Sega’s mildly received Western developed hardcore experiment on Wii, House of the Dead: Overkill is reborn with a new coat of “shiny” on the PlayStation3 as House of the Dead Overkill: Extended Cut.
As those who have experienced the original game already know, Overkill is a bit of a departure for the House of the Dead series. Overkill has a B movie grindhouse vibe. The player takes on the role of foul-mouthed Agent G and Detective Washington, as they try to stop a madman responsible for creating a zombie outbreak in a small Southern town. The gameplay consists of classic House of the Dead rail shooting, with a few minor adjustments that suit the grindhouse setting and add replay value (such as power up items and multiple weapons). The plot is crazier than any game in the series before it, and the humor (particularly towards the end of the game) can be a bit tasteless, but it remains one of the few rail shooters released to this day with a real sense of character. As such, I feel this remake has potential to succeed on PlayStation 3.
The updated version of the game is PlayStation Move compatible. The graphics received a much needed update, though there are still subtle signs in the environments of the game’s Wii heritage. The gameplay hasn’t changed much from the Wii release, but the additional visual fidelity of the PS3 allows the game to sit on par with some of the series’ later entries, such as the arcade only House of the Dead 4. The game looks even better when played in 3D. The developers have also added two new scenarios to the game that are exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version. Disappointingly, these new scenarios were not playable on the show floor. Using the PlayStation Move controller, the game felt almost as good as on the Wii. If I were to complain about anything as a fan of the series, it would be that my particular setup with the Move controller seemed to have slight calibration/lag issues that could be fixed with option tweaking. I don’t think this is due to the game as much as the particular setup I was on, so I’m not overly concerned about it.
As a fan of the series, I plan on picking this up just in time for Halloween. It’s about time for House of the Dead to make a comeback.
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