The House of The Dead: Overkill - Reception

Reception

Upon release, The House of the Dead: Overkill received a generally favorable response from critics, with an average review score of 81% at Game Rankings and 79/100 at Metacritic. Many critics praised the fast paced balanced gameplay, with X-Play stating "the arcade style shooting is satisfying and provides a challenge for experienced players" yet "easily conquered for those who can’t aim a Wiimote to save their life." Games Radar found the simple gameplay to be "varied enough to keep the momentum going." Although considered to be easier than past games of the series, GameSpot calling the difficulty a "cake walk" at pure gore and bloodiest game times, Eurogamer said the game "almost never tries your patience, and it's made with such infectious and irreverent glee and such obvious pride, you can't help but join in." The over-the-top B movie grindhouse style was particularly praised. Game Informer stated "the parade of F-bombs and one-liners fit in perfect harmony with the grindhouse presentation", even recommending it to Tarantino fans. GameSpot claimed it "reinvents the aging shooter series for the better with an over-the-top grindhouse theme that resonates in its every aspect, from the hilarious story to the fantastic vintage soundtrack." Due to the adult nature of the game, GameDaily called it "a digital slaughterhouse full of carnage that'll make you happy to be an adult Wii owner" and Nintendo Power calling it "one of the Wii's greatest guilty pleasures". Edge stated that Overkill "raises the bar for third party production values on this generation’s best-selling console."

Though 1UP "still enjoyed the game", they did consider that "with its constant stream of expletives and toilet humor, it may turn just as many people away" and started their review with a disclaimer for younger gamers not to play, being strictly an adult game. Another issue critics found was a number of technical issues, particularly with the frame rate, which IGN called "sketchy" and "sad to see in a game that has so much amazing content in it." GamePro also experienced this, notably when "the screen became cluttered with enemies", originally hoping the issue to be fixed before the game’s final release. Another issue were glitches, with Computer and Video Games reportedly experiencing no enemies appearing at all at times and sometimes requiring to restart the console.

It was recently confirmed by Dread Central the game is set to receive a Guinness World Record for being the most profane video game in history. Yahoo! News Canada quoted Jonathan Burroughs, the game’s writer, in an article about the World Record, he said: “It is a dubious honor to receive such an accolade working in an industry where so often the fruits of your labors are derided and dismissed for being puerile or irresponsible." Burroughs went on to say, "But in the case of The House Of The Dead: Overkill, a little puerility was the order of business. Parodying the profane excess of grindhouse cinema was (game developer) Headstrong Games' objective and I am flattered that this record acknowledges that we not only rose to that challenge, but entirely exceeded it." This record was beaten a year later by Mafia II. The game has also been nominated for a writing award.

NPD Group reports that the game sold 45,000 units in the United States in its debut month. Sega of America has expressed satisfaction with the game's sales numbers, claiming that it has "absolutely met our expectations."

On the Special Achievement Award, GameSpot awarded Overkill Funniest Game of 2009, going on to say "The interplay between Washington and Special Agent G is pure gold. Like Martin and Lewis with F-bombs. Mix that up with grindball atmosphere and Overkill cements its place as the funniest game of 2009."