Review by: Danielle Riendeau

House of the Dead: Overkill is the most fun I’ve had with a Wiimote since Boom Blox. Funny, considering that Boom Blox is likely the most family friendly, “E-rated” fare you can possibly pop in your Wii and this game is exactly the opposite: F-bombs, off-color sex jokes and buckets of blood are the rule. The game aims to be the videogame equivalent to the ultra-cheesy “grindhouse” genre, complete with a grainy aesthetic and every stereotype of terrible action/horror flicks of the 70s and early 80s.

The game kicks off with an amazing cut scene introducing you to our two main protagonists: the slick, stereotypical Agent G and the straight-shooting Isaiah Washington, who’s clearly channeling Samuel L. Jackson at his mother-F’n best. From here, the story mode takes you through several movie-themed levels in which you blast the crap out of waves of zombies lightgun style - like all other House of the Dead titles, you’re moving a cursor onscreen, and all of your character’s movement is on rails. You face off against a boss character, watch the story progress, and move on to the next stage. It’s fast, fun, perfectly paced action.

In between stages (all lovingly rendered with cheesy themes like “Carny!” and “It Came from the Fetid Water!”), you’re treated to some of the funniest, most hilariously offensive cutscenes this side of actual grindhouse pictures. A few highlights: a sexy, foul-mouthed babe on a motorcycle named Varla Guns, an insane speech about personal taste in music inside of an ice cream truck, and a massive boss ripped right out of Total Recall. If you’ve ever wanted the experience of playing through something like Planet Terror, here’s your chance.

Aside from the storyline, the game is pure, mindless fun. The action is fast and always moving, the zombies are fierce and come in a nice variety – some are fast, some slow, some have projectiles, etc. There is a bit of strategy in terms of building up combos (achieved by shooting down consecutive foes without missing) and there’s a decent weapon-leveling system, but largely, this is the gun-slinging equivalent to hack and slash. The levels are like beautifully designed roller coasters – full of intense action broken up by quick, anxious moments of quiet.

One welcome element is the ability to upgrade your weapons. You earn cash by scoring points and beating levels, allowing you to purchase upgrades to your gun. You can level up features like recoil and damage, and upgrade from your magnum up to flashier gear like shotguns and automatic weapons. It’s fairly limited, but it does give you a satisfying excuse to go back and play through the stages again.