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The House of The Dead: Overkill

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I love EDGE. Killzone 2 wouldn't be getting half the attention it is if it were on the XBOX. Don't get me wrong, I love it's graphical style and it looks cool, but is it really all that? Probably not, it's just the Holy Grail for PS3 fanboys - you see it everywhere - glowing red eyes for avatars, new signature bars and angry forum goers ready to go in for the kill when anyone criticses the most wonderful game ever (which they haven't actually played yet because it's not been released).

 

The demo is pretty awesome. I think it would still be getting attention if it was on 360 as its head and shoulders above a load of the tripe FPS games that are out now and up there with the like of CoD and Halo if the reviews are to be believed...

 

Anyway back on topic...when is this out? My attention has recently been turned to it and it looks pretty cool...zapper compatible I assume? As in its actually playable with it and doesnt require any seperate arm movements of remote and nunchuk?!

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Anyway back on topic...when is this out? My attention has recently been turned to it and it looks pretty cool...zapper compatible I assume? As in its actually playable with it and doesnt require any seperate arm movements of remote and nunchuk?!

 

Its out this Friday! *lights a cigar and cocks shotgun*

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Its out this Friday! *lights a cigar and cocks shotgun*

 

Yeah found out. Edge's review has convinced me this is one for me....will be a nice distraction over half term.

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Got an e-mail a few minutes ago saying that my Collector's Edition is being processed now.

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hmhmh I find it hard to believe that killzone 2 got less than this..

 

Edge seem to review a game based on the genre rather than the overall experience... For example yes house of the dead is a very good light-gun game.

BUT they don't appeal to everyone and for the same money aren't as long as the other wii games of the same score.. I believe metroid prime 3 got less than 1 and 2 mayeb because it wasn't as long as 1 and 2..

 

What do you think do you think a game should be judges by it's own genre or compared to the best on the wii and value for money.. im conflicted on this a little I must say.

 

Let's Tap also received a higher score than Killzone2.

 

I think games should be judged on it's own individual merits, which seems to be what Edge have done here. Probably why Let's Tap received a good score, too. There's quite a few flaws with basing reviews across the whole Wii range. For example, Let's Tap and House of the Dead both got the same score. Now, you know that these games couldn't be further apart - so all that you're comparing is a score.

 

Remember, value for money is only part of the review criteria - lastability. There are thousands of games out there which get great scores, but which you only play through once, or may not be too long. In terms of replayability, would Brawl get full marks as there's so much to do, or would Eternal Darkness because you have to play the game three times to get all the endings? So, what is value for money? Is a 15 hour game better value for money than a 10 hour one if you enjoyed the second game more?

 

You need to do remember what genre the game is in when reviewing it, I think that's hugely important. The criteria for a racing game is different to that of an FPS, or adventure. Think of it in terms of films. For a comedy, the main criteria is whether or not the film is amusing. In horror, it is whether the film creates that experience. You can't compare something like Alien to Tropic Thunder without looking at the genre. Both films try to do something different. Just like Killzone 2 and House of the Dead (and Let's Tap) are aiming to do something different.

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Wonder if Argos will crack open their stock allocation early. They have been known to do it for many games in the past so I may take a gander in one of their stores and see if I can get it early. Although they aren't selling the collector's edition and it's £35 for the normal one, which is the price of the collector's edition in all other stores). Doubt they'll sell it but would be all kinds of awesome if they did.

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Really looking forward to this game now. I love the lightgun games on the wii and this looks class. My project ends on Saturday, so going to have a good session on co-op on sunday!

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The only problem with the scores is that it's Edge. Sure, most of the mag is fine, but they're useless at reviewing games.

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Well it's not the only magazine to give it an 8 anyway.

 

I'm not saying that it's not going to be a good game. Just that there's no point in comparing it to Killzone 2/Halo Wars.

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The only problem with the scores is that it's Edge. Sure, most of the mag is fine, but they're useless at reviewing games.

 

In all honesty, I don't read that many reviews nowadays, particularly for Wii games. Mainly because I find that there are so many contradictions between different sources, or because some reviewers didn't spend enough time with the games to fully appreciate it or the controls.

 

I tend to look at the concept, what the game is offering/trying to achieve, and base whether or not I buy it on that. I can't actually remember what the last review I read actually was.

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Yeah you're right, that's why you can't compare the games, they're too different and people doing that are just obscene. That's like comparing De Blob to Dragon Quest or something. They're not really all that much alike.

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Yeah you're right, that's why you can't compare the games, they're too different and people doing that are just obscene. That's like comparing De Blob to Dragon Quest or something. They're not really all that much alike.

 

In all honesty, even though I don't read reviews, I am far more interested when people pick up the game on this forum and offer their impressions. I daresay I've ever bought a game and been disappointed with it after getting advice on this forum. The only exception would be Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, but that was on Wii Launch Night, so nobody had actually played it (making my mentioning of it rather redundant, heh).

 

I don't own a lightgun game, but I also don't have much money. So, I'm having to be very careful with which games I pick up. If I had money, my Wii Collection would have tripled.

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Same here. I don't really go by reviews too much now since when I read some about a game, it doesn't get a great review, I go out and buy it and see that i've enjoyed the game, so instead I go by what the forumers say and see what they think of the game befoer I go and buy it. Done that quite a few times now and I don't regret any game i've bought.

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In all honesty, I don't read that many reviews nowadays, particularly for Wii games. Mainly because I find that there are so many contradictions between different sources, or because some reviewers didn't spend enough time with the games to fully appreciate it or the controls.

