Sunset Overdrive

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 151 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 96 out of 151
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 151
  3. Negative: 24 out of 151
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  1. RealNova
    Jul 31, 2020
    7
    Fun gameplay, some fun characters but it doesn't excels in anything. The story is over the top because this is a "self aware parody of action videogames" type, that is neither good or bad, it's very funny at times and cringe at others. It gets pretty ripetitive but it is generaly fun and you can have a good time playing it. If you like the non-stop action with huge movement abilities thisFun gameplay, some fun characters but it doesn't excels in anything. The story is over the top because this is a "self aware parody of action videogames" type, that is neither good or bad, it's very funny at times and cringe at others. It gets pretty ripetitive but it is generaly fun and you can have a good time playing it. If you like the non-stop action with huge movement abilities this is the game for you.… Expand
  2. dandalis
    Apr 13, 2020
    6
    Sunset Overdrive puts over the top fun factor above all else and does so without shame or regret, and while i did have fun playing it, it didnt reach such high amounts of it like it seemingly did for most critics and gamers who have shoveled it with such high praise.

    One of the first things that pop out upon starting playing the game is just how colorful and vibrant it is. Sunset city    Sunset Overdrive puts over the top fun factor above all else and does so without shame or regret, and while i did have fun playing it, it didnt reach such high amounts of it like it seemingly did for most critics and gamers who have shoveled it with such high praise.

    One of the first things that pop out upon starting playing the game is just how colorful and vibrant it is. Sunset city visually is a very bright and colorful world to play in. The city has varied districts each with their own visual flair and identity that translates into the arhictecture that you can play around with. The open world of Sunset is tailored to serve the game's traversal mechanics above anything. And the traversal is the main star of the show. You can grind, slide, bounce on and off almost everything in the environment, dash in mid air, surf on water on your feet, wall run, and for some time it's a blast making it feel like you're in some sort of a superhero game, however it eventually becomes 2nd nature gameplay aspect and wears off it's initial WOW factor. Game likes to throw a lot of OD's (game's name for it's zombies) at you aswell as robot enemies, of both of whom there are several types for each and who are quite agressive, fighting them on foot in traditional 3rd person shooter manner isnt very effective, as the game itself constantly reminds you to use the traversal systems to take them down, and when you do, combat comes alive, with combos and stuff, its pure mayhem. Aiding your combat abilities are ''amps'' and other powerups which are assigned to player's abilities and weapons. These powerups include all kinds of bonkers effects, from mini hurricanes, to electricity being spewed around you, to ground erupting in flames and others.

    Staying with the combat, Insomniac were sort of bragging about how cool they made their weapons for the game, and yeah, they're pretty creative. There are only few traditional shooter archetypes like a hand canon, assault rifle, odd shotgun, rest are quite unique, from fireworks launcher, to acid sprinkler, to RPGesque teddy bear bomb launcher, to nanite cloud gun that disintergrates enemies, just to name a few.

    Sunset Overdrive has quite decent character customisation, while not as deep as for example Saints Row, you can still create a reasonably unique looking guy or gal. Game also has a good amount of different outfit choices, some of whom you unlock by beating in-game challenges. You can mix and match different options at your leisure, or run around almost naked if you want to.

    The game's storyline offers plenty of cool missions, fun and bizzare characters, regular breaking of the 4th wall, but overall it wont stick around in your head for days after completion.

    If you're, like me, still using Windows 7, prepare for a less then optimal experience, as the game for some utterly stupid reason isnt officially supported on W7, yet it works, with some issues that is. The in-game's anti aliasing doesnt work for starters. There are issues with textures flickering in the distance, broken LOD i assume. There's also the occasional stuttering. Part of the core game are the ''defending the fort'' type of activities, which shift game to night time, once you beat such activity, it goes back to day time, but then textures around you start flickering, lighting goes off the rails, it requires you to restart the game in order to fix it.

