House of the Dead is fun again, Yay! (The House Of The Dead: Overkill (Wii))

Member Name: illogicology

Product:	The House Of The Dead: Overkill (Wii)
Date:	25/02/09 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun, excellent theme, wonderful gun game

Disadvantages: Short and easy

The House of the Dead series has been kicking around the arcades for years now. They've been ported all over the place and fun as they are, the first three have been showing their age for some time now. Neverthless, House of the Dead 2 and 3 were recently ported to the Wii very effectively. No doubt this was to test the water for this Wii exclusive title and I'm quite glad it was a successful experiment because Overkill is quite possible the most successful House of the Dead title since the series began. It is also quite possibly the best of the wii-mote/lightgun series of games.

The game follows the story of the secretive, ultra cliche government agent G and the ultimate 80s black macho cop Isaac Washington. Together these characters explore a paper thin, B-movie plot involving zombies and a bizarre crime lord, Papa Caesar. Really, the plot is irrelevant, It just isn't that kind of game. All that matters is that you're faced against ever increasing amounts of zombies that you have the dubious pleasure of blowing to bits with your wii-mote. The control system is perfect. A calibration setup in the menu lets you adjust the wii-mote to your angle and distance makes the aim incredibly precise. This is paired with some absolutely excellent level design. With a very loose plot connection you move between zombie infested hospitals to a fair ground complete with zombie clowns screaming for your brains.

Admittedly, this game is fairly easy for an on-rails shooter and could probably be competed in a day or two. There is replay value here, you can play through the director's cut mode or weapons upgrading to keep you coming back for more but if you're the kind of person that plays through games just the once then a rental might be the best thing for you.

Briefly, this game can be bought with the House of the Dead: Hand Cannon. This is a plastic frame that turns your wii-mote into a bulky revolver. Having used a few on these wii-mote to gun gizmos I can honestly say that this one is the best and perfectly suited to the game. It is generally sold separately but most stores package them for a good price.

If you enjoy on-rails shooters and B-movies then I can seriously recommend this game.

Summary: A great lightgun game.