The Premise
Sunset Overdrive provides a unique and refreshing take on the “zombiecalypse” genre. This grind-and-shoot game doesn’t take itself too seriously; in fact, it doesn’t do anything serious at all and it works.
Sunset City is plagued with zombies known as “OD” and the nameless protagonist must find a way out. These zombies are created from a new energy drink known as Overdrive, hence the name Sunset Overdrive.
The Beauty of an Apocalypse
Sunset Overdrive’s art direction is robust and pretty. It presents a cartoonish style of visuals similar to comic books. Every baseball bat thrashed against a zombie head results in gushing colored juices and vibrant flames moving across the screen.
Sunset’s color palette is incredibly interesting. It’s almost as if the game is being played on an artist’s canvas. Colors stay in an organic orange and yellow styles, with the only exception being the clothes and weapons. It truly is a vivid and vibrant game.
The Writing
One of Sunset Overdrive’s strongest aspects is its comedic writing. The storyline isn’t that great but it doesn’t need to be when every sentence is a punch line mocking today’s society. Sunset takes jabs at people today that fit stereotypical roles.
For example, it pokes fun at people that are always on their phones and mocks them for being so oblivious to their surroundings. Some of the writing is incredibly vulgar and, yes, it is incredibly hilarious.
An Old School Revival
Sunset Overdrive has one of the most fluid and well-transitioned mechanics in recent gaming. A player can travel across Sunset City without even touching the ground. Every rail and wire can be grinded on and water can be glided against.
What Sunset does incredibly well is allowing the player to go from Point A to Point B and not even know that he/she is already there. The world is so vast and can be so thoroughly explored it pulls the player in for hours.
The upgrade system and costume selections also provide a unique experience that many games today don’t offer. Every item is so silly in its own way that the player can’t help but laugh. Weapons such as a dynamite Teddy Bear launcher are so bizarre yet so entertaining.
Whether it’s grinding on telephone wires or jumping on broken cars, Sunset has a heartwarming feeling to it that brings out the joys of old-school shoot-em-up games
The Conclusion
Sunset Overdrive is fun, plain and simple. Its bizarre and vulgar scenarios leave the player wanting more.
The fresh mechanics as well as nostalgic feeling it provides will be a pleasant one to both new gamers and old. It may possibly be the best game on the Xbox One.
Read last week’s Tech Tuesday about how video game rating systems should be removed.
