Hover Havoc

Although most gaming is done online nowadays, you can still have a great time with your friends in local multiplayer, or even in split screen. Naturally, the phenomenon is not as widespread as it once was, but it’s certainly not a dead medium yet. Hence, video games can still appeal to this side of the market, especially if the concepts they feature are entertaining and engaging.

Hover Havoc is an arcade brawler in which you get to drive a hovercraft and use it to push your opponents out of the arena. The idea is quite simple, but it’s a lot more exciting when you are playing the game with your friends, given the fact that up to four controllers can be connected at the same time. However, it’s also worth noting that there are some small issues with the controls and the menu navigation.

To begin with, you can pretty much figure out what to do from the first couple of minutes, especially since there are only a few ideas at work. In essence, the goal is to push as many opponents out of the arena as possible, because the player with the most knockouts is declared the winner at the end of each round. Naturally, things are a bit trickier than they sound in theory.

Various power-ups spawn around the arena every couple of seconds, and they allow you to briefly take advantage of certain special abilities. Hence, you can cover your hovercraft into a protective bubble, or even shoot rockets at your enemies, depending on what random power-up you pick up. This gimmick also adds an extra layer of difficulty to the game, because you most likely cannot win if you do not actively pursue these power-ups.

Lastly, the graphics are not particularly impressive, but they do not actually matter in a game such as this one, at least as long as everyone is having fun. Thanks to the clever gameplay mechanics, that should be fairly simple to achieve as well. On the other hand, it would appear that the vehicles respond very awkwardly to your input, which might cause some frustration. It may be by design, but it’s probably not a great idea to antagonize the players even further.

All things considered, Hover Havoc may have a few flaws here and there, but the overall package is incredibly fun and addictive. Hence, as long as you’ve got a few friends to spar with, the game should be able to provide you with a few hours of entertainment.