Does Tesla Overdrive Have What It Takes To Make A Great Game?
Tesla Overdrive (Free) by Aztlan Games takes place in an alternate reality, where diesel power and electricity vie for dominance. The evil Dr. Diesel wants to rule the world, and it’s up to Tesla Overdrive to stop him.
Pilot different ships and enhance them with weapon add-ons as you fight against Diesel and his army of cronies.
This game is a modified dual stick controller. The left control is a slider for moving left or right, and the second controller is a joystick for choosing shooting direction.
I wanted to like this game, but the developer didn’t make it easy for me. The controls were the main problem. Moving Tesla’s ship was so awkward that I spent the first couple of games flying backwards. Turning forward was harder than it should have been.
The default controls are midway up the screen, which becomes an issue when part of your effort is spent holding your iDevice (especially an iPad) and the rest of it goes toward actually playing.
Other options exist for customizing the control, including swapping which control is on which side, moving them further down the screen, or even tilting.
But what I find amazing is that none of them provide a solid sense of control over your ship.
I don’t have an exact measure of how long I played each game, but I’d be willing to bet the average didn’t come anywhere near 90 seconds (including when I finally dialed-in on an acceptable control setup).
The in-app purchases are pretty horrid as well.
Touted as an “experiment” on the App Store site, the developers offer you the chance to enhance your game if you feel stuck.
The trouble is that players shouldn’t rely on spending money to make the game the way it should be. That’s the developer’s job.
As if that wasn’t enough, this game’s interface suffers from being cluttered and inconsistent.
I wasn’t even aware the ship’s controls could be changed until I saw it as a hint at the start of one of my numerous games. It’s in a settings menu that is only available when gameplay is paused.
For being a free game, this one just isn’t worth the investment of time or any of the in-app purchases waved in your face.
