The trailer for Over the Hill makes it look like you’ll be taking an off-road vehicle out into the wilderness and having a wonderful, relaxing time in warm sunshine, listening to acoustic guitar music as you trundle around paradise looking at the wildlife. Balderdash. It’s the single most stressful game I’ve played in years and I think it hates me.
It’s a bold move for a game to focus on the actual worst bits of open world driving games like Forza Horizon or even GTA. You know, the ones where you try to drive up a hill and it’s just a little too steep for your car to manage. Sliding around, skidding back down, and getting stuck against trees is the core experience at first, as there's just not enough grip to enjoy yourself. You can soon upgrade your tires, at which point things improve. But even with this added grip, Over the Hill is best described as a constant, laborious battle against hostile terrain – and that's far from enjoyable.
Said terrain at least looks reasonably nice. The art style is noticeably similar to developer Funselektor’s sublime Art of Rally . Not entirely flat-shaded, but certainly channeling that look. This can make more sparse areas like the Algerian desert look basic at times. The game uses lighting, fogging, and weather effects alongside a diegetic soundtrack to create its moods, but any sense of wonder quickly wears thin. There's so little to discover, it's frankly boring, a feeling compounded by the fact you're limited to moving at an absolute crawl.
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