Up until now, despite technically being a third-party studio, Insomniac Games has remained exclusive to Sony's platforms with series like Ratchet and
Clank and Resistance. That's all changed with Overstrike, their latest
title revealed at this year's E3.
While gameplay footage has yet to be shown, the CG trailer demonstrates
Insomniac's trademark sense of humor and fun with the tone of the game seeming to sit nicely between realism and cartoony madness. Centralizing around an elite team of four specialists, all of whom seem to have distinct
personalities and abilities, including the leader Dalton Brooks (an ex-mercenary), Jacob Kimble
(a detective), Isabelle Sinclair (a scientist) and Naya Deveraux (a
thief). What came to mind initially for me were the likes of Team Fortress but with the production values and expressiveness of a Pixar film. Being made by Insomniac you know it will have a well realized narrative full of colorful characters and, given the primary focus on the four, it should be expected that co-op will be seamlessly weaved into its design.
Visually I would say it's somewhere between The Incredibles and a
stereotypically more realistic shooter but where the characters are
pseudo-realistic; fully detailed but exaggerated, with
Dalton above for example having a jaw line similar to Captain Qwark from
Ratchet and Clank. It is safe to assume it will be a third-person
game, most likely over the shoulder ala Gears of War and feature the
usual cover and shooting core mechanics, but no doubt Insomniac plans to
change things up with the unique tools, gadgets and weapons the
characters will have access to as the trailer hints at. As for the setting of Overstrike, it seems to be their take on a not-too-distant future world with the trailer showing off a nifty sequence involving a terminator-esque cyborg.
Numerous abilities are demonstrated with one team member
using an energy shield barrier to deflect bullets and another firing
some kind of sticky rounds that expand upon hitting the target as a form
of immobilization more than straight offense. The overall feel of the
game reminds me of films where a group of random highly skilled
characters work together to get covert or special ops work done, all the
while giving their commanding officers headaches due to their methods
and lack of responsibility.
I'm really excited to see more of Overstrike as Resistance never clicked
with me and despite how much I've enjoyed every Ratchet and Clank, the
series definitely needs to take a break. It's also kind of awesome that at long last people who have only owned an Xbox 360 for the past few years will get to experience the amazing work Insomniac does.
