HEAVY METAL

OVERRIDE 2: SUPER MECH LEAGUE has a few screws loose.

- Luke Kemp

Giant robots. Stick those two words together, in that exact order, and something deep in the human brain lights up and makes swooshing noises. Make them fight one another (what else are they good for, after all?), and you might even get an involuntary squeak of delight. This game is about nothing but enormous mechs punching, kicking, and shooting one another; but something’s not quite right. And I’m not talking about the wrestler fish with nipples the size of transit vans.

To understand what Override 2 is, you first need to understand what it isn’t. It’s a beat-’em-up and, sure, that immediately tells you a lot about the experience. Given the clear influence certain Japanese movies and TV shows have had (this sequel wears its heart on its massive metal sleeve with Ultraman DLC), you’d be forgiven for expecting something that is akin to an anime or manga beat-’em-up. The speed is a far cry from the lightning pace of such games, however, and while having 20 mechs to choose from is a decent selection, it’s not a patch on the encyclopaedic cast of, say, a Naruto title.