The first gameplay trailer for upcoming co-op offroading game over the hill has been revealed, and it offers an interesting glimpse into a few of the game's elements.
Images: Funselektor / Strelka Games
After creating beloved titles such as art of rally and Absolute Drift, Funselektor had most recently tested the waters of the management game genre with Golden Lap, teaming up with game production company Strelka Games. This cooperation extends into their latest project - over the hill.
Initially revealed in January, over the hill takes a calmer approach than that of its racing predecessors: Instead of chasing lap times and race victories, the upcoming title is about getting from A to B - and the journey along the way. Up to four players can team up to conquer the wilderness.
Only a short announcement trailer showed what this could look like thus far, but now, Strelka Games and Funselektor offer a longer look into over the hill via the first gameplay trailer. While just under 80 seconds in length, it does already show some interesting elements of the game. According to Strelka and Funselektor, there is a good amount of interest in the game already, as more than 200,000 players have put over the hill on their Steam wishlist already.
Dynamic Terrain, Weather & Time Of Day
The most obvious things that stand out from the trailer are the dynamic environments the game is set to provide. While over the hill retains the typical Funselektor art style, its map is far from static: For one, driving over loose terrain in particular deforms it, meaning it will feel different when passing through the same place twice. It would also mean that if you have friends following you in a convoy, you would have to take this terrain deformation into account in order for the entire group to get through.At the same time, day turns into night and back again via the dynamic time of day system, and the weather changes as well. Planning your routes accordingly would be rather important because of this, because getting stuck on a narrow mountain ridge might not be the best idea in the dead of night when you would rather set up camp with your friends to recap the events of the day - which you can do, too.
Go Alone - Or Grab Up To Three Friends
Cooperation is key as well. While over the hill will also be playable alone, it looks like it will reach its full potential when you grab three friends and make the trek together. Winching stuck vehicles out of peril, shown even in tandem in the trailer, seems to be one of the main ways to help each other out, but we could imagine that there is more - perhaps resources that you can share in order to make it to the next stop.According to Strelka & Funselektor, the map and its various areas are interconnected, but it will also be possible to discover portals to travel between certain sections a bit faster. Various objectives along the way await, which can net you rewards to unlock new vehicles, upgrades and customizations.
Over the hill Cars
Speaking of content, the drivable vehices in over the hill are, of course, offroad machines, and players will find a number of well-known ones from the 1960s to the 1990s. As hinted at in the gameplay trailer, they are customizable and upgradeable, so picking the right gear for your specific route seems like another key to arriving with as little hassle as possible.Keen-eyed observers may also have spotted certain settings that players can switch in their vehicles, in this case to adjust their drivetrains according to the terrain they are trying to conquer. The 4H and 4L settings are visible in the trailer, referring to 4WD modes specifically for tarmac or offroad terrains.
Photo Mode
Like art of rally, over the hill will feature a photo mode, as it was also shown in the trailer. And it looks like quite an in-depth one as well, featuring a number of options like aperture, focal length, depth of field and even a lens dirt effect.With the game's focus on the journey itself, we could imagine the photo mode to play a bigger role in over the hill than just being there to capture cool screenshots if you feel like it - but it might also be just that, so we are interested to see what will actually be the case.
There still is no release date for over the hill, but it should still be available in 2025. The gameplay trailer also offers a QR code which players can use to sign up for an upcoming playtest to get their hands on the game a bit early.
What do you make of the over the hill gameplay trailer? Are you looking to give the game a go once it is out? Let us know in the comments below!
