Adventure games are a dying breed. Sadly, what was once a staple of the PC gamer’s diet has now become something for only the most avid gamers. There is one company, House of Tales, bucking the trend and the latest from them is Overclocked - a psychological thriller which will not only give the adventure buffs something new to chew on, it may just convince some people that this genre is worth exploring. Overclocked may not bring anything new to the table, but what it does it does well and is sure to be one of the better adventure games of 2008.

Overclocked puts you in the role of a Federal Psychologist, sent to New York from Washington to investigate some strange goings on. Young people are walking the streets, half naked, with guns or screaming, and generally freaking the population out. After being rounded up they are taken to Staten Island where your investigation begins. From the start it is very clear that this is not your ordinary hospital, with weird happenings and strange staff inhabiting it.

Overclocked is divided into two main areas; the story development stage and the flashbacks. The flashbacks are a set of puzzles designed to test your adventure gaming skills while remaining in the realm of possibility. This is not an adventure game where only stupid answers solve puzzles, it makes a lot of sense and because of this it succeeds.

The story development is also strong. The main character is going through a number of emotions throughout with the main story having some side stories to tell as well. While you will not become emotionally attached the figure you will feel his pain and somewhat relate to his personal troubles. And while the storyline is quite cliché, it pushes the game along just enough to make you want to keep playing. While it has been mentioned you play six characters, this is more a play on words as you generally play as one main character, while taking on the persona of others during small sequences in the game.

Overclocked is not without its problems however. The game is incredibly repetitive. Most adventure games do have you doing the same thing many times over but Overclocked takes it to an entirely new level. If you don't enjoy the first flashback you may as well switch off because the rest of the game just transitions between story development and flashbacks. Also, there is not enough variety. Most of the game takes place in the hospital of Staten Island, and you will find yourself looking at the same areas over and over and over again. Variety is the spice of life and Overclocked doesn't have it.

Where it does excel is its gameplay. The interface is easy to use with a point and click system employed and there aren’t many points where you tear your hair out. As we said the puzzles make a lot of sense when solved. Also being an adventure game, those without the quickest reflexes can also succeed.

Being a PC game hardware specifications come into play and the good news is those with relatively modest machines can still enjoy the game. We ran it on a low end PC (1GB RAM, Windows Vista, 1.8Ghz Processor) and it ran flawlessly with the only complaint being a rather long load the first time it opened.

Even with this in mind the graphics the game employs are well done with character models being able to show emotion easily and animations carrying across moods and actions quite well. The voice acting is also well done if not spectacular but as stated before it would have been nice to see just a bit more variety in the environments.

Overclocked is not a stunning game by any means but it is a solid adventure title and that will be enough for many. It is a nice diversion from heavy impact games which have taken the genre over and while it has its problems, the fact it runs on lower end PCs should have you giving it a go, even with a two or three year old machine. We just wish it had more variety in the environments!