Australian Gamer Review :: Over G Fighters

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Over G Fighters

Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Available on: Xbox 360

There are a lot of things Over G does well, but unfortunately they are far outweighed by the number of problems that the game has.

Players: 1 Player
Genre:
Release: 2006-06-29

Developer: Taito
Distributor: Ubisoft

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Over G Fighters, in short, is nearly a really great, but somehow ends up frequently being sub-par rubbish. There are a lot of things Over G does well, but unfortunately they are far outweighed by the number of problems that the game has. I was genuinely excited by the videos and screenshots I had seen of this one, and so when it was released I rushed out and bought it. Initially I was pretty happy, but as time went on I became more and more disappointed with what should've been a great game.

A lot of sites around have rated Over G at around 50-60%. I think that is probably a little harsh. If you can look past the flaws, it is actually a pretty decent game. But looking past those flaws is a challenge in itself. The first thing to know about Over G is that it is most definitely NOT Afterburner. This is very much a flight simulator. For a lot of us, that is good news, but Over G unfortunately wont live up to the high expectations of flight fans either, and will be too dull for arcade fighter fans. Just about everything about Over G is 'ok', but it fails to really shine.

One thing is for sure, this game definitely requires HDTV. At high resolution, the game looks very nice. The jet models look realistic, the cockpit looks great, water looks very cool and the ground (mostly) looks real enough. Interestingly, the terrain can often look almost photorealistic, and yet other times look likes something an N64 spewed out. From the cockpit view the game has a pretty good feeling, and with the ability to use the right thumbstick to look around and being able to 'lock' your viewpoint to the targeted enemy, Over G does a good job of making you feel like you're part of the action. The first time you take off from an Aircraft Carrier will definitely give you that Top Gun feeling. Like most games though, once you're over the pretty graphics, your attention begins to focus on the rest of the game. In the case of Over G, that's not such a good thing.

The first thing that strikes you about Over G is that the localization team have done a pretty shoddy job. All too often you can spot spelling mistakes or poor grammar, and you really expect better than that for this kind of money. Of course, it doesn't affect the gameplay, but it does give you an indication that the title was rushed out the door somewhat. Another example is the loading screen for each mission that gives a very detailed history of your choice of aircraft, but even at 42" it is near impossible to read without getting up close. All too often the game leaves you with that 'unfinished' feeling and it's this feeling over and over that begins to slowly force you to lose interest in playing. Probably the worst case of this is your reward for unlocking Achievements. The problem here begins with the fact that it is impossible to play all of the missions in each area. Each time you are given a choice of 2-3 missions, and each time you take one on, the others become inaccessible. When achievements and new aircraft are only unlocked from certain unmarked missions, it can become near impossible to unlock all the aircraft and achievements without the help of an FAQ or guide. But it gets worse. Should you successfully unlock and achievement and the associated aircraft, your console may freeze. This appears to be a common problem with the game, and I've read many other people having the same problem. This means restarting the xbox, and then re-flying that mission. For me, every achievement but one had me restarting the console. When some of these missions are dull or near impossible the first time round, it is an extremely frustrating experience being forced to do them again. Nice reward Taito!

In terms of gameplay, if you're a lover of jets and of flying, Over G is definitely a game you will enjoy. There is quite a buzz to be had taking off and landing, shooting down the occasional bogey, dropping the odd bomb here and there. Heck you can even fly the occasional stealth mission. If you're a fighter jet lover, then you really will enjoy Over G, providing you can deal with the other more dull elements. Each mission is essentially a 'shoot down 4 enemy fighters', or 'bomb 4 enemy targets' or occasionally a little of both. Initially this is pretty fun, but after a while the missions become repetitive and a little dull. After a while you realize that to beat a mission you just need to locate the flashing red enemy, get a lock on them before they get a lock on you, and push the fire button. Rinse and repeat. Some of the missions are a little more interesting with multiple enemies converging on you at a time. Unfortunately, given the nature of 'launch and forget' missiles, once someone has lock on you (or you on them), the target is pretty much screwed. It is very rarely that you will feel like you're in a real dog fight, and that is the real failing of Over G. Your missiles and your enemy's missiles will hit their target 90% of the time. This quickly turns the game into a race to get lock. That is quite probably how it is in the real world, but when all of these fighters handle like a brick with wings, it really just takes the excitement out of the dog fight.

Probably the most frustrating part of Over G is your completely useless wingman. More often than not he or she is completely incapable of operating without instruction. Far too many bombing missions will you find yourself asking your wingman to take care of enemy aircraft and yet by the time you've taken out 5 AA guns he has yet to achieve anything other than ask for help a dozen or more times. To make matters worse, the enemy AI is unrelenting and rarely makes mistakes. If they get missile lock, you're dead. You wingman will do an ok job if you explicitly specify a target to attack, but then it is usually just quicker and easier to do it yourself. These changes latter in the game when the number of enemies is greater than the number of missiles you are carrying. Then, unfortunately, you'll have to really get your wingman in on the action. Frankly, they are mostly good at keeping the attention of you while you go and get the real work done.

Really Over G wouldn't be such a bad game if it wasn't so slow. The models look great. The planes are very detailed and are great fun to fly. There are full loadout customizations available for you and your wingman. The controls are reasonably laid out. You can suffer from red-outs and black-outs when taking on a tight turns at high speed. You can fly a pretty decent array of fighters including stealth missions. The game overall is very realistic. But even with all of that good stuff , the game just feels like it needs to be turned up a notch. It's running at about 7 and just needs to be cranked up a bit. The game looks as though it should feel like Top Gun, but ends up feeling more like Driving Miss Daisy.

I feel like I really want to go out and say that Over G is a great game. I really enjoyed it for the most part. But then when I think about going back to play it again, I just can't bring myself to do it. The online mode is certainly a lot more interesting than the offline mode, but the same problems are present online that are present offline. The things that Over G does well, it does really well. But it just falls a little short of the mark in a few areas which really lets the whole thing down.

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Final Verdict

With a bit more spit and polish, Over G Fighters could've been a great game. Instead it ended up being a little dull and repetitive. Over G is a real jet simulator, and it does a great job of just that. The downside is that it lacks the level of excitement you'd hope to get from a jet fighter. If you're a fan of real life jet fighters then you will get a buzz out of this, otherwise you'd better pack a pillow for those lengthy stealth missions.

Pros
Great fun for aircraft enthusiasts. Great cockpit/jet models. Challenging missions.
Cons
Lacks sense of speed. Missions are very repetitive. Instant kill or be killed is a little too black and white.