Star Overdrive Review (PC): Hop on Board to Nowhere

Ever since the release of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, many games have tried to follow in its footsteps within the action adventure genre. With its massive open world and puzzles galore, Star Overdrive replicates this formula to a tee but not in the best ways. At first glance, I thought a sci-fi action adventure equipped with a high speed hoverboard and keytar would be all that it needed to be a hit, but that rich open world experience I was after felt hollow, and the story often felt like a grueling chore to complete.

Surfing On Thin Ice

Star Overdrive’s story is the aspect that really felt surface level throughout most of my time with the game. The general plot points involve the main character, Bios receiving a distress signal from a planet where his girlfriend Nous has gone missing. Upon tracking down the signal, Bios’ ship crash lands on the planet Cebet, which is home to sprawling sandy dunes, ancient structures, and remnants of an old mining operation. It’s up to you and your trusty keytar and hoverboard to unlock the secrets that lie within the dunes and find your girlfriend. 

I really felt like this game lacked emotional weight simply because much like Link in The Legend Of Zelda, Bios is a silent protagonist. I really felt the lack of character that existed with Bios didn’t really motivate me any further to keep pushing along to finish the story. By opting to go this route, key narrative moments often fell flat and never gripped me in a significant way. This lack of connection with the story left me alone with my thoughts to wander the sandy dunes in virtual silence. Various tape recordings that were left behind by Nous simply felt like a breadcrumb trail of tape recordings for me to follow to the end with no genuine investment in Bios’ journey.

A Whole New Empty World and the Keytar to Victory

The world that is Cebete is massive in scope and size, but this is where I feel ambition got the best of Star Overdrive. There is hardly anything within it. This emptiness made it tiresome to explore this desert planet and turned me away from wanting to venture deeper into that sand. If there was more substance in the form of various mining colonies or even a few NPCs scattered about the map, this could have made me want to venture off the beaten path to discover who I’d bump into next. 

When I was done with my work on the surface, I needed to go deeper into the planet and face the various dungeons that lurk within. On the first go-around, the dungeons were a welcome challenge that gifted the player with different upgrades for your keytar which range from a jump pad, slowing time, lifting heavy objects, and laser beams just to name a few. As I progressed through the story, more of these puzzles popped up that heavily relied on the various powerups, making this experience feel tedious after a few repeat sections. 

Gameplay for Star Overdrive focuses on the hoverboard, and at times was the saving grace for this game. Nothing beats zipping around on the dunes at high speeds with pinpoint precision. Pair that with various tricks which can be achieved by a flick of the thumbstick and this is the action I was looking for. The various races that were scattered about the map are what kept me hooked into this game loop simply based on the thrills of high speeds and over the top tricks. Unfortunately, there were often times where my board slowed to a crawl on hills and areas of flat land, which took me out of my flow when it came to traveling the dunes.

The other aspect to your hoverboard that was overly complex was the upgrade system. On your ventures you can collect various materials. Upon funneling your resources into a specific part, this increases stats like speed, handling, and how powerful moves can be. Upon combining a massive haul together, the percentage boosts you’d see done to your stats was minuscule. In turn, I felt as if I needed to farm supplies often and grind out resource runs to really reach my full potential.  This aspect of the game felt intrusive as I progressed through the story and attempted more races around the world. Certain races were an arms length away from me, so, naturally, I felt obliged to participate only to find out my board wasn’t powerful enough to finish the full race. 

Final Thoughts 

Star Overdrive is a game that could have really knocked it out of the park if it focused on refining a few core aspects of gameplay rather than going for much larger ambitions. The use of these complex crafting and upgrade systems made the game feel more like a chore and its large empty world was a bore to get through. Pair that with a protagonist that is very forgettable and a story that is quite shallow, and I don’t think Star Overdrive is a game that I’d revisit. 

Star Overdrive was reviewed on PC with a code provided by Dear Villagers. It is also available on Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

More From Us:
Satoru Iwata Is Remembered 10 Years Following His Passing by Reggie and Sakurai