VIDEO GAME REVIEW: House of the Dead: Overkill

Last Updated on July 26, 2021

Published
by: Sega
Developed by: 
Headstrong Games 
Release Date:
February 10, 2009
Available on: Nintendo
Wii

BUY THIS GAME HERE

INTRO: Strap
yourself in for another trip to the House of the Dead! Well, it isn’t
really a house, is it? It seems that the whole general country is
haunted now. Anyway, in the past the HOTD series has been a bizarre and
goofy series of games that involves terrible voice actors playing these
straight laced characters who blast away at zombies.

Much has changed, ladies and gents. Although this game is still hokey,
it has gotten a complete grindhouse-esque modern makeover to show that
the series is still cool. I’m talking about everything you expect- film
grain, boobs, buckets of blood, horrible mutants, characters
double-crossing one another, deleted scenes and lots and lots and LOTS
of swearing. The last point is really worth mentioning because although
you play as Agents G and Washington, G is the straight man and
Washington is Samuel L. Jackson. I have honestly never heard this much
use of the F word in a video game, ever (and I’ve played all the GTA
games and Manhunt and that sort of stuff). I wasn’t offended, but it
got to be overkill- but that’s the point of the game!

GAMEPLAY:

I’ve always been a fan of the
HOTD series because I like shooting zombies and I like playing with a
friend who’s actually at my place rather than over a headset. It’s just
plain good old fashioned fun and a good way to kill an evening. With
that being said, I’ve always found the HOTD games to be bizarre and
goofy to a point where I was more going through the motions than really
getting into them. It’s not like this game suddenly drew me in and had
me hooked, but let me tell you that the grindhouse motif is a very
welcome addition to the game and really breathes new life into
something that felt like the same game, over and over again.

This is a game that is meant to be played with two people. There are
seven ‘chapters’ where you go after the evil Papa Caesar and you can
control with just the remote (shoot with B, grenade with -, reload with
a shake or the A button) or you can add the nunchuck in to share the
duties. Get your wiimotes going and start killing some zombies. There
really isn’t much else to it, that’s the main purpose. You get two
weapon slots and you can assign them once the game progresses. You have
a pretty standard array of weapons but they all work, from pistols to
SMGs to Shotguns and so on. As you blast through things and get points,
you earn money to buy new weapons and upgrade the ones you have.

As you progress through each level (each level is really well designed
by the way..my favorite? An evil carnival!), you’re on rails and don’t
choose where you go at any point. Your job is to kill anything that
moves (as long as they aren’t innocent civilians), reload and repeat.
This isn’t a particularly hard game, and the first time I played
through it I died only one time, in the last level, on the last boss.
I’m not complaining though because I am the most mediocre of talents
when it comes to video games and I’ve got no problem when a game is a
little easier. You’ve still got to be quick and ready though, so maybe
I was just accurate. If you ever get caught up close with a zombie, you
can waggle out to free yourself.

You’ll also be scrambling around to shoot golden brains to earn more
points and if you can build up streaks of killing the undead you’ll
achieve ‘goregasm’, a true killing spree. You can also shoot icons that
slow-mo everything which makes it much easier to pop the heads off the
bad guys. And besides, who cares if you blaze through it quickly, you
get to play a “Director’s Cut” which has new levels and is way harder,
letting you continue only 3 times. If that is

Boss fights are huge and hilarious, and you’ll find yourself loving
every minute of the gameplay. Sure, it’s repetitive but if you’re in
the right mindset it’s a lot of fun. In fact, my girlfriend walked in
the room at one point and said “What are you playing, it looks fun.”
 

It is!

Gameplay:
8.5/10

GRAPHICS:

Easily
the weakest part of this whole package, this game does not sport the
best graphics. Everything looks blocky and low-res and the textures are
only okay at best. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not for lack of effort.
Although a lot of work has gone into this title I just can’t say it
looks great. The grain works, the zombies can look great from afar but
eh, it ain’t the prettiest girl at the ball. Not to mention the fact
that the game can chug quite a bit when a lot of stuff is going on.

Graphics:
6.5/10

AUDIO:

This game surprisingly has a
great psychobilly-rock soundtrack that suits it perfectly  and
is even worth listening to in the menus to hear the full version of the
song. The voice acting is great too, fantastically over the top and
ridiculous and F-Bomb licious. Sound effects are great too, really.

Audio:
8/10

FINAL VERDICT:

Although I had some glitches
that caused me to have to reset a few times, that didn’t detract from
my overall experience with House of the Dead: Overkill. As I was
playing it, I was shocked I hadn’t reviewed it yet- I struggle every
time I write a review because although the games are site-appropriate,
that doesn’t always mean the games are good. I’m happy to report that
this game is a blast to play and is exactly the overhaul the series
needed. I know I’m hard on the graphics, but that’s more a comparison
to bigger systems like the 360 and the PS3- this one is long on style
and effort shines through. I highly recommend this one and think that
the Resident Evil gun games could learn a thing or two from this title
that doesn’t take itself seriously for a second. 

Final
Score: 8/10

BUY THIS GAME HERE