Sunset Overdrive full#

Even the standard issue revolver, lovingly named “The Dirty Harry,” can’t resist having a little fun. Every one of them, from the gun that shoots teddy bears strapped to TNT, to the “assault rifle” that fires vinyl records, and the shotgun that sets people on fire and looks very… phallic (it’s called the Flaming Compensator, for God’s sake), is designed to kill enemies at the speed of maximum enjoyment. The weapons are one big joke, and the carnage that follows them is the punch line. Like most of Insomniac’s titles, Sunset Overdrive is, at its core, a third-person shooter, the kind that any fan of Insomniac’s previous work, especially Ratchet and Clank and Resistance 3, will enjoy. Some will even explode into orange goop that paints a visual “Pop!” across the screen, adding to the game’s comic book feel.

'Each of the game’s many and varied weapons is satisfying to use, and the game has one of the best bullet-to-enemy feedback systems I’ve seen in a long time. Sunset Overdrive wants you to have fun, dammit, and that incredibly catchy sense of humor informs everything the game does. This entire game is a joke, but one that’s snickering and slapping you on the back the whole time it’s being told. Get that grimdark, serious, “You know, Ellie, we really are The Last of Us” nonsense out of here. This is a game bursting with color, one that feels alive and is practically begging you to explore it. It’s the Awesome-pocalypse, as one of the game’s characters so aptly notes. Sunset Overdrive is the punk rock version of the apocalypse as told by the Sex Pistols. But it’s definitely number two on your priorities list. And, you know, maybe escape the mutant infested city. It’s in the middle of this chaos that your character finds their true calling: they’re going to be a friggin’ superhero.

Sunset Overdrive full#

Meanwhile, Fizzco, in a complete state of panic over what this could do to their stock prices, goes full Weiland-Yutani, and locks down the city, leaving the survivors inside to be murdered by the mutant “OD,” killed by other survivors who believe (and rightly so this is a video game, after all) that if they kill you, they get your stuff, or massacred by the Fizzco robots that the company has dropped in to contain the situation. It’s at this point that your character, the poor slob of a janitor that’s stuck cleaning up everyone’s mess, decides it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge. At least, until the partygoers start mutating into hideous monsters and attacking everyone in sight. Who needs that stuff, right? Things are going great at Fizzco’s pre-launch party, hosted in lovely Sunset City people are pounding down Overdrive, dancing, and generally having a good time. Sunset Overdrive’s premise is delightfully stupid: in a move to get their latest project, the energy drink Overdrive, to market as quickly as possible, mega-corporation Fizzco cuts corners on the required federal testing because of course they did. 'Things are going great at Fizzco’s pre-launch party, hosted in lovely Sunset City people are pounding down Overdrive, dancing, and generally having a good time. The result was Sunset Overdrive, and it captures the best parts of Insomniac’s core philosophy: ridiculous, crazy fun trumps all else. They partnered with Microsoft to make an Xbox exclusive title. Then, after yet another Ratchet and Clank title, Insomniac did something crazy. The game was initially titled Overstrike, and looked like a return to form for Insomniac, but it was not to be. This led to Fuse, Insomniac’s first multiplatform title. The games were well received critically, but didn’t perform particularly well commercially. Insomniac’s return Ratchet and Clank didn’t fare much better. Ironic, really, considering that Resistance 3 was arguably the best game in the series. Still, the franchise started strong, at least in terms of sales, but fizzled out by the time the end of the generation. Their next series, Resistance, was a massive change of pace: instead of the bright, colorful, humorous games that the developer was famous for, Resistance was the kind of dark, serious first-person shooter that was only possible in a post-Gears of War world. The House That Spyro Built had a great run with the Spyro franchise, and then hit it big with the Ratchet and Clank series. Insomniac Games has fallen on hard times recently.