Rail shooters are often released on mobile devices, which are not both full-fledged shooters and games with an interesting story, in a word, they are ideal for mobile gamers. Lately, more specifically last month, we have been visited by a perfect example of such a game from Crane balls Studios. Of course, I mean Overkill 3.
For several years in a row, the Overkill series has been impressing players with its shooting-heavy gameplay and great graphics, especially its first part. To put it bluntly, the original Overkill was the only live-target shooter that was a resounding success in its day. Remember how cool and unusual it was to upgrade weapons in it and see the consequences of these improvements in combat.
But times are changing, and rail shooters don’t stand still. In Brothers in Arms 3 from Gameloft, the ability to move freely has appeared, and in Contract Killer: Sniper from Glue Games, you can change shelters at any time and complete missions in stealth. Both of these games have significantly raised the bar for the genre in just the past year. Has Overkill 3 raised that bar? Was he able to add something new to the arcade shooter genre? Will it become the best game of the year in its category? Alas, my answer to all three questions is no.
The third part of Overkill has made a big innovation in its series. The main change was the third-person view. If earlier only a piece of a cannon was visible on the screen of the device, now we see our hero in full growth. The animation of the character turned out to be quite realistic, as it was made by recording the movements of real people, as in the Tempo shooter. An example of a great animation can be seen at the end of each level, when the hero starts celebrating his victory, or during the cutscenes.
Constant skirmishes with enemies went a little beyond the usual shooting gallery. In Overkill 3, it is possible to hide behind covers to reduce the damage of enemies and insert a new magazine. Sometimes the shooting is diluted with short scenes of movement to the next point, during which you need to quickly click on the blue diamonds.
There are also moments of choice between the two options for passing the level, they differ from each other only in the level of difficulty. There are almost no completely stationary tasks, if you do not take into account special tasks with firing from a machine gun nest. But even with this set of features, Overkill 3 didn’t impress, as we’ve already seen all these features in other games.
Overkill 3 falls short of its competitors in many ways, but not with weapon upgrades. Purchased guns can be replaced with almost any element, including sights, magazines, barrels and handles. All parts, like the weapon itself, are not expensive. Almost every item can be purchased for regular currency, which made me very happy, because in the same Contract Killer: Sniper you can’t even dream of better weapons until you connect a credit card.
In addition to weapons, the arsenal also sells single bonuses (first aid kits, rocket launchers, armor …) and costumes. With the help of the costume, you will not only improve the basic characteristics, but also change the appearance of the hero, hiding his nasty scars on his face.
If you want to get the best gun or equipment in Overkill 3 at a low level, then you can pay with premium currency. It is given as a reward for moving to a new level, as well as for watching commercials. But the best way to get rich in a mobile game is to get a little poor in real life using a credit card. With regular currency, everything is much simpler, since you just need to play a lot to get it.
As for the technical side of Overkill 3, no one will be upset. Impressive special effects, many different sounds, console-quality graphics and 3D locations. Physics really pulls dead enemies to the ground. Crowds of ordinary soldiers are diluted with bosses and just mechanical creatures.
Let’s allow ourselves in this text to completely distance ourselves from the set of sores that free-to-play action games about shooting from cover are famous for, since you have already heard about them. If anything, here is a list of them: evil “donate”, impenetrable identical enemies, the illusion of character development, a miserable story, advertising screwed into the game itself.
Firstly, there is a competent design of the cards, which leave little room for maneuver. Either they will replenish the ammunition, then they will be treated for free, they will double the experience, or in general, all opponents at the stage will be smashed to shreds.
Here comes the realization that shelters are not a panacea. The plot rails do not always lead the protagonist behind a reinforced concrete wall, from where he can only be smoked out with napalm.
throw grenades under his feet and generally do all sorts of dirty tricks. It costs nothing for a sniper to aim at you from the other end of the level and take off a third of your health in one go, which makes him a priority target for destruction. Yes, and knocking down a helicopter hovering overhead will not hurt.
It will not work to “pump up” the initial pistol to the “wunderwaffe”, however, it is possible to increase its accuracy and magazine capacity, and not too costly.
