Over the top, and overly violent, Sega’s super cool take on the grindhouse style doesn’t take itself seriously for a moment but it’s done to perfection. “The House of The Dead: Overkill” is grindhouse gaming at its finest. It has been a long time since I’ve had a good reason to call myself a fan of Sega but this rail shooter by Headstrong is a big hit with me and all my friends— and it’s a great way to waste an evening.

Despite the family friendly image of the Nintendo brand this is a game that kicks ass and takes names. This title is best played on the Wii console because the hand held shooting capabilities of the Wii-motes make you engage in the game a great deal more than you might with an X-Box or Playstation controller.

The point and shoot functionality is just that much better for the sake of the game when you can literally point and shoot rather than fussing with a traditional controller that uses a d-pad. There is one drawback though, the loading isn’t completely smooth on the Wii and you can suffer a bit of choppiness in the visuals when moving about through the game. Rest assured though that this is only a mild irritant and doesn’t affect the controls of the game in any terribly noticeable way.

Because the game is set on a quick moving rail style it keeps us in the movie/amusement park ride feel and progresses the story very smoothly, where a game that might have forced you to run from room to room on your own might have held us back a bit. It doesn’t allow for a lot of intellectual engagement with things like puzzles or complicated mysteries but if the developers had added anything like that it would have severely hampered the flow of the story and would have proved more irritating than anything else. It’s true that it would be nice to have a little more choice in some matters on this game as far as direction or story action but that’s hardly a major drawback. This game is meant to be enjoyed as an old style arcade shooter and it succeeds very well in holding our attention by keeping us on the edge of our seats with an exciting pace and fun visual style. If you like shoot ‘em up monster games and the kind of movies that feature a whole lot of excessive violence and copious vulgar language, you’ll love this game.

Besides some great playability, and a catering to the guilty pleasures of carnage and explosions, the narration has a solid drive-in feel to it and really helps move the story along in a way that keeps the gamer engaged and in the mood for this game. You might want to call the Mr. Movie voice cheesy but it doesn’t make you grit your teeth or cringe the way you might want to if it was too over the top. It fits the whole feel of the game like the polka dot scarf on the bad guy.

Every character is a caricature of themselves and they play up their incredible personalities to the hilt, revitalizing old stock types that we find ourselves familiar with and yet freshly introduced all at the same time. The dialogue and soundtrack with this game is just fabulous. It keeps the mood and spirit of the play in perfect alignment with the intentions of the game. The voice acting is great and the script is hilarious.

Overall, it’s not meant to be taken too seriously but then again it’s not meant to be silly or trivial either. It just reeks of ‘cool’ and the characters engage each other in a semi-believable and acceptable way that immerses you the genre they portray. Fans of grindhouse can also appreciate the smaller details included, like randomly exploding cars and hot angry chicks with big guns and motorcycles.

Fans of the previous House of The Dead games can really appreciate this new grown up installment of the game. It’s like the hardcore older brother of the family. It’s scarier, naughtier and far sexier than what came before it. The game is very story driven but the story isn’t what you’re here for, it’s like the icing on the cake. It’s the explosions, gun fire and action that draws you into this game more than anything else. The environments you find yourself plunged into are diverse and interesting enough that you feel like you’re in a new world even though the game play style doesn’t change.

Wrap all of this together into a package and you get one hell of a ride. So pair up with some friends and lock and load kiddies; this game is already on my short list for Best Gore Game of the Year.

I give it a 4.7/5 Goregasms.

(This Article Was Previously Posted On www.pretty-scary.net)