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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absurdly profane but thoroughly enjoyable, February 11, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
House of the Dead: Overkill is the first new original game in the series for a long time. Gameplay is largely unchanged from its arcade roots, which is good because House of the Dead has always been known as a quality light-gun shooter. It is bloody, gory, violent, profane, and above all, very fun. It has solid multi-player support and even includes some 2-4 player competitive modes.
GAMEPLAY: Gameplay basically consists of pointing the Wii remote at everything that moves on screen and blasting away. It doesn't get simpler than that. Luckily, the game provides a lot of variety despite the simple mechanics. Enjoyable as a one-player game, the game is twice as fun with a second player. The multi-player mini-games are also enjoyable, but the true strength of the game lies in re-playing and trying to beat your high scores. The higher your scores, the more cash you earn. The more cash you earn, the more weapon upgrades you can buy. The better your weapons, the easier it is to get higher scores. It works really well.
GRAPHICS: This game looks good, but there are better looking games on the Wii. Some character models are rougher looking than others and some textures feel really low res. There are times where the dialogue and mouth movements on characters aren't synched up very well, but that's really minor. There are some frame rate issues at times, but overall the game looks great and none of the issues I mentioned get in the way of me enjoying the game.
LEVELS: The levels consist of seven extremely campy and cheesy Grindhouse movie themed missions. Seven levels doesn't sound like a lot, but there's a lot here. When you're done with the regular mode, you can turn on "Extra Mutants" or move on to "Director's Cut" which is basically expanded levels with increased difficulty. Or you can turn on "Dual Weild" and "Director's Cut" at the same time. I've already played many levels at least a half dozen times and it is likely they will be played several more times each.
PRESENTATION: A lot of thought has gone into the presentation of this game. While the game is horror themed, the primary focus of the dialogue is generally funny. The music is amazing. The menu presentations are phenomenally well thought out. The whole game oozes seventies style and spoofs many horror movie and Blaxploitation themes, for good or for bad. This game wallows in the cliches that have persisted in low-budget Hollywood films for decades. It is also probably the most vulgar game on the market that I can think of. One character, an obvious Samuel L. Jackson knockoff, uses the f-bomb like a comma. Talking like that would get you kicked out of even the toughest biker bar. The game developers even realize this and make fun of the excessive swearing. Oh, and something disturbing happens at the end of the last level which is so vile and disgusting I'm still kind of shocked. I honestly think the game should have been rated AO (Adults Only) instead of M (Mature).
This is probably one of the better game purchases I've made. There are a lot of light-gun style games on the Wii, but this one plays better than all the rest. The most comparable competing titles in terms of quality would probably be Link's Crossbow Training, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, or House of the Dead: 2 & 3. The only serious drawback to this game is the absurd amount of profanity and over the top vulgarity. SEGA went a little too far at times, especially near the end of the game. Way too far....
I highly recommend Overkill as a purchase or a rental to open-minded and tolerant adults looking for a thoroughly enjoyable multi-player co-op game. I generally oppose censorship in nearly all of its forms, but I also believe that there is something to be said about exercising self-restraint. If you are easily offended or even moderately offended by profanity and crude humor I have to recommend staying away from this game because it frequently crosses the line of good taste.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome XXX Adult Gaming...., February 27, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This game is, to date, the best Wii game I've ever played. As a fan of the previous HOTD games, this is the best version for the following reasons:
- If you died in the previous II / III you had to start from the beginning, EVERY TIME. This version allows you to save after completing each chapter.
- Graphics are great. The 70s cinematic feel. Total 70s-ploitation. Anything cliche off these movies is in this game... gore, 'big guns' and vulgarity.
- Of which, the vulgarity is rampant in this game, which I love. I think the gaming industry is completely missing the aged-gamer. I want my games like I want my music and movies... unedited and uncensored. I am so sick of imported anime creatures and doe-eyed fetishes. How much longer can that genre last? aauh! The vulgarity is so overused that its hilarious, to the point it loses its effectiveness as obsenity.
- Game play. I like games where it doesn't take every button on the controller to move your character. A previous reviewer called it 'rail' play (or something), which enables you to spend more time killing off zombies.. and the creepy flipping clowns.
- Difficulty. Aside from the bosses, game difficulty seems easier than other shooter games.
- Co-play. Co-op mode is awesome. My husband and I grab a pitcher of margaritas, our guns and play together. No one has to control the character (Like in Call of Duty), and both people play off the same screen.
I have noticed a minute delay in the gun tracking during bits of game play, nothing that is critical, nor nothing that would cause me to change my rating. Don't confuse it with the slo-mo mode which you get when you shoot a specific icon on the screen.
A big kid game for a big kid gamer. I'm sure it won't take long for some parent to buy this for their tween and freak out. So, if you are considering it for your kid and you're cool with hyper-sexuality, extreme vulgarity and an excessive amount of gore and violence then buy it, if not, DON'T.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Grindhouse Funfest marred by bad design, February 16, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
House of the Dead (HOTD) Overkill is the latest in the HOTD series. This game is not made by SEGA, but rather a studio called Headstrong Games. Like other lightgun games, HOTD is a point, click, and watch the splatter affair.
The only strategy you need to know is to aim consistently at the head of a zombie and don't miss.
Graphically, HOTDO is very detailed for a Wii game. Without HD graphics, the visuals are as good as one can expect; however, this amount of detail is suspected in causing the game to freeze, slow down, and even "hang" (where you don't progress anymore because the Wii is trying to load a massive amount of graphics for the next part of the rail), resulting in often times jerky performance.
This jerky performance screws with your accuracy, which ultimately, jerks with your score and your ability to unlock new guns and content.
The sound and music are top-notch, being deliberately bad to reflect the grindhouse presentation of the game. SEGA and Headstrong make no apologies in the massive number of F-Bombs, swearing, incest, and other sleaze, chiefly because HOTDO is a B-rated movie turned into a game (hence the ESRB M-rating). Concerned parents who want their children to live in a fantasy world will have to avoid buying them this game.
The chief problem of HOTDO is its scoring system. While you get more money by beating a high score in a stage, the high score slots will eventually get filled up and you will earn no more money. This is a problem, since the game requires you to earn about $50'000 to buy and upgrade all the weapons to unlock extra art and bonuses. Chances are you will get tired of earning money so slowly and stop playing.
Apart from the money problem, there is little else wrong with HOTDO. If you've played HOTD3 on the Xbox and enjoy other lightgun games like Vampire Night, Time Crisis, Silent Scope, and Elemental Gearbolt, HOTDO ranks well with the top lightgun shooters.
Some tips:
(1) Buy the autoshotgun first. It is probably the only weapon you need to power-up to get the combo hits (read the manual on how) for high scores.
(2) In story mode, keep $10,000 to unlock some extra songs. Once you have, you can spend the money afterwards (the unlocked songs save to your profile).
(3) You can quit after getting a high score (check the stage's high score tables to know the minimum score you need). By quitting early, you get your name on the high score table, some money, and avoid setting insanely high scores you can't beat later (and forever lose out on money).
(4) Money and weapons in story mode and Director's Cut don't carry-over, so you need to earn all that stuff again if you want a complete file.
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