Planet Terror, eat your heart out.
A round of applause, please.
In the capable hands of Headstrong Games (formerly Kuju Entertainment, Battalion Wars), House of the Dead has undergone a complete reboot, and the changes are definitely for the better. Overkill is loud, rude, crude, and it's unabashedly entertaining. It may not be something you'll play with your mum around, but it's one of the best games on the market for mature Wii owners.
The year is 1991. AMS rookie Agent G has been sent in to a small Louisiana town to investigate a series of disappearances. Along the way he teams up with foul-mouthed Isaac Washington and stripper Varla Guns, and the trio sets off to stop the mad experiments of Papa Caesar. Overkill is presented in a style similar to Quentin Tarantino's; over-the-top violence, F-bombs, and disgusting sexual references are the norm. Also like with Tarantino, Overkill will make you laugh. A lot. The dialogue is fast and razor-sharp, and though the swearing gets to be a bit much (f$%^ed up f$%^, really?) Overkill is easily the funniest, most quotable game in years.
This grindhouse style makes for one of the best audio-visual presentations on the Wii. You'll be blasting mutants to all sorts of great old-school riffs, which range from funk to country to an awesome homage to the Pulp Fiction theme. Many of the songs have vocals, and they're all fittingly hilarious. It's too bad the vocal songs only appear on the main menu, but nevertheless this is one of the best soundtracks in recent memory. The voice acting is also top-notch, from Washington's Samuel L. Jackson-esque delivery to Papa Caesar's almost nonsensical accent.
Plentiful film grain and motion blur effects help make Overkill one of the best-looking games on Wii, too. The fixed camera allows the developers to really focus on making the game look as good as possible, and the effort shows. Environments look great, and enemy animations are pretty much perfect. The frame rate stutters now and again, but it doesn't stop the game from always being fun to look at.
It's all the perfect vessel for the game's over-the-top action. Overkill plays pretty much identical to other House of the Dead games. Either playing solo or with a buddy (go with a buddy) you'll plow through seven linear levels, blasting limbs and heads off mutants left right and centre. All your movements are scripted, leaving you to worry about ever-approaching hoards of enemies. It's not very deep, but it sure as hell is fun. You'll need quick reflexes to rack up combos to beat your hi-scores or snag collectible Golden Brains.
The new gameplay feature is Slo Mo-Fo Mode, which as the name implies brings the game into slow motion. Slo Mo-Fo is activated by shooting targets hidden in levels, and brings all enemies to a crawl for easy headshots. The music, effects and animations all look and sound great during the transition.
At the end of the level you'll face off against a boss, and while these look great and are very funny they're way to easy to take down. The game will tell you where and when exactly they need to be shot, taking out a lot of the challenge. In fact the entire game is far too easy. You have tons more health than in the arcade games, and health pickups are plentiful. You have infinite continues, as long as you're willing to sacrifice half of your score. Thankfully a tougher Director's Cut mode is eventually unlocked, and you always have the option to turn on Extra Mutants, but even still the game is a pushover.
House of the Dead: Overkill definitely has its flaws. It's easy, it's short, and it may not have enough content to warrant the fifty dollar asking price. Still, Overkill is absolutely gushing with style, and it's a welcome break from the endless onslaught of party games and mini-game collections Wii owners are used to. Is this the hardcore you've been waiting for? In a word, yes.