    Despite the annoying issues of the port, all and all Sunset Overdrive is pretty decent fun for the while it lasts, but once you more or less finish it, there's little incentive to stay around.    … Expand
  3. notbrianblessed
    Jun 2, 2020
    6
    Awkward to control. As far as I can tell, you just end up going round in a circle over and over, spamming fire at some enemies. Starts with you thrown into the action with no context, which itself almost made me quit. Please never, ever do this.

    And this is personal taste, but the "wacky" humour is just tedious.
  4. churros
    Oct 24, 2020
    7
    Pros:
    + amazing traversal mechanics
    + responsive controls
    + collectathon

    Cons:
    - uninspiring story and characters
    - mediocre combat
    - repetitive
  5. SL9M
    Jun 19, 2019
    7
    Optimization/Performance/Stability: 7

    My target framerate for this game was 75 FPS, Sunset Overdrive consistently fell below my target framerate and I have played many other modern open world games that could reach that target framerate without any problem. I and my friend had other issues such as the camera getting stuck, and keybinds not saving. I feel like 7/10 is generous, specs are    Optimization/Performance/Stability: 7

    My target framerate for this game was 75 FPS, Sunset Overdrive consistently fell below my target framerate and I have played many other modern open world games that could reach that target framerate without any problem. I and my friend had other issues such as the camera getting stuck, and keybinds not saving. I feel like 7/10 is generous, specs are below.

    I7-5820 @ 4.2Ghz
    16GB DDR4 RAM
    GTX 970
    HDD @ 7200 RPM

    Story: 3

    The story felt like it was tacked on, definitely wasn't the main focus. Nothing was really interesting about it. Only one memorable character, the story lacks depth.

    Graphics/Art Style: 9

    This game is very stylish, animations are cool, textures look nice. Only complain is that a couple of character models looked a little out of place.

    Mechanics: 10

    There is a lot to play around with in this game, every weapon is unique and has a different effect on each of the enemies. The traps allow you to be more strategic and make the defense missions really fun. The movement in this game is A+ no doubt.

    Content/Length: 7

    DIsclusing the DLC the length of this game is average but there is a bunch of collectibles to get. Not to mention the character customizer is great and there are a bunch of weapons and abilities to get. Some missions are slow and boring and some are really fun.

    7.2/10 or C
    I recommend it    … Expand
  6. michaelb1928
    Jan 23, 2019
    6
    way through Sunset City filled with humans who have turned into mutants after drine a bit hard to get used to coming from the XB1 version of the game, but it becomes second nature after you get a bit in. Mu
  7. philzlz
    Dec 19, 2018
    7
    In today's gaming world that innovates little, Sunset Overdrive is a refreshing experience. Grind, bounce and shoot your way through Sunset City filled with humans who have turned into mutants after drinking an evil corporations energy drink.

    First released for Xbox in 2014 some of its humor doesn't hold up today but the wide range of weapons, outfits and satisfying Tony Hawk like    In today's gaming world that innovates little, Sunset Overdrive is a refreshing experience. Grind, bounce and shoot your way through Sunset City filled with humans who have turned into mutants after drinking an evil corporations energy drink.

    First released for Xbox in 2014 some of its humor doesn't hold up today but the wide range of weapons, outfits and satisfying Tony Hawk like movement system make up for it.    … Expand
  8. TitaniumDragon
    Jan 29, 2019
    7
    Sunset Overdrive is a stylish open-world action game focused on using highly agile movement and silly weapons to fight a variety of foes. You play as a nameless protagonist, a former member of the janitorial staff who manages to barely escape from a horrible horde of people who have been mutated into monsters by drinking an energy drink.

    No, seriously. The game’s core gameplay is    Sunset Overdrive is a stylish open-world action game focused on using highly agile movement and silly weapons to fight a variety of foes. You play as a nameless protagonist, a former member of the janitorial staff who manages to barely escape from a horrible horde of people who have been mutated into monsters by drinking an energy drink.

    No, seriously.

