Sega Nerds

Hands-on preview: House of the Dead: Overkill

Posted by Graham. Filed under Europe, G, News, Nintendo Wii, Preview. Tagged with Hands on, Headstrong Games, House of the Dead, Overkill.

The more observant of you might have noticed my little Twitter message  (see right-hand column on site), so hopefully some of you will have seen this coming.

Earlier this week, Sega Nerds was invited by those sexy chaps at Sega Europe to get some hands-on time with the upcoming Wii-exclusive House of the Dead: Overkill.

Unfortunately, as the game is still in development, I wasn’t able to play a full version. Instead my hands-on time was spent with a specially made demo, which contained just the second level from the game - Bayou County General Hospital.

While Overkill is the latest installment in the franchise, the game is actually a prequel to the original Arcade and Saturn title.  Because of this earlier setting, developer Headstrong Games has opted to give the title a cheesy 1970’s horror movie vibe, complete with film grain effects, bad acting and some wonderfully over-the-top voice-overs.

Gameplay

If you have played other light gun titles on the Wii, then you know what to expect with Overkill.  An on-screen cursor tracks of your Wiimote’s aim, and despite the fact that it doesn’t feel like a traditional arcade light gun games the Wiimote does its job very well.  It’s a simple case of point at the screen and pull the B trigger to shoot, then shake the Wiimote to reload.

The big difference between Overkill and the rest in the series is it allows the player to carry multiple weapons throughout the level.

In the demo, the first player had a pistol and shotgun while the second player carried a pistol and machine gun.  What made it all the more fun is that we had unlimited weapon reloads for both weapons (though I’m not sure if that was just for the demo).

While using the shotgun and machine gun is the most effective against enemies, using the pistol will actually net you more points.

While zombie fans have always loved the series, they might be a little dismayed when they find out Overkill doesn’t actually feature any zombies - you’ll be fighting mutants this time around, even though they still look like traditional zombies. When you think about it, though, mutants might be a little better word to describe some of the strange enemies we’ve encountered throughout the series.

Another great addition is Headstrong Games gives players the freedom to move the camera a little in each direction, which makes it easier to find bonuses, blast enemies and gives the game a more believable feel to it; you don’t feel like you’re on a conveyor belt, moving from room to room anymore.

Like another first-person Sega shooter, players can build up combos to achieve higher scores, but in Overkill, it only can be done with accurate shots. So while spraying enemies with lead from a machine gun is extremely satisfying, you’re more than likely to miss, sending your combo to zero - which how using a pistol helps rack up your score more efficiently.

While most shooters don’t really need great AI to be fun, it looks like Headstrong Games has made it a point to give the enemies a bit of intelligence. One example that really impressed me was when an enemy appeared in a doorway.  After quickly dispatching his leg from his body with my trusty shotgun, it leaned against the door to steady itself, then, trying to walk forward, wobbled and fell to the ground, crawling after me.  Most enemies in past games just run right at you or have a set pattern they follow - it’s refreshing to see a developer changing things up a bit.

Insert credit to continue:

Because all the other HotD titles were designed and released first in the Arcades, they all had the similar life/continue system.  Both players shared continues, and once they were all spent, it was game over.

But Overkill has been designed from the ground up for the Wii, and the continue system has been tweaked. Players still get continues, but they have to earn the right to continue in the game, and this is where the importance of scoring high points comes into play.

~Note the stars in the chamber, top left, they signify your combo meter~

When you die and run out of lives, a portion of your points will be deducted, and you’ll be allowed to resume play, but once your points drop to zero, it’s game over for good.

Additionally, each player accumulates points separately, so you don’t have to worry about your annoying twerp of a partner using up all of your precious continues.

It’s getting grainy outside:

As I mentioned previously, Headstrong Games has added a nice video grain filter over the visuals to help emphasize the earlier setting of the title.  It certainly goes well with the VHS tape idea (which the press kit came in) and gives the game a very unique style and presence on the screen.

However, the visuals are not all great.  I did notice several areas where I thought the visuals could have done with a serious touch up - one small example would be the pistols in an early cut scene - they looked terrible.  But I’m going to give the game the benefit of doubt right now, as this was quite an early build.

One badass muthafu%&a!

Keeping with the whole Grindhouse feel, the game features some ridiculous voiceovers, which really gives it some great B-movie character.

~Real 1970’s Exploitation movie poster~

As in past entries in the series, you’ll have an opportunity to save civilians, but this time, they have much more interesting ways of thanking you.  One example is a civilian running off saying, “Thank you! Whoever the f&%k you are!”

You also have some cracking music throughout the level, a kind of funky beat, with some great guitar twangs.  It really gets your head bobbing along and is another poignant way of keeping with the game’s dated feel.

Another new feature is the “slow-mofo time” bonus.  If you see these, shoot them and the game speed will slow down, giving you extra time to line up a shot and rack up higher scores.  Plus, it helps take out some of the faster moving enemies.

Hands-on impressions:

The demo was reasonably short, only lasting about 10-15 minutes, but it was certainly enjoyable, if not a tad easy.  The use of new weapons helped mix up the gameplay some.  And I had a real blast playing through the level dual-wielding Wiimotes.

The game is far from perfect, but it does seem to be shaping up rather well.  The new features to the franchise all seem to be very effective and help to keep it feeling fresh.

This might be a bold statement, but from the demo, I have a feeling I will prefer this title to HotD 2 and 3.   However, I will definitely need to play more to see if it can beat 1 and 4.

~G~