that rocks.

You play as Bios, a silent rocker traveling through space who intercepts a distress signal from his friend coming from a distant alien planet. He crash lands on the planet and spends his days searching for her armed with a customizable hoverboard and Keytar that doubles as a weapon. The world becomes your playground as you search for Nous, and let me tell you, the world is huge.

The planet is big enough to make travelling by hoverboard exciting. When you’re on foot, there are enemies to fight, resources to grab, and all sorts of puzzles to complete. There are mining sites that are similar to shrines from Breath of the Wild and so many places to explore.

As you’re exploring the world, you’re going to find a bunch of cassette tapes. These give you a better insight into the characters and planet while also offering a number of buffs. You’re also going to find a bunch of random activities scattered across the map such as races and time trials. 

Not only is there a lot to do, but there’s a lot of customization options as well because the hoverboard plays a huge part and every aspect of the board can be customized and upgraded. As you collect resources, you use them to craft different board parts such as an engine, wings, or a booster. Depending on which resources you use and how many, the crafted component will have different stats.

This will require a lot of grinding because every time you want to upgrade the board, you have to start from scratch and craft a brand new component until you get the stats that you want like speed or gravity. You can also swap out the design and colors of each component to make the board feel really personal.

The world itself also looks really good but can be pretty empty at times when you’re on foot. If this was your standard walking simulator with the added benefit of the hoverboard, I think I still would have had fun with the game. But adding puzzles, combat, and all the customization options really adds so much value to the gameplay.

I had so much fun at the start riding around the world, doing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater style tricks, that after half an hour I had most of the map uncovered before even completing the first three mines. The overall gameplay is a lot of fun despite requiring a decent bit of grinding for certain upgrades.

The sound design is top notch too. There’s a lot of voiced dialogue and the soundtrack is amazing. This is a game that’s easy to fall in love with and allows you to have a lot of fun right at the start. Maybe it can be a bit overwhelming for some but if you like any of the games that were mentioned before, you’ll likely enjoy Star Overdrive.

9/10