Overkill is set in 1991, before the events that occur in the first House of the Dead game. Players take control of two law enforcers. One Agent G, a rookie AMS agent on his first mission, and Isaac Washington, a police detective who has a bad attitude and an extremely colourful vocabulary. Washington is out for revenge against Papa Caeser who killed his father years back. But as the game progresses it becomes apparent that not all is what it seems.
House of the Dead fans will remember playing the first game at the arcade, with those awesome blue and red light guns. We were blown away not only by the fact that you could actually shoot stuff with a handheld gun, but also by the amazing variety of enemies the game offered as well as the open ended nature of the narrative progression.
Unfortunately, Overkill lacks these refinements that made the arcade classic so special. Players will face most of the same enemies over and over, with slight variations. The story arch and narrative progression is linear, and players have no choice in the manner in which they proceed through the game. Although this does detract somewhat from the overall experience, Overkill ultimately manages to not disappoint.
The artistic direction is excellent and the music and sound effects prove that it’s possible to re-invent a game by innovating, as opposed to relying on tried and tested tricks. The B-grade movie style works well with the mood of the game, and the enemies are just sick and twisted enough to get players’ stomachs churning a bit.
Players will find themselves tapping their feet to the infectious music while blasting incoming enemies. Zombies will continue their pursuit even after been partially blown to pieces. This means that the sight of Zombies approaching with missing arms and legs is not an uncommon one. Boss fights are similar to what was delivered in the rest in the series, with players having to target weak points while defending themselves against attacks. While performing adequately, the boss fights were not the highlight of the game, although completing them does fill one with a sense of accomplishment.
It has been a while since Sega pushed any boundaries in terms of video game development. Overkill is a welcome breath of fresh air, and we applaud Sega for sticking its neck out on this one. Although the Wii is not exactly next-gen technology (ED – Its barely current gen), the game’s graphics are much better than what many Wii owners are used to. Unfortunately, it does suffer from occasional and significant frame rate drops, most noticeably when having to render multiple enemies concurrently.
Overkill’s greatest drawback is the cutscenes. The style in which they are done is fine, the choppy animation, lame phrases, and B-grade narrator actually work well with the game. However, for an 18+ rated game we thought there would be something gory and slightly stomach churning on display, but alas, nothing. In fact, some are replaced by a screen that displays “missing reel”, which is funny yes, but rather anti-climatic.
After completing the story mode, a special “Directors Cut” mode is unlocked. This gives the players an extended version of the levels already played, as well as harder enemies. After completing that, players unlock the “Dual-wield” system, and can hold two guns at a time.
For extended gameplay, players can turn off the crosshair, which can be quite a challenge when you are using just a Wiimote, but if you attach it to a zapper or gun it changes the experience completely.
The entire campaign can be played co-operatively, while the second player can drop in or out at anytime. Overkill comes highly recommend for Wii owners looking for multiplayer titles with a bit of substance. As fun as it is blasting through zombie hordes, it makes it even more fun when you’re playing with a friend.
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