The House of the Dead: Overkill

The best lightgun game never to have seen the inside of an arcade as Headstrong outdoes Sega Japan.

The House of the Dead offers a great package of humour and style. The game has turned a boring genre into a wonderful spoof with a little help of some zombies and two cheeky cops. However, keep in mind that railshooters are pretty limited in terms of gameplay and length and aiming at a sensor on top of the tv is far from ideal. Nevertheless, we still want to congratulate Sega for a job well done, in turning House of the Dead into a very funny game.

We loved every minute of House of the Dead: Overkill, but that's precisely the problem, it's a game that literally is, over in minutes.

In the end, how much you enjoy HotD:Overkill will have a lot more to do with how much you like horror/comedy movies, and a lot less to do with how much you like videogames.

For what House of the Dead: Overkill lacks in diversity or prudence, it more than makes up for it in style and a sense of humour that dances on the boundaries of acceptability, and at times downright moves it around whilst insolently shouting “na na na na na na”.

Where Overkill will truly be divisive is in the narrative: some people will love the nonsensical, fast-paced story. But, with its constant stream of expletives and toilet humor, it may turn just as many people away. And as purposefully offensive as it is, I still enjoyed the game. The dialogue is strained, and the barrage of f-bombs is played out by the second level, but there are several genuinely funny moments.

So many zombies, so little time. Perfect shooter (though a bit short) in retro style excels in all genre clichés — zillions of enemies, shocking moments and an overall feeling of a B-horror movie. [Feb 2009]

The one thing really missing from Overkill is a sense of impact to your shots – certain boss fights feel more like mouse-clicking something to death than riddling it with hot lead. [Mar 2009, p.100]

This is a typical on rails shooter with zombies. When you first boot up the game you're treated to a horribly disappointing first impression, but the game grows with each hour thank to weapons and level becoming a bit more interesting later on. Unfortunately the game is plagued by a healthy number of technical issues, flaws that dampen the experience severely in the long run. House of the Dead: Overkill doesn't do anything new at all, but mowing down zombies is always a hoot.