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They've come for brains. You'll give them... bullets.

Wii trailer[[src]]

The House of the Dead: Overkill (ザ・ハウス・オブ・ザ・デッド オーバーキル) is a grindhouse-themed rail shooter developed by Headstrong Games and published by Sega on the Nintendo Wii in 2009. It is a spin-off to the House of the Dead series.

Set in 1991, the game follows rookie AMS agent G and foul-mouthed Detective Isaac Washington as they tackle a mutant outbreak in the small town of Bayou City, Louisiana.

Developed as a homage to exploitation films, Overkill is considerably more adult than the main House of the Dead series. It was written and marketed as a prequel to the original 1996 game The House of the Dead. However, series director Takashi Oda had limited involvement with Overkill and has never confirmed if he considers it a canon, mainline House of the Dead game.

An HD remastering of the game with added content, The House of the Dead: Overkill: Extended Cut, was released for the PlayStation 3 in late October 2011. The Typing of the Dead: Overkill, which includes Extended Cut's content, was released on Steam in October 2013. A mobile adaptation, The House of the Dead: Overkill: The Lost Reels, was released for iOS and Android devices in 2013.

Overkill was praised by critics for its gore, vulgar humor, and tributes to exploitation films, but received a mixed reception from fans.

Plot

In 1991, rookie AMS agent G and Detective Isaac Washington investigate disappearances and a mutant outbreak in Bayou City, Louisiana. They storm the mansion of Papa Caesar, a crime lord who killed Isaac's father. Caesar flees, while disabled scientist Jasper Guns, whom Caesar used, is mutated after injecting himself with an unknown substance. After defeating Jasper, G and Isaac meet his sister, stripper Varla Guns, who seeks revenge on Caesar.

G and Isaac track Caesar to a hospital, battling the Screamer and escaping with Varla after the building is set to explode. At a carnival, they defeat mutated circus performers Nigel and Sebastian. G and Isaac pursue Caesar on a train, defeating the Crawler, a mutated mantis. Varla is kidnapped by Caesar, who throws a tape recording to Isaac.

The train crashes into a swamp, where G and Isaac battle the mutant Lobber and escape. They reach a high security prison, with Caesar and Varla strapped to electric chairs. Warden Clement Darling claims responsibility for the outbreak, with Caesar a mere accomplice; he executes Caesar, robbing Isaac of his revenge. G and Isaac fight Brutus the Ruthless, a mutated convict who murders his partner before the battle.

G and Isaac confront Clement in his underground laboratory. To cure his sick mother (with whom he shares an incestuous relationship), Clement has transplanted her brain into Varla's body, which grows and mutates into a giant creature known as Mother. After her defeat, Clement "returns to the womb" to atone for the problems he caused.

G and Isaac leave on a helicopter with Varla's still active brain in a jar, detonating the facility. G tells Varla of his feelings for her, prompting him and Isaac to discuss the game's moral and political messages. The helicopter pilot is then revealed to be a mutant.

In his tape recording, Caesar reveals Clement was involved with "powerful friends", and that Isaac's father is still alive.

Characters

Gameplay

Like previous games in the House of the Dead series, Overkill is a rail shooter with pre-determined character movement, with the shooting element under player control by pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, moving the aiming reticle. The player can point the reticle near the edge of the screen to move the camera angle slightly in that direction, allowing a further field of view known as "Danger Cam". The PlayStation 3 version allows the player to choose between aiming manually with the analog sticks, or a Playstation Move controller. The story mode can be played solo or with another human player, with one weapon or dual-wielding controls.

Players can also build up a combo meter by killing mutants to receive a score, with further points gained by performing head-shots, shooting bonus pickups, saving civilians and attaining multiple kills without missing a shot. If a player dies, points from their overall score can be quickly spent to continue playing. At the end of each level, the player is awarded a grade that depends on their final score among other factors such as not dying, and accuracy of shots. Along with score bonuses, other pick ups scattered throughout levels include health packs, grenades and the "Slow-Mo-Fo" pick up that puts everything into slow motion temporarily.

New guns and gun upgrades can be bought with cash earned from the player’s end-of-level score, between levels at the Gun Shop. Upon completing the story mode, Director’s Cut is unlocked providing the same game as story mode but with tougher enemies and a limited amount of continues, among a selection of one-off mini-games; "Stayin’ Alive" where players must survive a continuous wave of mutants, "Victim Support" where players must help a group of civilians escape and "Money Shot II", a competitive mode where up to four players must achieve the highest kill score. Completing the Director's Cut unlocks dual wield mode.

Scoring at least five kills starts a combo sequence; increasing numbers of kills will raise the combo level and score more points:

  • Extreme Violence : make a kill combo of 5 - 100 Bonus Points
  • Hardcore Violence : make a kill combo of 10 - 200 Bonus Points
  • Ultra-Violence: make a kill combo of 15 - 300 Bonus Points
  • Psychotic : make a kill combo of 20 - 500 Bonus Points
  • Goregasm: make a kill combo of 25 or more - 1000 Bonus Points

Weapons

The House of the Dead: Overkill features 8 weapons. Players start the game with AMS Magnum Pistol, and can purchase initially more in the store with cash collected. Each weapon's recoil, clip size, firing rate, reload time, and damage output can be upgraded. Hand grenades can also be found in each level, and some weapons are automatically given during scripted moments.