 

I tend to look at the concept, what the game is offering/trying to achieve, and base whether or not I buy it on that. I can't actually remember what the last review I read actually was.

 

wii games seem to live or die by the controls though.. This is what happened with super monkey ball.. the controls in the multiplayer were just broken I mean i neevr said that with a wii game but seriously..

 

Red steel was fun BECAUSE it was fun... what im trying to say is good controls make it more fun than it should be and bad make it less fun.. if im making sense here..

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wii games seem to live or die by the controls though.. This is what happened with super monkey ball.. the controls in the multiplayer were just broken I mean i neevr said that with a wii game but seriously..

 

Red steel was fun BECAUSE it was fun... what im trying to say is good controls make it more fun than it should be and bad make it less fun.. if im making sense here..

 

The controls in the multiplayer were not great, but I do think many of the games would have sucked arse anyway with any control method. It seemed like they packed too much into it, to try and give variety, but they sacrificed quality. Look at the multiplayer in the original. You had three multiplayer modes/games, but they were all great and well thought out.

 

Single player was great, minus the boss fights. The series didn't need boss fights, and it doesn't suit this whole adventure aspect. Again, they tried to do too much, and lost some of that essence that made us love the original.

 

So, for Banana Blitz, I blame some of the ideas, rather than the actual controls.

 

Controls are only one aspect, though. Yeah, they're partly what makes the games different, but I think there are other features of the Wii that needs to be taken advantage of, such as WiiConnect24, for example. But, not only that, but also more thought needs to be put into games themselves. It's great having an FPS with Wii Controls, but like you said about Red Steel, the games need to be fun themselves anyway. So, I'd like more thought put in to make the experience more complete. Like when Monkey Ball had boss fights, I'd like the developers to take a step back and ask themselves "ok, why include them? What are we trying to achieve here?" If anything, sometimes adding features to the main gameplay can make the experience frustrating. I think the Wii was created with simplicity in mind, but so many games nowadays (even not on the Wii) fail for fundemental reasons: That certain aspects are just not fun.

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I have to say this game hasn't been on my radar at all as I didn't think it would offer much besides the usual shooter fare. However I feel it has enough to warrant a purchase. Not preordered as skint, will I be able to pick up the collector's edition on friday? That's when I get paid.

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As Ashley will be venturing to the Wii flat to play HotD and MadWorld tomorrow, does anyone have any questions they'd like answered on either game?

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I have one relating to HotD on the Wii in the long term. I'd like to know whether, if the title sells well or not, they'll look into more new iterations into the series carrying on the same grindhouse graphical style or whether they'd try a new style with each game. I know the first title isn't out yet but asking about the potential for HotD on the Wii beyond Overkill isn't that much of a stretch.

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How do Sega feel about the Wii install base- Are they confident mature titles will sell or are their upcoming titles more experiments?

 

Also, what was the process of working with Headstrong Games on a previously Japanese developed franchise? Who approached who? What made Sega choose Headstrong? How did the relationship pan out?

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Dave why don't you just write and ask the guys at Kuju. They're a pretty cool bunch as I remember and they'll likely tell you as much as they can.

 

Doubt anyone here can give you any answers to those questions.

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Another day, another positive review.

 

From Gamecentral

House O/T Dead: Overkill (Wii)

Review by Roger Hargreaves – We'll leave our commentary on the absurdity of calling a lightgun game hardcore to today's In The Middle feature.

 

Although the complexity of its game mechanics are to standard first-person shooters what snakes and ladders is to chess, that can't stop this being fun.

 

However, it's certainly not for a family audience, although that's almost entirely down to its potty mouth.

 

UK studio Headstrong has wisely decided not to try to mimic the hilariously badly translated dialogue of the earlier Japanese-made games.

 

Instead it's decided that the Western version of comedy horror which best fits the theme of the series is Planet Terror style grindhouse.

 

And so the charming linguistic naivety is transformed into an equally unsophisticated tirade of swearing.

 

We can't say we really took to the game's new tone, in part because the dialogue just isn't funny but also because the accompanying gore is so timid in comparison.

 

For all the game's posturing, there's little actual gore and even the blood is a few shades off the ideal scarlet.

 

Limbs and body parts do go flying on a regular basis though and the graphics are technically excellent throughout.

 

Whatever failings it may have as a horror title, this is an inarguably well-designed lightgun game.

 

All you're really doing is pointing a cursor at the screen as the game automatically moves you through each scene, so it takes genuine skill to construct interesting enough set pieces to keep your attention throughout.

 

With one exception, only the boss battles lack the same expert design.

 

Predictably the game does little to shake up the lightgun template, although the emphasis put on the score combo system is welcomingly addictive.

 

There is also the slow-mo-fo power-up, a smart bomb-style grenade and the ability to move the screen a few inches each way, but in terms of complications that's all you get.

 

Particularly with a friend in tow that's more than enough though.

 

For a lightgun game this is pretty long at around three hours, but to alleviate the low difficulty level there's a mountain of unlockable extras including the harder and longer Director's Cut.

 

It's a shame it does nothing about the poor weapon balance though, that makes the shotguns and pistol all you need.

 

These are minor flaws, as the Wii hosts a genre that no Western developer has ever got right before.

 

IN SHORT: The best lightgun game never to have seen the inside of an arcade as Headstrong outdoes Sega Japan.

 

PROS: Expertly designed levels, which nail the lightgun formula perfectly. Good graphics and tons of unlockables.

 

CONS: The swearing is artless and the gore mundane. No really new ideas, unbalanced weapons and weak bosses.

 

SCORE: 7/10 Out: 13/2 (UK)

 

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