Over the Hill Somehow Makes Driving Slowly Look Extremely Exciting
Art of offroading.
In 2020, developer Funselektor’s Art of Rally put a surprisingly meditative spin on rally racing. Everything from its art style and interface to its racing gameplay was stripped-down and minimalistic, prioritizing letting players get into the zone over realistically modeling every aspect of the sport. That all made it a fantastic racer, and one that even people who aren’t typically fans of racing games can enjoy. Now, the developer is back with a new game that takes the same approach to offroad driving.
Rather than the thrill of racing, Over the Hill aims to capture the quieter joy of slow offroading. The game was announced earlier this year, but the recent indie game showcase, the Triple-i Initiative, gave us a much closer look at the game. Its new trailer shows off a stunning, free-roaming driving sim despite a voiceover that sounds a bit too much like a Gen Xer posting about how no one drinks from the hose or skins their knees anymore (“In a world that’s forgotten how to wander, find friends who share the same memories and the same desire to relive these moments of beautiful struggle once commonplace, now precious and rare.”) That glimpse of gameplay already convinced me to keep an eye on Over the Hill and a deep-dive later in the show reveals even more of what Funselektor has in mind for its Art of Rally follow-up.
Funselektor showed off a long look at Over the Hill in the Triple-i Initiative indie showcase.
Like Art of Rally, Over the Hill uses highly stylized art rather than anything approaching photorealism. But where the previous game focused on minimalist race tracks, Over the Hill renders a vast natural world in its captivating art style. As the drivers onscreen slowly crawl their way uphill, the landscape can be seen unfolding for vast distances in every direction. Making the views even more impressive is Over the Hill’s day and night cycle, which moves through vastly different lighting conditions over time, from bright daytime oranges to deep purples as dusk approaches. A photo mode lets players capture gorgeous snapshots of their journey.
Players will have plenty of time to take in all the game’s visual flair as they explore. Over the Hill isn’t a racing game; it’s about slow offroad exploration where the challenge isn’t reaching your goal as fast as possible, but getting there at all. Over the Hill takes place over rough terrain, where choosing your path carefully and bringing the right gear (which can be upgraded over time) are the keys to success. The goal of the game is to reach various landmarks across its open world, whether that’s finding a crashed bomber, as shown in the trailer, or recovering equipment stranded in the wilderness. Challenge routes are also scattered around the world, which require even more skill and patience to complete for players who want to push their offroading skills.
The terrain is its own challenge in Over the Hill.
All that makes Over the Hill look fascinating already, but perhaps the most intriguing part of its Triple-i demo is its focus on multiplayer. While the game is playable solo, a long gameplay sequence in the showcase shows three drivers exploring the world together, where they’re able to give each other tips for navigating the terrain and even use a winch to tow one another through tricky spots.
I’ve never been much of a racing game fan, but even I put a good amount of time into Art of Rally thanks to its minimalist approach. Over the Hill seems even more exciting with its focus on exploration and pathfinding over sheer speed. The experience of navigating unfamiliar terrain and finding a path through is central to games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Death Stranding, and seeing a pacifist take on that from the perspective of a driver instead of an adventurer makes for a compelling premise I can’t wait to see more of.
