Overboard!: Video Game Review

1935, SS Hook ship leaves from England to New York. Former Starleton Veronika and her husband Malcolm who have lost a lot of money because of unsuccessful investments, decide to visit America in search of a better life. However, in fact, Veronica has other plans – she will not throw her husband for a deep at night. What to do next?

No husband- there are problems

And the further development of events will have to determine the player, which time after time will experience the same day from the life of Veronica. In terms of plot Overboard! From Studio inkle – practically Return of the Obra Dinn On the contrary: there we investigated what happened on the ship, and here we are engaged in the role of the criminal and try to get out of the water.

Did anyone see what we did? Whether specifically saw us, not silhouettes? Maybe someone suspects us? How do we relate to the rest on the ship? And suddenly something is wrong with the craft itself? All these questions have to be answered gradually, and not everything will immediately become clear. We wake up in our cabin at eight in the morning, and we have only eight hours before the ship will arrive at the place – the criminal will collectively determine. Fortunately, for eight hours, it is not necessary to sit – one race takes about 15 minutes.

An important decision must be accepted in the first minute.

The most obvious outcome – Veronica recognize the guilty and entered into prison;Most likely, the first of your passage will end. Over time, you will understand with whom you need to talk, what evidence it is desirable not to leave and how to reach certain people, so that in the final conversation they did not bother superfluous. Maybe it will be possible to convince everyone that Malcolm committed suicide? But even if so, this is still not enough – there will be no insurance money for it.

IN Overboard! you are free to do during the day anything. On the map of the ship it is indicated how much time will take the way to one or another compartment, as well as who is currently there. Characters are somewhat – sobbing because of the death of Malcolm, a spectacular lady, spending time behind drinking, and even Major of the British Indian Army. The atmosphere of the 30s is transmitted wonderful – and through healthy written dialogues, and even through portraits of characters, simple, but charming.

Without books of English writers, those times did not cost.

In the dialogs, we choose replicas and decide how we will talk. You can try to convince a person something to do, you can achieve your deception. It is only important to memorize what you said, because at the last minute your forgetfulness can augrate you. For example, you can bother to someone that in the morning they saw her husband, and then begin to argue that he disappeared even at night, – any normal person accuse you in lies.

There is here and the element of the quest with the ability to add objects in the inventory, which in some races will be copied unexpectedly a lot. But it should be remembered that every movement costs precious seconds. The interaction with the environment is decorated in the same way as the dialogs – we do not see the rooms themselves, but only read short descriptions and choose the actions. The longer you pass, the less time it remains – but someone can leave the room only at a certain moment or agreed to a meeting at a given hour.

The main thing is to pretend that you are not to blame.

We know more than they

After the first passage Overboard! offers several convenient features. First, the selected replicas and actions are highlighted by green – you can choose something else if I have not achieved anything last time. Secondly, the rewind of the dialogues that you have already seen before. Well, the most useful thing – restarting the scene: if you never want to start everything, and the dialogue is not glued, once for the passage you can use the rest of the episode.

More game begins to throw up tips – she asks questions that can help achieve the best outcome. Directly like in Hitman, goals do not indicate – it is simply offered to penetrate someone’s room or check the truthfulness of absurd hearing, and you already know how to do it. Which is not enough here, so it is records where the chains of actions would be entered, resulting in one way or another. For example, how did you get a key card from the cabin – when you return to the game after the break, do not remember everything at once.

Events important for the plot and details are indicated at the top of the screen.

On the other hand, passing and so short, so the lack of notes is more encouraging more often experiment. Overboard! offers enough options for developing events so that attempts to go to others seem to have a waste of time. Every time you recognize the heroes more and more, and you understand what to wait for them and how to interact with them. When one of the characters bend down to take a look at the window of his cabin, Veronica can send it after Malcolm – and what if with other passengers can be done like that?..

Although at some point Overboard! still becomes a little monotonous, she still leaves vivid impressions. The game was created for a very short time – the development began in January of this year. At the same time, the story was branching, and as a result, the idea of the game of a criminal, which in a closed space escapes from punishment, implemented masterfully.

Pros: non-standard idea;A branched story that encourages experiments in dialogues and interaction with the environment;a pair of convenient functions opening after the first passage;Pleasant visual style.

Minuses: at some point the game becomes monotonous.