Uebergame

You might think that it’s quite simple to design a shooter, probably because there are so many of them already out there. They certainly look straightforward enough, but a lot of work is actually concentrated under the hood. The gameplay mechanics, controls and general design have more impact on the experience than anything else, including the graphics or the guns.

Uebergame does not make a good first impression, mainly because it lacks polish and looks like it belongs back in 2003. However, it’s goal is not to overwhelm the gaming community and dethrone Call of Duty, but to offer people an open source platform that could evolve into something a lot greater in the future. On the other hand, maybe it was released a bit too early to catch the attention of modders.

To begin with, Uebergame still works as a standalone game, but there are barely any players to enjoy it with. Still, it would hardly be a pleasure to play it anyway, given the lag and the lack of content. There is only a handful of maps to choose from, two weapons, and no real choice when it comes to faction or player skins. You just spawn on a disappointing map and begin to shoot at everyone else, at least if the latency allows you.

It’s difficult to stay positive about anything with this game, which is a shame, considering the fact that the developers wish to make this something everyone can freely enjoy. The controls are chaotic and annoying for a shooter, in the sense that the crosshair doesn’t move the way you want it to on the screen. To make matters worse, you can switch between first and third-person, but the latter disables your crosshair entirely, making it impossible to shoot anyone with any kind of accuracy.

As mentioned before, the graphics are a bit too primitive for this day and age. The game does not exactly look bad, but it’s almost like playing Quake 3. Normally, this wouldn’t be too much of a bother, but since the rest of the game is not very fun either, it’s only natural that the graphics become a bother as well. There is even an editor included to build your own maps, but the interface is a bit too hard to work with for most people.

Uebergame can still turn into something decent, as long as its flaws are ironed out in the later versions. Open source projects can attract a lot of attention if they are done right, but no one likes to work with something so fundamentally flawed.