The weapons are:

  • AMS Magnum Pistol: Uses magnum bullets, but is relatively weak. This weapon is unlocked at the start of the game.
  • Shotgun: More powerful than the AMS Magnum Pistol, but takes longer to reload and has a slow firing rate that cannot be upgraded way.
  • SMG: Useful once the slow reload is upgraded. Shoots a stream of bullets as long as the trigger is held down.
  • Automatic Shotgun: Similar to the Shotgun, but with a faster firing rate.
  • Assault Rifle: Similar to the SMG, but with a slower firing rate and greater damage output (two shots will kill a single mutant).
  • Hand Cannon: Kills most mutants in one shot and inflicts large damage on some bosses, but is slower to reload and has large recoil for each shot; the screen will shake, lowering accuracy. It is unlocked by completing the main game once.
  • Minigun: The most powerful weapon in the game. It lacks ammo capacity but will overheat if fired for too long, leaving the player vulnerable until it cools down. It is unlocked by completing the Director's Cut once.
  • Crossbow: Holds 3 explosive bolts which function like grenades, but has slow reload and aiming time, leaving the player vulnerable to damage between shots.

Levels and bosses

Extra Chapters (available in the "Extended Cut" version and Typing of the Dead version):

Each chapter is presented as a 'movie' - Grindhouse style. This is comically used in the final battle, where the "movie" cuts off due to "missing slides", before returning, showing that G and Washington miraculously survived the battle, saved Varla's brain, and "found" a pair of mini guns lying on the floor (without which Isaac notes that they'd probably have been killed).

Development

Inception and concept

Sega approached London developer Headstrong Games to collaborate on a game based on a Sega franchise. Jet Set Radio and other franchises were discussed, before The House of the Dead was chosen due to Headstrong's passion for that series.[1] Headstrong was given near universal creative freedom; because the game would not be released in arcades, they were allowed to add mature content that is normally censored.[2]

The House of the Dead: Overkill originally had the graphic style of prior House of the Dead games. Different themes, including steampunk, were explored. Sega and Headstrong ultimately based the art style, plot, and marketing around exploitation films after watching the 2007 horror-comedy film Planet Terror and numerous other B-movies. Ideas for the plot, characters, music, bosses, and enemies were devised immediately after; SEGA Europe producer Gwilym Hughes commented, "The exploitation stuff writes itself."[1]

Headstrong worried that players from Japan, where The House of the Dead originated from, would dislike this Westernized take on the series.[1]

Story and characters

Overkill's story was written by Jonathan Burroughs. The inclusion of G and an explanation of the origins of the mutant formula were seen as "contentious", especially as the former is a character from the mainline House of the Dead series.[1] The House of the Dead series director Takashi Oda made suggestions and shared some "rules" of the series with Headstrong, but otherwise had limited involvement.[3] He was credited as a "creative supervisor" along with producers Yasuhiro Nishiyama and Masakatsu Watanabe.

Headstrong spent "a lot" of time creating the characters and universe, to the extent of devising character family trees. Detective Washington was modeled after rapper Common, Varla Guns after glamor model Vikki Blows, Papa Caesar after Burt Reynolds, and Agent G on Keanu Reeves as he appears in the 1991 action crime film Point Break.[1]

Release

The game was also available in a limited collector's edition that included Prelude to an Overkill, a graphic novel prequel to the game. A special release of the game in Australia, the "Bang Bang Box", came packaged with the graphic novel in addition to two Wii Remote gun shells modeled after the AMS pistols carried by the main characters in the game.

Sean Ratcliffe, then-Vice President of Marketing at Sega of America, stated that customers responded well to Overkill and that the game "absolutely" met Sega's expectations.[4]

Reception

Review scores

  • Edge = 8/10
  • GamePro = 3.5/5
  • GameSpot = 8/10
  • GamesRadar = 8/10
  • IGN = 8.3/10
  • Nintendo Power = 8/10
  • Official Nintendo Magazine = 90/100

Aggregate scores

  • GameRankings = 81%
  • Metacritic = 79/100

Upon release, The House of the Dead: Overkill received a generally favorable response from critics, with an average review score of 81% at Game Rankings and 79/100 at Metacritic. Many critics praised the fast-paced, balanced gameplay, with X-Play stating "the arcade-style shooting is satisfying and provides a challenge for experienced players" yet "easily conquered for those who can’t aim a Wiimote to save their life." Games Radar found the simple gameplay to be "varied enough to keep the momentum going." Although considered to be easier than past games of the series, GameSpot calling the difficultly a "cake walk" at times, Eurogamer said the game "almost never tries your patience, and it's made with such infectious and irreverent glee and such obvious pride, you can't help but join in."

