First Look: House of the Dead: Overkill.

I'm not quite sure why I got so excited about this... All the reviews seemed positive and it sounded like a lot of fun but I've never played a House of the Dead game before and I haven't bought a lightgun game since Virtua Cop on Saturn with it's chunky blue pistol. However excited I was and so yesterday I left Game with a limited edition copy.

It's obvious from the very first moment that it's been a labour of love. From the 70's style cinema presentation (For those of us of a certain age it brings a warm glow before you've even excersised your trigger finger) to the deep booming voice over guy it's the little touches that help set the atmosphere. The very first thing you see is the dictionary definition of the word 'Overkill' and it's perhaps at that moment you get an idea of just how over the top the game is going to be.

I'm going to invest in some new video leads for my Wii as it doesn't look it's best on my HD tv through the standard leads (I noticed that my friend get's superior results with his on his old CRT TV) but it's another Wii game where the art direction goes along way for making up for the Wii's lack of processing power. It's got a sort of grainy, grimey filter that looks both modern and yet authentically horror-ish at the same time.

Once you've started the game it's obvious that Political Correctness is going to be nowhere to be seen. Each Chapter is bookended by a cut scene featuring the classic buddy combination of mismatched cops forced together and then swearing like troopers.

Mainly though it's about blowing Zombies away and it does it really well. The Wii-mote works perfectly and the action is fast and furious with the camera zipping around as foes come at your from all angles. There's plenty of bonuses scattered around to up your score but it'll take a few plays to get them all I think. It's got a cracking sytem where there are infinite continues but each one halves your score so I never got stuck but I'll need to improve if I'm going to afford some of the better guns.

The gun shop can be visited after each round and guns can either be upgraded or new guns purchased to help you on your way.

Overall it's an absolute blast of fun and entertainment.. How long lived it'll be only time, and of course Blog: By Bob, will tell.