Duckhunt with the Nintendo Zapper was cute. Zombies with the Wii-mote… F-in Awesome! We’ve come a long way from the grey and red NES Zapper era. Why the cussing? keep reading…
| PUBLISHER: | Sega |
| DEVELOPER: | Headstrong Games |
| GENRE(S): | Light Gun, First-Person Shooter |
| PLAYERS: | 2 |
| ESRB RATING: | M (Mature) |
| RELEASE DATE: | February 10, 2009 |
| PEREZSTART RATING: | 9/10 |
Ingredients for House of the Dead: Overkill = Planet Terror with some ‘Psycho’, add ¼ Total Recall and a generous amount Eddie Murphy’s Raw.
The characters of HOTD:Overkill, Agent G and Isaac Washington, are looking for Papa Caesar, the murderer of Washington’s father and the story continues from there. The cutscenes are not the best of graphics (Wii at fault) but Headstrong games did the most they could and made it enjoyable. House of the Dead: Overkill is one of the first REAL First Person Shooters thanks to the Wii-gun accessory.
The Overkill gameplay is fantastic and fun. Shooting Zombies, err, Mutants is why the House of the Dead series is as successful as it is. The game is loaded with F bombs and if your sensitive to cussing, this game would make your ears bleed. If you’re still reading this, then good, it your numb to “foul language”. The controls are pretty simple using the Wii-mote. Onscreen aiming can be a bit confusing during two player mode, so make note of the two distinguished crosshairs. Player one will have one ring trailed by a red light, player two with double rings and a blue light. The “B” button acts like a trigger to shoot as you point at the screen, and the “A” button is your reload button. Although you can also reload by firing the “B” button when prompted, strategic reloading helps keep your clip full. In the beginning of the game, you will find that you are primarily using the Wii-mote and not the Wii-nunchuck, until you purchase additional weapons or pick up grenades. Once you get either of those, you’ll use the “Z” button for swapping guns and the “C” button to throw grenades.
Navigation does not exists, and it shouldn’t. Overkill is a rail shooter game, which means the game follows a specific route. So as you are guided through each room, road, and staircase your movement is pre-determined. Like previous House of the Dead’s your main mission is to shoot, and not worry about where the Mutants are coming from. It also adds to the fear of the game, since the navigation and camera angles allow the Mutants to pop on the screen with very little room between you and them. F-in scary!
Bosses at the end of each mission, aren’t challenging enough. I wish it would’ve been tougher, but you’re told where to attack the boss by his weakpoints (red circles on target). After each level, you earn money that can then be used to purchase more weapons and upgrade existing ones with faster reload times, less recoil etc. The best weapon by far is the automatic shotgun, bigger crosshair helps too!
Pros
Wii-mote shooter
Grainy 70′s Grindhouse look
Upgradeable/Unlockable weapons
Soundtracks
Cons
Bosses too easy
Cussing is unnecessary
If you’ve been looking for a reason to power up your Wii, and you like a good point-and-shoot game, Overkill’s a good purchase. Reminding me of Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Blood or Gore’ “Planet Terror” made this game a must have for any Grindhouse fan. I’ve been hesitant to try any shooter games based on accuracy but Overkill’s calibration menu has assured me that it’s my shaky hands, and not the sensor, which is the problem.
PerezStart Rating - 9/10
I played this at the comicon and died within 30 secs. I have always adored house of dead at the arcades but is it truly the same with the wii mote?
Yes, it is. I didn’t think it was be as accurate as it was, but I was impressed. It’s also good to let out some steam
my nephew has this game and i tried playing it! i hate zombie and scary games but this was alot of fun! I know i’m sissy!
I’m not a heavy video gamer but I sure am addicted to time crisis and this game basically is very similar to it… point and shoot. Graphics is not the greatest but for Wii, I think they did a great job! I’m definitely looking forward to purchasing this game! I read that there’s only 7 levels. However, when you’re done with the regular mode, you can turn on Extra Mutants or move onto 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.
Here’s some tips I found from a another reviewer:
(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.
This game is a lot of fun, especially the two player mode. For some of us who hate 3-D gaming this game is a sigh of relief!
This game is really fun.When i played this game i realized that little kids should not play this game.It was really scary.When i was playing this game i had a lot of fun.When your in level 2 and if the screamer comes close and she screams you shake the wii remote until she goes away.You will do it to another mutan.This game is very fun and scary.It is very gross too.
so i finally had the chance to beat all 7 levels on the regular mode and doing it all over again for directors cut… The cons are definitely that the bosses are not that hard to beat. Also, it seem like you can really never die coz’ after you’re dead you just press A and you’re back on again. Well at least i haven’t figured that part yet. I think i’m stealing life from my partner but we both we’re doing it to each other and we just kept getting lives. That’s how we were able to beat each level, it’s because we never completely died. Overall, its a fun game. The boss at the end is pretty gross.. haha you’ll know what i mean when you get there
@steph
You’re right about the screamer. I hate when she gets that close!
@msgiggless
I’m still trying to un-see that. Barf
lol. i’m still barfing… I must say that my ears are still hurting from all the cursing…
So I played this today with BB! Fliipin awesome! The story line is so much better then the other house of dead’s and pretty damn funny. The zombies are a lot more creative and fun also! I love the ride through the carny section , I felt like I was going through a Halloween hayride again. Too fun! I may want to get the wii zapper though!
[...] you read PerezStart’s review for The House of the Dead: OVERKILL, you would know that we absolutely loved it. You also would [...]
[...] been churning out good hit after hit. First House of the Dead, Now Madworld, Next The Conduit. This looks to be the year for [...]
How do you get past the screamer