    The game’s core gameplay is very good. The protagonist has the ability to grind along things like power lines and the edges of roofs, bounce high off of cars and dumpsters as if they were springboards, swing around off of poles to get higher, and smash the ground with a ground pound attack then immediately jump for a super jump. Combined with the ability to skate across the surface of water, air dash, and wall run, the protagonist is hyper-agile, and the game exploits this to its fullest. Enemies will spawn in large numbers and swarm you, and if you stand still, you’ll quickly get surrounded and pounded on; by moving around the environment, you both avoid getting hit as well as give yourself more breathing space to aim and fight. All of this naturally encourages you to exploit the movement mechanics to their fullest.

    The weapons, too, are fun to use. Unlike all too many third person shooters, this game has an enormous variety of weapons, and they *feel* highly varied. There are some classics – the grenade launcher (reflavored as a launcher that launches teddy bears with explosives strapped to them), a rocket launcher (a rigged-up propane tank launcher), a hand cannon style pistol, a shotgun (with a pair of metal balls on it that definitely aren’t compensating for anything), and an assault rifle. But you also get many strange weapons – deployable sprinklers that spread acid all around them, pistols taped to propellers that float around and shoot nearby foes, a vinyl record launcher that bounces records between enemies, a freeze bomb. There’s even special weapons that are given out on specific missions, like a nuclear powered magical sword and a kitty launcher that summons a robotic dog to tear apart your enemies.

    The protagonist also has a crowbar they can use to beat up enemies in melee combat, swing around in a circle while grinding on stuff to clear off nearby enemies, or use to pound the ground.

    On top of all this, there’s special amps that you can equip to yourself and to your weapons which add additional effects. Weapon amps add things like random nuclear explosions when you kill enemies, or extra ammo drops, or levelling up your weapons faster (as weapons gain xp in the game by using them more often, and become more powerful as you do so). There are melee amps which add special effects when you attack enemies, mostly in the form of expanding the AoE with some sort of added effect, like setting enemies on fire or pushing them away with wind. There are “epic amps”, which shoot out fire and lighting around you.

    All of these amps are activated by building up enough “style” in combat, which is gained by doing special maneuvers (like grinding or wall running) and killing enemies; the more you do these things, the higher your meter gets, and the more of your amps turn on. Standing around or not doing much in the way of special maneuvers will cause the meter to drain, further encouraging the player to keep moving.

    This all adds up to a very dynamic combat system, and it is a lot of fun maneuvering around the city and shooting stuff.

    Where the game ends up struggling a bit is with repetition. Like most open-world games, the game has a main storyline, as well as some sidequests. Unlike most open-world games, there’s actually relatively few sidequests, and they mostly do something at least quasi-interesting. The game will periodically add in new random mechanics or minigames to try and mix things up, like defending a moving boat or fighting with a unique quest weapon. There are also challenges, which are all minigames, often focusing on platforming or killing a lot of enemies in a short period of time. And this is all well and good.

    But the game clocks in around 30 hours long, including all the DLC, but there’s only 14 types of enemies, and none of them are especially threatening. While the game spaces out its new enemies, gradually introducing them over the course of the game, you do end up spending a lot of time throughout the game fighting the same sorts of enemies over and over again, and the enemies can't really threaten you.

    If you’re a fan of open-world games, this is a great example, and you’ll probably think it is pretty great. And if you want to unleash your inner 12 year old, this game will definitely do that.

    But if you don’t like open-world games, this won’t be what changes your mind.    … Expand
  9. cylentstorm
    Aug 18, 2023
    6
    This amphetamine-fueled action platformer was definitely designed for those with short attention spans, but the goofy R&C-style action and relentless low-brow sense of humor combine to make this a solid choice for a few hours of entertainment. Unfortunately, Sunset Overdrive takes too long to provide the abilities needed to make traversal fun AND functional. At that point, I was ready toThis amphetamine-fueled action platformer was definitely designed for those with short attention spans, but the goofy R&C-style action and relentless low-brow sense of humor combine to make this a solid choice for a few hours of entertainment. Unfortunately, Sunset Overdrive takes too long to provide the abilities needed to make traversal fun AND functional. At that point, I was ready to shelve it. The game rarely backs down from its constantly intense pace, which has the effect of causing the high points to feel even more mindlessly repetitive. It's exhausting.

