Starting the game up I wanted so badly to love Sunset Overdrive. After all, I'm a huge Insomniac fan, with standees of Ratchet & Clank throughout my basement and I proudly wear the achievement of completing every single game in that series (even the mobile one). I never really got into Resistance (although I'm still willing to give it a proper try) and for some reason, Fuse hasn't even made it into one of my machines even though I own it. Come on, Insomniac, give me something to love if you aren't giving me the Ratchet and Clank HD remake until next year.
I closed my eyes and started to play. (Then played with my eyes open after that.)
The music is a little hardcore rock, not quite my thing but certainly not terrible. The world opens up and the training level goes by at break-neck speed. The quality of the graphics, animation, and cut-scenes are right up there. I'm starting to feel a little better. I am starting to relax a bit, even. This is good so far, this is fun. This is like Ratchet & Clank made a baby with inFamous Second Son and somehow Watch Dogs tried to work its DNA in there. I liked all those games, so why not this one?
It takes a little get used to, but in this game you don't run - you grind, and you do so on most surfaces to get from point A to point B. If you stand still too long, you're asking for trouble.
This game is different in a number of ways, and yet so familiar in others. The weapons you obtain and upgrade will remind you of Ratchet & Clank, but they are not nearly as important. You will run out of ammo and need to switch weapons, but I never found myself ever really in danger of running out completely and worrying about proper resource management. There are always replacements but maybe it was because I enjoyed the melee aspect of the game so much that I never relied solely on my guns.
The style of the game is a bit different and even if the style isn't your thing, it's worth getting through it to enjoy the fun gameplay.
The game pokes fun at itself, the gaming industry in general and although it points out things are cliche, at the end of the day, most of what you do is just that -- something you have done before. Yet I couldn't help getting over the fact that it was all just fun. This game is definitely fun.
It took me right around 13 hours to get through the main quests but when I looked on my map I have dozens of hours of extra things to do if I want to, and I didn't even touch the multiplayer. So if you are looking for value, this game has it in spades. While I will be taking a break to try other things, I know that I've got lots of hours still left to put into the game and having upgraded some of my stuff along the way means that it will be even easier (and more fun) to do so.There is no difficulty setting per se in the game. You will die, sometimes more than others, but I never once found myself getting frustrated at having to redo any portion of any level. Checkpoints are automatically and strategically placed in the game and the respawn animations are funny on their own. In fact, I haven't seen such funny death animations since Dragon's Lair in 1983.
While I'm sad to think that maybe some people will skip over this game because they don't like the style of it, I say give it a try anyways. At Sunset Overdrive's core, it's got great gameplay, a funny story (after all, it makes total sense that the post-apocalyptic world would be created after some energy drinks were contaminated) and it is unique in a number of ways. It's a new franchise and one definitely worth checking out. Just make sure you stay until the credits are all done.
- Syd Bolton
Follow @sydbolton
The Good:
- Fun, highly stylized game that is fast paced and keeps you moving from point to point, literally
- Offers various gameplay elements and has extremely high production values
The Bad:
- The music, art style, and comedy will not be for everyone
- I never felt "worried" about running out of resources which may have diminished the experience slightly
Syd Bolton surrounds himself in thousands of classic video games as Canada's top video game collector playing his games on a 80 inch Sharp Quattron Plus TV. He is also the founder of the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