The over-the-top B movie grindhouse-style was particularly praised. Game Informer stated "the parade of F-bombs and one-liners fit in perfect harmony with the grindhouse presentation", even recommending it to Quentin Tarantino fans. GameSpot claimed it "reinvents the aging shooter series for the better with an over-the-top grindhouse theme that resonates in its every aspect, from the hilarious story to the fantastic vintage soundtrack." Due to the adult nature of the game, GameDaily called it "a digital slaughterhouse full of carnage that'll make you happy to be an adult Wii owner" and Nintendo Power calling it "one of the Wii's greatest guilty pleasures". Edge stated that Overkill "raises the bar for third party production values on this generation’s best-selling console."

Though 1UP "still enjoyed the game", they did consider that "with its constant stream of expletives and toilet humor, it may turn just as many people away", starting their review with a disclaimer for younger gamers not to play, being strictly an adult game. Another issue critics found was a number of technical issues, particularly with the frame rate, which IGN called "sketchy" and "sad to see in a game that has so much amazing content in it." GamePro also experienced this, notably when "the screen became cluttered with enemies", originally hoping the issue to be fixed before the game’s final release. Another issue were glitches, with Computer and Video Games reportedly experiencing no enemies appearing at all at times and sometimes requiring to restart the console.

It was confirmed by Dread Central that the game is set to receive a Guinness World Record for being The Most Profane Game of All Time. It was later dethroned by Mafia 2 that same year.

Trivia

  • Counting all House of the Dead games, Overkill is the longest game in the series, with 7 levels (9 including the two included in Extended Cut).
  • The House of the Dead: Overkill is the first in the series to actually show the final boss's weak point, unlike the series tradition of listing the final boss's weak point as "Unknown" (or a variant of similar meaning).
    • However, in Extended Cut, the weak point of the final boss is listed as "Unknown", returning to the series tradition.
  • This is the second game to be banned in Germany due to it's high-impact gory violence, the first being The House of the Dead III.

Gallery

Screenshots

Merchandise

Promotional materials

Videos

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Brown, Mark (February 12, 2009). "The Making of...The House of the Dead: Overkill" (English). Britishgaming.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020.
  2. Leone, Matt (December 16, 2008). "The House of the Dead: Overkill Preview for Wii, PS3 from 1UP.com" (English). 1UP.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.
  3. Kori (September 7, 2012). "Website of the Dead’s Exclusive Interview with Takashi Oda" (English). The Website of the Dead. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. “Were you involved with the writing for The House of the Dead Overkill in anyway? I’ve heard G told Issac Washington not to use the “Z” word. I was wondering if you were involved with that line? I was not part of creation of the game, but I gave some advice about the story, and shared some rules of the House of the Dead franchise.”
  4. Gaudiosi, John (April 6, 2009). "Sega shows off next big Olympics game, targets Wii and DSi" (English). VentureBeat. “VB: Sega is also going after the core audience with games like House of the Dead: Overkill and Mad World. How are consumers responding to those Mature-rated titles? SR: House of the Dead has done very well and has absolutely met our expectations. The first set of data for Mad World is very encouraging, as well.”

External links

veThe House of the Dead games
Main series The House of the Dead (Remake)2 (Remake)III4 (Special)Scarlet Dawn
Spin-offs Zombie RevengeThe Typing of the Dead (2Overkill)The Pinball of the DeadEnglish of the DeadEX slot machineThe House of the Dead: Overkill (Extended Cut)Loving DeadsDarts of the DeadScarlet Dawn (Battle GenesisOn ReelsTHE ATTRACTION)Reels
Prototypes The House of the Dead (arcade prototypeSega Saturn prototype)2 (Original Sin prototype)Scarlet Dawn (prototypes)
Compilations 2 & 3 Return
Mobile games MobileNightmareZombie Da: Flick of the DeadOverkill: The Lost Reels
Non-HOD games Vampire NightSega Golden GunSonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Gameplay mechanics Bonus itemsBranching pathsCiviliansHealthWeak points
Developers SegaSega AM1NamcoForever EntertainmentMegaPixel StudioTA Publishing
Staff Takashi OdaRikiya Nakagawa
Other content Hiiro SumomoReferences in popular cultureUnused content
veTHoTD Overkill logocontent
Characters
GIsaac WashingtonVarla GunsCandi Stryper (Extended Cut)Papa CaesarClement Darling
Bosses
JasperCoco and Sindy (Extended Cut)ScreamerNigel and SebastianMeat Katie (Extended Cut)CrawlerLobberBrutusMother
Levels
Papa's Palace of PainNaked Terror (Extended Cut)Ballistic TraumaCarnyCreeping Flesh (Extended Cut)Scream TrainThe Fetid WatersJailhouse JudgmentOverkill
Other pages
Lore ( Bayou CityFormula XMutantsPrelude to an Overkill)
Spin-offs (The House of the Dead Overkill: The Lost ReelsThe Typing of the Dead: Overkill)
Extended CutMini GamesMemorabilia
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