Pressure Overdrive

 
Developer: Chasing Carrots

Steam Release: Jul 2017

Hours Played: 4.7

Similar To: Blaze Rush / Death Rally / Drive To Hell

Rating: 4/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Pressure Overdrive is the update to Pressure which came out around 4 years prior to this and although classed as 2D Shooter plays out more like a cross between a top-down racer and twin-stick shooter. Think Drive To Hell rather than a Blaze Rush or Death Rally. Under the regime of an evil genius out to steal all the water from the land, you travel around a circuit of 3 laps or so in your vintage vehicle (think Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) while shooting vehicles in front of you or those that pass you by. Wrack up a score and collect gold for upgrades between levels as you progress from one to the next. Much of the environment is destructible with destroyed vehicles bursting into flames as they explode and collapse causing much satisfaction. You'll upgrade your weapons and various attachments with collected gold between runs at the garage.
 

BALANCE & PACE

You may redo levels to improve the gold count but it is not possible to farm gold. In other words, although Freeplay mode goes some way to compensate for this, you should be careful what you buy because you can't cancel out a dodgy purchase by grinding earlier levels. Pressure Overdrive can be seen as a challenging score-chasing game or a repetitive chore depending on how you tackle it. Skilled players looking to score high will note the all-important multiplier and aim to kill at a consistent rate while avoiding getting hit. Others may crash through the levels by going for wanton destruction and driving very fast which may seem like the more intuitive route but is an attitude that just might lead to boredom. With pressure being dropped by smashed cars there is definitely depth for those who choose to search for it.     

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

The game uses a cartoon-like, steampunk aesthetic with large dollops of humour. Featuring the clumsiest and most inept henchman in the world, I don't think I've laughed at a cut-scene more than the one ushering in Level 5. (Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour?) With just three worlds to speak of, the tracks do not vary a great deal but the sheer joy of destruction and the thrilling gameplay itself makes this a non-issue. Meanwhile, the colourful menus and numerous pop-ups that give a mine of useful information are all implemented with the right swish and flourish. With an Xbox controller, like in Blaze Rush and Death Rally, the left-stick is used for both left and right movement PLUS acceleration which in this case takes some getting used to.    
  

PROGRESS SYSTEM

The game is divided into three modes: Campaign, Freeplay and Endless. In both Campaign and Freeplay each run is called a level. You'll get awarded up to five stars in four categories but the total score and gold collected are the most important. These are recorded and can be seen on a pop-up menu when you go back to look at your levels on the map screen. Gold is important in that it determines what upgrades you can purchase while your score determines your world rank. Only the overall total score and rank is shown for the campaign whereas in Freeplay you're shown scores in each of the levels. Freeplay allows you to use all gold from your coffers that you had at the start of that level in the campaign; the campaign does not give you the luxury of refunded gold. Endless mode is self-explanatory.        

CONCLUSION

For me, Pressure Overdrive was an acquired taste with both good and bad points present. Helped by smooth graphics and quirky sound, the main attraction would be the satisfaction caused by the explosions and the general havoc that's caused while trundling along. Upgrading weapons in three increments and watching the improvements in the score unfold was also a plus. The main negative is the steering which I found to be quite sensitive and as such resulted in awkwardly zig-zagging my way along the track. As well as impeding my enjoyment somewhat this also made targeting a little trickier than it should have been. That and a very annoying first boss who took multiple attempts to topple over, were the letdowns for me. The game as a whole though certainly wasn't.