The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Sega's 2009 light gun shooter for the Nintendo Wii, The House of the Dead: Overkill.

The House of the Dead: Overkill is a prequel to the original 1996 The House of the Dead, and it is the only title in the main series to have not been released in arcades.

Taking placing in Louisiana in 1991, Overkill chronicles the some of the major events that eventually led to the Curien mansion. You play as a baby-faced Agent G of the AMS, assigned with taking down the notorious murderer Papa Caesar. G is working with a local, Detective Isaac Washington, who wants revenge on Caesar for having murdered his father.

This all sets the scene for the game's seven stages, which are each presented in the style of exploitation flicks from the 1970s. If you've seen Grindhouse, you have a very good idea of what to expect from Overkill.

Each "showing" begins with some hilarious banter between G and his unlikely partner, a narrator that excels at overhyping everything that comes out of his mouth, and a few dramatic cutaways to the psychotic monster you'll be taking on. Overkill is very self-aware.

The core gameplay is largely the same as we'd seen in earlier games in the series, but a few things have been added to make it more suitable for a home console. You can buy and upgrade weapons, the stages are much longer than we'd seen previously, and finishing the standard game unlocks a remixed and expanded "Director's Cut," which does wonders for its replayability and its appeal.

Speaking of appeal, The House of the Dead: Overkill goes all in with its image. Just like with Mad World, Sega provides another Wii title that defies expectations with its content and its production values, and in spite of the rough resolution and erratic framerate, the presentation is amazing for a game running on such dated hardware.

And to think, this was on a Nintendo console! The Wii was generally thought of as the kiddie machine of its generation. Overkill gleefully shoots that notion the bird. Especially that ending!

I usually try to play a House of the Dead game each Halloween, and this one is one of my favorites, so I hope you all enjoy the playthrough of this masterpiece of a rail shooter.

If you're in the mood for Halloween games (including several other HotD games!), you can find my fairly extensive playlist of them here:    • Horror/Halloween Games on PC & Consoles  

_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!