The all-important combat is the most frustrating, because it may be one of the most inconsistent systems I’ve ever encountered. In stealth segments, the issues are mostly with missed potential – only the weakest enemies can be silently killed, and while you can hide bodies, the levels are so open and your movement is so fast that there’s never any incentive to do so. Additionally, the window for launching a wall jump always closes a split-second before it looks like it should, which wouldn’t be a problem, except that nearly all of the dedicated platforming sections stretch their gaps to the maximum achievable distance. The number of ledges I pulled myself up to without incident was matched by the number that I attempted, only to have Turner do a little glitchy shift upwards a few feet and fall right off. Regarding the platforming, while calculating huge jumps eventually feels quite natural, ledges and walls cause it to become uncooperative again. Every aspect of the gameplay has problems, however. Like teleporting in Dishonored, the ridiculous aerial capabilities of Overgrowth’s rabbit protagonist Turner lend a tense, efficient quality to sneaking, and the enormous environments can be fun to leap around in. Yay? For what it’s worth, the stealth and platforming are moderately satisfying. But where Lugaru contained the ability run on all fours for added speed, as well as enemies who could smell the protagonist if he was downwind or had blood on him, Overgrowth has…a greater platforming focus and unusually organic blood physics. It’s technically spotty, presented in a bland and disjointed manner, and actually removes more features from its predecessor Lugaru than it adds.īoth games are surprisingly dark Watership Down-as-martial arts titles ,featuring context-sensitive combat based on timing and movement, stealth elements, two damage types that affect the player differently, and the ability to launch yourself off walls and enemies with powerful jumps. In fact, if I didn’t know what a massive undertaking programming a game engine is, I’d assume this was a rush job. It’s a self-proclaimed “absurdly ambitious” title that’s been in development for nearly a decade with practically nothing to show for it. It is, of course, a better game than Daikatana, and thankfully never sold itself with the threat of one-sided sexual gratification, but “hubris” is still the word that most springs to mind when I think of it.
![lugaru vs overgrowth lugaru vs overgrowth](https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/25010/header.jpg)
Overgrowth is something of an indie Daikatana.