Being a child of the 90s meant that I grew up watching Power
Rangers, watching those super-powered “teenagers with attitude” kick monster
butt every week while piloting their towering titan-like mechs. Few games came
as close to replicating this experience for me than 2018’s Override: Mech City
Brawl, which succeeded in some regards but didn’t quite turn out to be much more
than just a schlocky brawler inspired heavily by Japanese mech fiction. Well,
this colourful mech-fighting franchise has returned in the form of Override 2:Super Mech League, and despite mostly being more of the same, it still manages
to be a great party fighter to play with friends.
For this sequel Override 2 has definitely gone with the ‘bigger
is better’ route, upping the previous game’s roster of 12 pilotable mechs to an
impressive 20 – with an additional four if you pick up the deluxe edition.
Still fun is just how much developer Modus Games isn’t afraid to ape some of
the most famous designs from the mech world, with Watchbot still very much
looking and playing like an Optimus Prime rip-off and Metageckon being a dead
ringer for the green ranger’s Dragonzord in a lot of respects.
In this way Override 2 serves as the perfect battleground
with which to wreck shop using mech’s that closely resemble those rom your wildest
childhood fantasies, though this time around there is an attempt to add a
degree of authenticity to it all. Ultraman being included as a playable mech
here is evidence enough of this, as while the iconic superhero character from
the 60s is reserved for DLC, seeing him duke it out alongside other shiny
robots using his trademark moves is a cool sight to see. Override 2 doesn’t
intend to pride itself on being the tightest, most robust fighting game out
there, and is much better enjoyed when you treat it like a virtual playset full
of action figures.
That’s not to say that the combat isn’t satisfying, though.
Far from it. The conjunctive, melee-based combat from the first game yet again
returns here, with the left-side triggers on your gamepad controlling your left
arm and leg (acting as light attacks) while the right-side triggers allow you
to land harsher blows using your mech’s right arm and leg. Such a setup works
well and makes for city-scale scuffles that can only be best described as
crunchy. The 20 characters handle differently enough that it’ll be a while
before you get bored, and all boast special abilities unique to just them whenever
two triggers are pulled simultaneously. Finding out what each mech’s ultimate can
do is always fun.
Other manoeuvres like dashing, throwing, jumping and utilising
any of the many different weapon pick-ups around helps the combat in Override 2
to stay fresh. Admittedly, the action can be a little tough to discern in free
for all battles when there are four different hulking robots stomping, but you
can always engage a lock-on using R3 to keep eyes on just one target. Playing
against the CPU in the various league types act as a nice primer for going head
to head with other players online; just bear in mind that fights typically lean
on the easier side early on in the ranks.
Speaking of leagues, Override 2 makes some pretty substantial
changes when it comes to the single-player campaign – there technically isn’t
one. Whereas the first game told an appropriately hokey series of missions
about aliens invading Earth and the mech-piloting humans needed to fight them, here
it’s been completely gutted in favour of the league system. It’s essentially a
series of different match types you run through – either online or locally
against bots – where you fight your way to the top of the in-universe
leaderboard. There’s some slight context given to your actions by way of
expositional text dumps, but it’s a shame that there really is no semblance of
story at all here.
Where this new approach does succeed, however, is in
encouraging more personalisation. Early on in the League mode you only have
access to 5 basic mechs, but eventually you earn enough currency to purchase
your own and earn the status of Pro. Doing this grants you with the ability to
visit the Garage area and set your own avatar and icon, letting you stand out a
bit more when competing in online battles. You also can personalise any purchased
mech with a small selection of accessories. There’s a whole lot to choose from,
but it meant I could equip my Ultraman with a flying UFO hat and a yellow bow
tie.
Override 2: Super Mech League is another great instalment
into Modus Games’ schlocky mech-battling throwback, being a fighter that’s best
played in a relaxed setting with friends either online or locally. The lack of traditional
story mode and limited accessory options for characters is disappointing, but
there’s still a lot of joy to be found in rocket-punching a giant metal goldfish
into a four-storey building. If you’ve ever wanted to “cancel the apocalypse” Pacific-Rim
style look no further.
UK Region
