House of the Dead: Overkill - Out Now.

Drunken_Master wrote:

Hero of Canton wrote:I think that looks ace, actually.

Christ knows how some people have managed to gauge the precise graphical quality from a (deliberately) poor-quality vid, but there you go.

It's all about the textures.



or lack of them, in this case.

There's no question about it: SEGA's upcoming House of the Dead: Overkill has Grindhouse to thank for its inspiration. The game essentially "reboots" the AM1 franchise with a prequel of sorts that takes place in the era of drive-in double-features. Though we didn't play the game at Games Convention in Germany today, it was certainly playable and we got a chance to see the direction this zombie blaster's going on the Wii.

Honestly, the core gameplay to House of the Dead: Overkill hasn't really changed in this update by Headstrong Games. It's still a "simple" zombie blastfest where you're shooting the undead as you walk along a set, predetermined path through infested environments.

No, it's more about the presentation and how the development team works a new style into the game. The game takes the Grindhouse style to the videogame -- the trailer we posted a day or two was a very accurate portrayal of what the game actually looks like in realtime. House of the Dead: Overkill employs all sorts of lighting and filters to achieve that low budget archive feel of a late 60s, early 70s drive-in slasher. You'll see film grain, scratches, those reel-change cigarette burns, hair in the projector... oh, and overexposed lighting as if the game was sitting around deteriorating in a can for 30 years.

It's a very cool idea, even if it feels like it skirts the "Grindhouse Rip-off" line. At least the developer freely admitted to the inspiration early in the game demo.

In our Games Convention demonstration, we were taken through a level called "Carnival of Fun," where it's a trudge through an infested fair... complete with dilapidated thrill rides that topple over at just the most opportune time. Zombies will spill out a dozen at a time -- the developer says when all is said and done, they can get as many as thirty zombies on screen at once. There are also plenty of opportunies for cheesy gross-out effects: walk past a cotton candy cart and you'll see a severed arm spinning around in the machine.

The demo showed off the over-the-top gory violence, like the ability to shoot the legs or arms off the zombies, as well as stain up their clothes with their own blood. The controls are a simple matter of point-and-shoot, with the reload attached to a Wiimote shake. If you get grabbed by a bad guy, you can shake him off with -- you guessed it -- hearty shakes on the remote. Even though the game is on rails, you can pull the camera a few more degrees in either direction by moving the reticule towards the edges of the screen, giving you the ability to put more zombies in your sights. There's adrenaline pick-ups that put a "bullet time" effect in action for a limited amount of time. At the end of the demo, we got a peek at the end level Boss who looked like a 12 foot giant with a Quatto baby embedded in his torso.

House of the Dead: Overkill can obviously be used in the Wii Zapper, but the developer states that they'll keep the controls simple and not enable any Nunchuk support. Headstrong is content with the basic three-button controls and doesn't want to overcomplicate things. It will have the ability for a second person to jump in and out for cooperative play. Other features will be announced as the game chugs along for an early 2009 release date.

The game takes the Grindhouse style to the videogame -- the trailer we posted a day or two was a very accurate portrayal of what the game actually looks like in realtime. House of the Dead: Overkill employs all sorts of lighting and filters to achieve that low budget archive feel of a late 60s, early 70s drive-in slasher. You'll see film grain, scratches, those reel-change cigarette burns, hair in the projector... oh, and overexposed lighting as if the game was sitting around deteriorating in a can for 30 years.

Hero of Canton wrote:

The game takes the Grindhouse style to the videogame -- the trailer we posted a day or two was a very accurate portrayal of what the game actually looks like in realtime. House of the Dead: Overkill employs all sorts of lighting and filters to achieve that low budget archive feel of a late 60s, early 70s drive-in slasher. You'll see film grain, scratches, those reel-change cigarette burns, hair in the projector... oh, and overexposed lighting as if the game was sitting around deteriorating in a can for 30 years.

Excellent.

The House of the Dead games have long been a staple of Sega's internal Japanese studio. However, the developer has finally given over the reins of one its most famous franchises, and the UK's Headstong games has been tasked with taking it in a new direction. The team has decided to cross the shooter with '60s Grindhouse cinema, making a gritty but trashy homage to both the game and the movies.

The story centers on Agent G's first mission out of college. He's joined by a new character called Detective Washington, and the entire story will be playable in single-player or co-op. While it's still an on-rails shooter, the big new change comes in the way that you can control the camera angle. By moving the target reticle to the edges of the screen, you can move the camera another 30 degrees. Sega says that this will come into play when finding hidden items, as well as killing certain zombies.

The level that we saw was set at The Carnival of Fun, an all-American fairground riddled with hicks-turned-zombies. You use the Wii Remote to aim at the screen, with the trigger used for firing and a quick shake for reload. You can obviously also use the Wii Zapper, but with 1 and 2 used for weapons, as well as + and - for special items, it could become a little convoluted. You'll be able to carry two weapons in Overkill, and in the demo we saw, both a machine gun and a magnum were featured.

As the Sega rep moved through the Carnival level, we got to see some of the new additions that Headstrong has added to the game. There are power-ups, such as Slo-Mofo, which slows down time for a few seconds, while the new damage model means you can shoot off arms and limbs. There are also combo bonuses for the more accurate you are, with the bonus dropping out as soon as you miss a zombie. You'll also be able to collect upgrades for weapons to increase damage and accuracy, although we didn't get to see them in action. The demo ended with a freakish boss character who was about 15 feet tall and had a baby's head growing out of his stomach.

The new visual style seems to suit the game perfectly, with all the degraded film effects that were resurrected in Tarantino's Grindhouse. The game is set for release in the first quarter of 2009, so expect more information on the game in the coming months.

It is a pity that the blog is being cranky in Leipzig. We always like to tell these stories and frikadas, as we had started the day one. Finally, if fastidió then, there is always retomado now to introduce something like the great press kit of House of the Dead Overkill.

The Alchemist Penguin wrote:Kuju have had a real habit of renaming all their studios lately, that must be the third studio they've gave a wacky new name.

IntergalacticSpacePenguin wrote:I would dearly love the game to use that vhs style box the press kit has. It has that nostalgic dodgy gore movie being passed around at school look to it.