House of The Dead: Overkill (Review)

House of The Dead: Overkill (Review)

Rated “M” For “Mature”

Guns + Mutants + (Blood x Violence x Strong Language)= House of The Dead: Overkill

You can already see why it has a Mature rating.

=====Story=====

If you’re familiar with the House of The Dead series, this is the prequel to them all. If you need to have a deep story…you’re not going to get one. Crazed man has crazy idea and it creates crazy chaos. Crazy chaos breeds menacing mutants. Menacing mutants munch mammal mandibles and meaty muscles. It’s as deep a story as a horror movie can be (Grindhouse inspired). Agent G and Issac Washington are “blessed” with the task of taking care of the mutants and putting a stop to the mutant uprising.

=====Gameplay=====

Overkill is like its predecessors and is a traditional arcade rail shooter. The Wii has proven a few times that it easily compliments these types of games and Overkill does not disappoint. Take your guns, point it at the thing that’s trying to kill you, pull/push the trigger a bunch of times, and have fun. Out of bullets? Shake your gun to reload and get back in there. You found grenades or you want to switch guns? That’s what the buttons on the nunchuk are for. It would take a lot to mess up with such a simple formula of gameplay and thankfully Overkill did not tamper with it.

=====Difficulty=====

Waves and waves of mutants come after you. They’re everywhere you go and everywhere you were. If you aren’t seasoned to pulling the trigger a lot, that could be your main concern of difficulty. However, if you are wanting more, beat the game once to unlock Director’s Cut and travel to a few different paths in the levels of the games that will no doubt contain more mutants. The graphics may add to the difficulty a bit since some of the environments are too dark to see what there is to shoot. And there are always large bosses to tackle at the end of each level and those may serve as a tough task to endure.

=====Content=====

Ah…the reason for the M rating, the content. Where to start, where to start? Well, there is A LOT of blood. The use of guns is a violent act. Mutants attempting to harm innocent civilians isn’t all that PG. The story is off the track at times in the matters of killing, humans in situations against their will, mutations, sexual under and overtones…and…the overusage of the F-Word. Sure, Agent G and Washington use almost all explicit words there are to be said, but the F-Word sure gets used as much as you use bullets.

=====Final Thoughts=====

House of The Dead: Overkill delivers well as an arcade rail shooter. It brings a great mode of gameplay that was very popular in the almost non-existent arcades. It’s simple for anyone to pick up and play and it has a good amount of replay value. Unlocking of new guns, Director’s Cut, dual-wield mode, and item collection add on a few more hours of play. Mini-games can be played with 4-players, but are too simple to remember and do not vary in how they present themselves. The mini-games, the sometimes dark backgrounds, and the few frame glitches make up the majority of Overkill’s flaws, but that’s not so much of a big thing. The main game is what you are here for and that is well worth the cost of a few blood stains. It’s mindless fun and can easily be one of those games you pull out every now and then to entertain yourself and a few friends with for a good time.

Rated 4 out of 5

Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (SGCG4AP): Episode 5 8-Bit Is Enough

Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People (SBCG4AP): Episode 5 8-Bit Is Enough (Nintendo WiiWare)

Rated E10+

The final installment in the game for attractive people, Strong Bad stars in 8-Bit Is Enough. Is it really enough or is it more than enough…and can you get enough?

=====Story=====

Last time on SBCG4AP, Strong Bad had perfectly ticked everyone off and it seemed like a good time to have to jump. Too bad it was not as Strong Bad crashes into his almost always broken Trogdor arcade machine leaving the gloved one unconscious on the floor. A clever ruse to get everyone to leave…yeah. This comes with no consequence as the attractive smash into the machine brings the arcade to life as half arcade, half Trogdor.

What does Trogdor do? BURNINATE! You must move your attractive self around and make sure the machine of burninating does not continue to terrorize. It may not take much to do so, but that will not be the end of it as Strong Bad unknowingly (yet sexily) restores the Trogdor machine improperly. This series of events merges the world of Strong with the world of Videlectrix video games with the true Trogdor in the middle of all burninating chaos.

=====Gameplay=====

5 installments of being attractive.

5 installments of pointing and clicking attractively.

=====Difficulty=====

Trogdor fairs as a difficult opponent. He/It may not be as attractive as the anti-protagonist, but muscles and V scales are intimidating. Not only that, but with the worlds merged, Strong Bad must think a little more inside of a videogame box in order to manipulate and gain party members to strengthen some 8-bit muscles. Endless quests and attaining of items will definitely help in your inevitable battle with Trogdor.

Is it easy to pull off? Yes and no. Yeah…you read right.

=====Content=====

In the previous review, Episode 4 was “the ultimate in fan service.” If that is to remain true, then Episode 5 is the Even More Ultimate In Fan Service. Not only can you watch Trogdor burninate peasants, you will also come to meet and aid or mess with other popular Homestar Runner characters and the SBCG4AP series. The Cheat, Homestar, Limozeen, The Alge Bros., Snake Boxer, merges of popular characters and Videlectrix games, and the ever anime-y Stinkoman. They are all here and they all play their part in the final bang of the attractive game series.

=====Final Thoughts=====

The fan service is the biggest positive for Episode 5, but that’s not to say that Episode 5 is the best. While not as linear as Episode 4, it is pretty simple to figure out what to do next with the cliché videogame hints that characters tell you. Not only that, but a few staples of the entire series are gone this time around. No true exploration for the Black Tarantula Metal Detector other than what is story driven. No more Teen Girl Squad.

While it’s not that much missing, it is a nice mash up of mixing the different Videlectrix games and characters with the familiar world of Strong Bad and cast. Jumping into different game genres and going through them in classic 8-bit ways with some next gen twists. And expect a lot of old school videogame references and a ton of fun poking to videogames of old and new.

And like with the previous installments, this burninating adventure can be completed in a couple hours. And also like the previous installments, the content is what will keep you wired in and complete the final episode in Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People.

Rated 3 out of 5