As much I love what this game is going for and it's satisfying as a rail shooter, the dialogue is just this:

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK
PENIS PENIS
PUSSY PUSSY
DICK DICK

I'm a huge fan of the House of the Dead arcade series. This console-designed version doesn't live up to the high-octane and frantic nature of the coin-operated classics, but it does carry its own sense of brilliant grotesque Grindhouse style, with a campaign full of funny dialogue (although Detective Washington's constant use of the F word did grow tiresome - I don't dislike swearing, but seriously... every sentence).

Importantly though, the maps were great fun, the shooting mechanics were surprisingly responsive on the Wiimote — of course nothing compared to a lightgun but not bad — and the soundtrack is absolutely banging. Plenty of blood made popping zombies a delight, and I really enjoyed the unlockable weapons and upgrades, although the amount of cash needed to obtain the best weapons and upgrades was well beyond that of an initial playthrough, which was a bit disappointing. I would have liked to have had a chance to try everything.

Really good fun, though!

claps Yessss thank you THANK you Sega for making, one of the few, mature rated games for us, adults, out there…THANK you. House of the Dead: Overkill plays more on the great HotD series that starting back in the early 90’s in the arcades. You play as Agent G with his foul-mouthed partner Isaac Washington (yes he’s black!) as you figure out why zombies are plaguing the US. While the story is hilarious, vulgar, rude, and completely dirty there are tons of funny voice acting and dialog to enjoy. The characters are played out very well and you get pretty attached early on (there are only about 8 levels or so) along with the major hottie Varla Gunns.


The game plays like a typical on-rails FPS where the game controls where you move and you just worry about shooting. The game has many locales from jails, to hospitals, to swamps, to theme parks so you won’t get bored one little bit. There are many guns to buy and upgrade along with some great unlockables for beating the game. While you wondering through levels there are a few temp upgrades you can shoot (I wish there were more), such as health, grenades, green blobs that slow down time for a little while, and gold braids. Yes, collect all these brains and you unlock artwork, videos, etc. Now upgrading your weapons is mandatory such as less recoil, clip size, damage, the whole nine yards. You can have up to two weapons equipped and switching back and forth between these two is a great strategy when you have too many zombies to deal with. You start off the game with a pistol and if you save up your money (more on how later) you can buy more weapons. Buying a shotgun first is great since you use all your rounds to clear most of the zombies out and then switch to your pistol to finish off stubborn stragglers.


One great thing about OK is that it NEVER gets too frustrating. When you die you start off right where you were with no continues…of course you take a score hit, but people who don’t care about this won’t break their Wiimotes in anger. The levels are just the right length taking about 10-15 minutes to complete with super fun boss fights. Each boss will have their weak point circled in red and all you have to do is shoot whatever projectile they fire at you and keep on them. The bosses are disgusting, grotesque, and very funny looking. You’re probably all this is great, but there’s more!


MULTIPLAYER MAN!! That’s the best ever…while it’s the same as a single player having someone help you can always be fun. Now, if you beat the game you get the director’s cut (I won’t say what it is!!) along with being able to dual wield weapons…yes it’s sweet, super fun, and adds lots of replay value. Wouldn’t that make the game too easy you say? Well use the “Extra Mutants” tweak before each level and you have an extra challenge. Sadly, there is no online play, but hopefully, a future HotD will have it. I HIGHLY recommend this super fun game to any adult who has dust collecting on their Wii.

Grindhouse of thee dead. It's something that's so obvious that it'd be a no brainer to see it thru. Can't say that I don't get tired of it by the carnival chapter though, particularly thee dialogue. Rowdy vulgarity can't hold its own against a sluggish trawl. While each level has a plethora of variety in terms of set pieces, thee complimentary hokey pokey gun & gore does it no favors. For a game that lifts everything it can from exploitative film genres, staving off general boredom shouldn't be a trait here.

Some positive perks though. I enjoy distinction in level design & this game is stuffed with it. Being able to upgrade + purchase new weaponry also feels like a logical step in light-guns & it was a noticeable difference in every incremental tune up. Not enough to keep me engaged thoroughly enough, though.

Part of my Light/Rail Shooter list.

At the time, this game was the talk of the town! An uber-violent Wii exclusive installment to House of the Dead, a series that laid dormant for years at that point! And, being from a European studio, it feels like a funny pastiche on violent American media, seeing as it was clearly inspired by Grindhouse films. This is probably the best aspect of the game, as the cutscenes are fun to watch, the chemistry between G and Isaac is delightful.

However, the core gameplay itself is kind of weak. It doesn't have a good pace like the original arcade games, and the zombies have little to no personality behind their designs. You don't have a lot of unique zombies that share a visual style that attack in their desired methods. Just about all the enemies attack the same way, and the most unique ones have these really awful cut-aways that feel like they take forever to deal with. This is one of numerous issues where the pace just kind of sucks from beginning to end, and the boss encounters aren't very interesting either.

This is one of the better home console rail shooters, I suppose, but that isn't saying much, as I don't think it holds a candle to the original games preceding it.