Review: Cheap Thrills, Big Laughs Power Vibrant ‘Sunset Overdrive’
Why so serious, video games?
Over
the past couple of months, misogynous rants, death threats, insane
flame wars, accusations of ethical breaches, and overwrought,
hand-wringing diatribes have dominated gaming headlines. The misguided
“Gamergate” movement has breached the mainstream, appearing everywhere
from The New York Times to The Colbert Report. It’s turned my beloved pastime (and my Twitter feed) into one long, irritating argument about I don’t know what, exactly.
So I don’t feel like I’m exaggerating when I say that Sunset Overdrive,
the energetic, laugh-out-loud, punk-rock action romp from Insomniac
Games exclusively for the Xbox One is just what the doctor ordered.
The
year is 2027 and the place is Sunset City, a sprawling metropolis that
until recently was a perfectly fine, slightly douchey place to live.
That all changed the day shady beverage manufacturer Fizzco released
Overcharge Delirium XT, its latest energy drink, because the tasty
orange goop didn’t go through very rigorous testing. It turns out
drinking the stuff has the unsettling side effect of turning people into
monstrous mutants (cleverly called “OD”). Welcome to the apocalypse,
sponsored by Gatorade.
So
who are you? You’re anyone you want to be. Gender, size, and ethnicity
are up for grabs in the game’s character creator, but regardless of
looks, you’re the poor schlub who has to save the world.
That means taking down mutants, nefarious human gangs, and Fizzco’s
aggressive robot cleanup crew as you crisscross the huge, open-world
city.
Life
on the streets of a mutant-infested Sunset City is pretty awful,
however; you won’t survive long if you stick to the ground. Instead, the
game encourages you to get airborne and stay there. You’ll bounce on
cars, grind on rails, swing on poles, and run on walls as you blast away
at enemies to drive up your “Style” meter. That isn’t just for show,
because Sunset Overdrive brilliantly ties movement to mayhem.
The higher your Style, the more potent your attacks. Get your meter high
enough, and you’ll summon lightning, leave lava trails, or turn every
bounce into a satisfying, fiery explosion.
The
better you perform, the greater the rewards. Grinding, bouncing, and
shooting earn ability-boosting badges. Collectibles can be traded for
combat-enhancing Amps. Sunset City is a maniacal, Technicolor
playground; every power line, building, and bush is a potential combo
kicker. It’s Tony Hawk meets Infamous, if you can imagine, and it’s just tons of fun.
It’s also tons of funny, regularly demolishing the fourth wall to unsubtly wink at players. Sunset Overdrive
is a nonstop pop-culture joke machine bursting with TV, movie, and
video game references. Does it occasionally pander a little too hard?
Absolutely, and while some of the gags flop, more than enough don’t.
Adding to the insanity is Sunset Overdrive’s
ridiculous weaponry. You’ll launch teddy bears strapped to TNT, torch
mutants with exploding cannisters of hair spray, and knock out enemies
with a bowling ball shooter named, naturally, The Dude. If you ever
wanted to fire flaming vinyl LPs at looters, here’s your chance.
Sunset Overdrive
is hyper-aware of its own foibles. Periodically, your hero gripes about
repetitively running errands to earn the trust of fellow survivors,
and, well, he (or she) is right. Though you deal with all sorts of
weirdos over the game’s campaign — self-absorbed frat boys, delusional
LARPers, cheerleaders wearing Dia de los Muertos face paint — they tend
to send you on similar fetch quests. Tons of side-quests and challenges
help break up the monotony, though, and you’ll rarely feel bored.
Besides, there’s always multiplayer. Sunset Overdrive’s
cooperative play, appropriately called “Chaos Mode,” can be seamlessly
accessed right from the middle of your solo campaign. You’ll take on
challenges with up to eight other players, and while multiplayer lacks a
narrative, it lives up to its namesake with some of the biggest,
craziest firefights in the game.
No matter how you play it, Sunset Overdrive
is a graphical feast. Forget the safe browns and grays that power most
post-apocalyptic games. Insomniac embraces the entire Crayola box,
especially the oranges, in painting its graffiti-infused, DIY world.
Cartoonishly gory, the bold visuals make other games look positively
dour.
That
is, when you can see it properly. Shooting a massive mutant Herker with
a fireworks gun while grinding the edge of a skyscraper sounds awesome,
but the lack of an adequate target lock leads to more than a few
misfires. Your acrobatic feats would have benefited from an equally
dexterous camera operator.
It’s a small thing in a big game, however. Simultaneously smart and stupid, Sunset Overdrive
proudly wears its over-the-top, punk-rock aesthetic on its sleeve but
doesn’t sweat the details that make it all work. It’s crammed with
jokes, it plays great, and above all, it serves as a much-needed
reminder of why we play games in the first place: to have fun.
What’s Hot: Insane, acrobatic action; hilarious; smart design ties it all together
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