House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii) Review
When experiments run awry and a mutant outbreak turns a town to turmoil, it’s up to an unlikely pair of pigs and a howling hellcat on a hot steel hog to enact a roaring rampage of revenge against a mad scientist most sinister.
Join Agent G, Isaac Washington and Varla Gunz as they blast their way through a sick and twisted tale of shocking depravity and gruesome brutality suitable only for those with the guts to gun through groups of relentless mutant hordes. The House of The Dead: Overkill is a fresh addition to the legacy of light gun shooting games. While the story focuses on the gory and gruesome side of Agent G’s past and the House of the Dead story’s beginnings, there is still plenty of humour spread throughout the amazingly corny dialogue and the B-grade Grindhouse film style. Poking fun at itself whenever possible, Overkill manages to cram an incredible amount of foul language into the dialogue, and still make it character building, with the ebony and ivory coupling of Agent G and Washington allowing a lot of classic one-liners to be thrown back and forth.
The intentional parody of Grindhouse style horror films is perfectly suited to the House of the Dead, a series known for similarly under developed dialogue and lack of characterisation. This time around it fits perfectly, alongside a catchy soundtrack of rock and jazz tracks with some of the tracks featuring as much swearing and bizarre storytelling as the game itself.
Sticking to the similar gameplay style of the series, Overkill plays out like most light gun shooters as an on-rails adventure driven by scripted events and focusing on aim and ammo control. A quick shake of the Wii Remote will reload a weapon while other effects such as a movable camera view and on-screen cross-hairs are options accessible to a player who’s eager to gun it old school. A gun attachment is certainly handy when facing armies of mutants but not necessary, as the game can be played almost as well when just holding the Wii Remote and using B to fire.
Overkill does quite a good job where the visuals are concerned, with decent graphics topped off by a lot of style in colour schemes and effects such as a motion blur polishing the more intensive and explosive moments. Some big scenes with epic set pieces and multiple zombies can push the power of the Wii a little too much with a few instances of frame rate loss temporarily hindering the action. Slow down can be frustrating in a game that demands accuracy and timing, but it doesn’t happen too often. When running smoothly Overkill is an exceptional light gun shooter with great impact detection and a diverse and amusing range of enemies to blast through. Mutants will fall and cripple realistically from weapon blasts as limbs and heads explode accordingly. It’s all very satisfying, especially when armed to the teeth with an assault rifle and shotgun against constant waves of enemies. There’s a range of weapons to buy and unlock including the “Hand Cannon” Magnum and even a mini gun much later on, but it’s all at the extra price of difficulty when used in any level.
The weapons are satisfying, but detract any skill required as the game just gets easier and easier as a player progresses. The options to duke it out with no crosshair and standard pistol are still there, but even the normal arcade mode has unlimited continues with a score penalty being the only loss when dying. Director’s Cut can be unlocked which employs extra mutants, scenes, and a limit on the amount of continues but only after completing the entire game once. Overkill is the first House of the Dead game to be originally made for a console, and not ported from the arcade. Despite this, it still suffers the genre’s biggest troubles at home in being quite short, especially when considering the full retail price. The seven levels available are all a blast with the Carnival stage being a highlight, but with none of these running longer than 30 minutes, do the math and that’s not a lot of game to explore. Overkill, like all other light gun shooters, requires multiple plays through of collecting pick-ups and score chasing to really warrant any value.
One of the core attractions in Overkill is the addictive combo system which, with a plethora of pickups, creates a very versatile potential score on any level. Big points mean big cash, and big cash means big guns. Extra pickups along the way such as “Slow Mo-Fo Mode” and the shiny brains that deliver points are a worthy distraction and with numerous achievements to unlock also delivering bundles of cash, there’s still a lot to earn after completing Overkill for the first time. The House of the Dead Overkill refines many aspects of the light gun shooter while offering a fresh and unique experience with its extreme story and characters.
The obscene dialogue alone is enough to drive the short yet satisfying single player, with enough fun for a friend to tag along too in co-op and mini game modes. Veteran gunners may struggle to find a challenge and prefer a rental, but Overkill is still rewarding and captivating enough to purchase and play over and over again anyway.
