The House of the Dead: Overkill

At one point, we watched as a misfired bullet sent a fairground ride tumbling from its struts and into a mob of zombies, turning them into a foul-smelling paste. Environmental exploits like this are useful, given that the developers tell us that we can expect up to 30 reanimated corpses on screen at once.
Overkill%26rsquo;s baddies have received a suitably stomach-flipping redesign, so there%26rsquo;ll be no more suits of animated armor acting as end of level bosses. The chief baddie in our demo was a lumbering sideshow freak with a twitching Siamese twin protruding from its pus-flecked gut %26ndash; quite enough for us to feel our recently consumed breakfast bratwurst working its way back up.

Aptly, Overkill is Zapper compatible, and Headstrong have opted to eschew the Nunchuk. However, we%26rsquo;re guessing there%26rsquo;s a reason for this, given that the developers have hinted they wanted to %26ldquo;free up peoples%26rsquo; hands for more guns%26rdquo;. Though there was nothing to stop you from dropping loose change into an HOTD arcade machine in order to get your duel-wield on, we%26rsquo;re hoping that Headstrong will make the %26lsquo;two players, four Wiimotes%26rsquo; dream a reality.

In terms of weapons, we can expect the usual assortment of handguns, shotguns and semi-automatics, as well as what the developers are calling %26ldquo;some more explosive options%26rdquo;. New to the series, however, is the ability to upgrade weapons between levels. This gives co-op a neat tactical twist, as each player may want to focus on a particular weapon to upgrade, with one player opting to headshot foes with a rifle, while the other keeps the hordes of lesser enemies at bay with a shotgun and grenade combo. Overkill caught us by surprise %26ndash; we never thought we%26rsquo;d see another House of the Dead game. But thanks to its fresh look and a new home on Wii, we%26rsquo;re developing an unnatural hunger for brains%26hellip; er, Overkill.

Nov 10, 2008