    The world is a bright and saturated playground built to bounce, grind, and blast your way through endless hordes of enemies and stunt challenges. A self-aware story drives the chaotic gameplay, but the non-stop jokes and cliches wear thin long before your character unlocks the basic abilities necessary to make combat and traversal less of a chore. The soundtrack and voice-acting are actually pretty good, but can't save the game from tripping all over itself in terms of mechanics and flow. Some bits feel overly designed, while others seem like afterthoughts that were tacked-on to a collection of common tropes to artificially extend what should be a much shorter experience.

    SO can be really fun--with enough stimulants and in short doses--but it was clearly targeting the forerunners of the TikTok generation as its audience. The PC port is also lacking basic polish and refinement, yet I encountered no major issues in my time with it.

    All these years, i thought that I had missed out on an Insomniac gem, but it turns out that it was mostly hype. Not bad, just mediocre.    … Expand
  10. borla
    Feb 19, 2022
    7
    Gameplay: Fun
    Soundtrack: Loud and pure garage rock and roll
    Bugs: Uncommon
    Graphics: Good
    Game Narrative: Cringe, very very cringe
  11. dmitriy_savenok
    Aug 30, 2023
    7
    Качественный геймплей, но слабый нарратив.
    Играется очень весело и интересно, но пресная история не даёт прочувствовать мир на все 100.
    Слом четвертой стены хоть и вытягивает всё это, но не полностью. Думаю, свежее выглядеть проекту помог бы рейтинг R (18+), а не тот что есть у игры сейчас. Иногда создавалось впечатление, что приходилось играть за зацензуренную версию Дэдпула. Хоть    Качественный геймплей, но слабый нарратив.
    Играется очень весело и интересно, но пресная история не даёт прочувствовать мир на все 100.
    Слом четвертой стены хоть и вытягивает всё это, но не полностью. Думаю, свежее выглядеть проекту помог бы рейтинг R (18+), а не тот что есть у игры сейчас. Иногда создавалось впечатление, что приходилось играть за зацензуренную версию Дэдпула.
    Хоть персонаж мне в целом импонировал, но во встроенном дополнении про Бриллиантина он всё же умудряется немного разочаровать, ляпнув одну максимально дегенеративную фразу, а точнее утверждение. Понимаю, что это возможно часть лора, но по уху резануло конкретно. Короче говоря, ляпнул он, что астрономия и астрология - одна фигня.
    У проекта есть свои субъективные недостатки, но всё же игруха получилась весьма годной.
    Видно откуда у Человека-Паука от Sony ноги растут.
    7/10    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 6, 2019
    85
    With its great mechanics, frantic pace, absurd story and insane missions Sunset Overdrive is mad and uncompromising, and that’s exactly what we need in the age of increasingly serious open world games committed to imitating reality. [01/2019, p.70]
  2. Wccftech
    Jan 21, 2019
    80
    Sunset Overdrive is one of the very few open-world games that sets itself apart from the competition with its unique and wacky setting, Parkour system and hectic gameplay experience, and all these are faithfully represented in the PC port. While solid, the port does lack some features that are expected out of a PC game in this day and age: this, coupled with the removal of co-op multiplayer, ends up damaging the experience. If you have no other mean of enjoying the game, however, Sunset Overdrive on PC is more than worthy of your time and money.
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  3. Merlin'in Kazanı (Turkey)
    Dec 21, 2018
    80
    Sunset Overdrvie brings the fun on Xbox One to the PC platform. If you looking for a fun game, it's a very good alternative on the PC.
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