House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)

Aren't games brilliant? There are all kinds of different types of games, which can serve all your gaming moods or needs. There are big, daft, shallow arcade games which will kill a few minutes of your time. There are sports games. There are epic games involving quests that seem to take a lifetime. There are shooting games. There are platform games. And so on... Basically, whatever you're in the mood for, videogames pretty much have it covered.

Yesterday, I played a big, daft, shallow arcade game (Screamer). It must have put me in a certain mood, because today's game is another big, daft, shallow arcade game... but whereas Screamer is over 13 years old, this one is brand new.

House of the Dead: Overkill is a follow-up to the big, daft series of lightgun games, but they've built this one from scratch especially for the family-friendly Wii.

Hang on a minute... "House of the Dead, on the Wii? Surely they must have toned it down?", you might be asking. Actually, no... in fact, they've gone the other way and made it the most extreme House of the Dead game yet. There's more gore than ever before, more swearing than ever before, and less taste than ever before.

It's glorious, unashamed arcade gaming. Who cares if it's shallow? It's just stupid fun. You all know how it works... zombies/mutants run at the screen in a jerky fashion, and you shoot them, preferably in the head. They die, you move onto the next batch of shambling horrors, until either you die or you complete the game. That's all there is to it, and you wouldn't want it any other way.

If you're thinking of getting this, bear in mind that there really is no depth to it. It's a classic arcade game. You play for a high score. If that's what you're in the mood for, HotD: Overkill will satisfy that urge nicely. That's especially true if you buy the "Hand Cannon" along with the game. In fact, if you are buying this game, I would urge you to buy that as well. It's a big, daft peripheral to go with the big, daft game, and it contributes enormously to the baaaaad-aaaaassss feeling you get from the game.

House of the Dead: Overkill is a very brave release from Sega. They might risk taking a bit of stick, releasing such an adult title on the console that prides itself on being for the family. But the people that buy the consoles are adults, and sometimes we like to kick back with some adult entertainment. HotD: Overkill is four hours of blowing heads off, entertainingly cheesy dialogue and unnecessary, OTT swearing. Sometimes that's just what I want at the end of the day.