Review: Sunset Overdrive Overdelivers On Quality
Hype is a big deal in the gaming industry, and few games have caused as much hype as Sunset Overdrive. For good reason: It has had the look of a special sort of game ever since it was first revealed, over a year ago now. But does it live up to that hype? Is it the masterpiece of comedic genius that we've been hoping for? You know, it might just be...
Quick Rating
- Worth The Time?Absolutely.
- Things LovedThe humour is just delicious; The fourth wall is broken often and well; It is a very self-aware sort of game; It somehow manages to make mundane quests extremely fun; The story builds up nicely over time; Exploration and navigation is a treat and mixes well with combat; So much to do; Very pretty to look at.
- Things HatedUltimately a lot of the game is just favours for others; Controlling can get a bit clumsy.
- RecommendationSunset Overdrive is an excellent offering from Insomniac Games and you should definitely look to pick it up if you haven't already. It may or may not convince you to take a long, hard look at an Xbox One if you don't already own one, but in that respect we'd recommend waiting for more good exclusives; that said, you won't find another game quite like this one on the current generation of consoles.
- Name: Sunset Overdrive
- Genre: Sandbox
- Players: 1
- Multiplayer: Online cooperative
- Platforms: Xbox One
- Developer: Insomniac Games
- Publisher: Microsoft Studios
- Price: $60 / R700
- Reviewed On: Xbox One
There is a running argument in the videogames industry that games have become far too serious and same-y, to the point that anything even slightly different from the norm would either be celebrated or shunned for standing out; those that are celebrated typically introduce some unique and fun new element whereas those shunned are simply trying too hard to make fetch happen, so to speak.
Sunset Overdrive has fallen into both of those categories prior to its release. On the one side it looked like incredible fun, but on the other we questioned its novelty factor and wondered whether it would last through its duration. The short demonstration of the game that we got did no favours for this argument but now at last we can finally say that we were categorically wrong to think it would not stand the test of its playtime. We can finally say for certain that Sunset Overdrive is actually an excellent Xbox One exclusive.
Will it sell consoles? Probably not, because let’s be honest, one really great game does not a good console make. But it’s certainly a little extra incentive if you were hoping to be swayed in one way or the other. Let’s talk about why this is so, shall we?
The first thing you need to know, since light travels faster than anything else, is that Sunset Overdrive is a gorgeous title that really takes full advantage of its Xbox One platform, presenting a beautifully crafted world that mixes realistic visuals with colourful and highly saturated environments that create this air of cartoon-like punk flair. The game looks like what an eighties surfer might think a game released many decades later might look like, and that’s really the best way we can describe it.
From the get-go you’re thrown pretty much right into the thick of things as you get off a train and stumble straight into what is effectively the tutorial but is also the protagonist’s — and by extension your — first experience of Sunset City, which has been plunged into chaos. Let’s back up for a minute. You are an employee of FizzCo, a company that has manufactured the energy drink Overdrive, and is about to launch it to consumers. Once they start trying it out, their bodies morph into abominations known as OD and all hell breaks loose. You barely make it back to your apartment and are then saved by a guy who gives you a gun and teaches you how to traverse Sunset City.
Admittedly the beginning of the game started off quite slowly and confusingly, practically throwing you into the mix without much in the way of explanation or rationalisation for why you’re there and what you mean to achieve by being there. At that point I was ready to call Sunset Overdrive a hype-baiting, mediocre experience. But then it started to pick up and pick up and pick up some more and it just kept picking up and the story became something I can only describe as well worth any form of time investment, spoilers notwithstanding. I loved it. In fact, I still love it.
What’s really awesome is that Sunset Overdrive is under no illusions about what type of game it’s trying to be. It’s trying to be the type of game that is aware that it’s a game. In that respect, Sunset Overdrive is very self-aware, positively shattering the fourth wall at every opportunity and creating a world in which the real-life player is basically mirrored by the in-game player. And at times it’s in the silliest ways such as characters pointing reference to ‘floaty arrows’ and ‘weird blips on the map’ and so on. Even such things as in-game announcers that are commenting directly to you as the player, as much as they are to your character. We adore a game that is not afraid to call itself what it is, and Sunset Overdrive really pulled it off in just the classiest manner.
The real meat of this game is navigation and traversal and so as a direct result, it’s going to take you some time to get to full grips with all of the parkour elements on offer here. There are rails to grind, walls to run across, cars to bounce over and more. You mix these together for maximum effect but also to generate style points, which have their own bonuses attached such as granting powerups during fights. While it’s quick to pick up, it will definitely take a while for you to really master.
The mix of open world traversal and combat makes for a nice blend of action and exploration while mostly feeling seamless and smooth, however it must be admitted that sometimes it can get very clumsy; at least until you’ve properly got all of the button presses down. In a way this is a form of coming to grips with the game and we’d rather have that over something you could instantly start and win at. Thankfully while coming to grips with this system, if you should die (and you will die a lot at first until you do) you’re not as severely punished for it as you might think. The game typically respawns you somewhere near where you’ve died, and in new and comical ways each time. For example, a coffin comes up from the ground or an alien ship ejects its abducted cargo and so on. It’s silly and stupid but at the same time entertaining, which has the crazy effect of eliminating the frustration of dying. That in itself is quite the feat, it has to be said.
Your in-game character may be male or female, and you may customise such things as hair, facial features, clothing and so on. It’s irrelevant really because at any time you can change every single aspect (including gender) of your character, if you so desire. Using money you pick up from destroying crates or killing OD, you can purchase and unlock more clothes, which range from underwear to hats to pretty much every other aspect of clothing you can think of including some truly bizarre ones. Interestingly the game has no restrictions on gender-based clothing, meaning you could if you desired wear a bikini as a male character. We think that’s a nice touch.
Besides money there are also Overdrive cans which are also acquired through killing enemies and can be used to purchase ammo, or acquire new weapons. Each weapon is suitably hilarious and comes with its own pop-culture references. Weapons are strong against particular types of OD and can be used in combinations for maximum effect. Further, using a weapon will level it up the more you use it, which allows it to be ‘upgraded’ by creating and equipping Amps, which you can think of like Perks in Fallout. Once you reach a certain style level, they activate. You can make more Amps by picking up collectibles strewn across the map and then ‘cooking’ them. Some of the better Amps require you to play a quick form of wave defence first.
On the note of collectibles, there really are a lot in this game. Just a stupid amount, really. You can purchase collectibles maps using Overdrive cans but holy hell, you are going to be spending an age just acquiring the collectibles. And with good incentive since they can be traded in for cool Amps. Besides the Amps, you also get Overdrives, which are similar in that they grant bonuses but whereas the Amps are only activated at particular style levels, the Overdrives are passive bonuses that are always present once equipped. Unlike Amps, which are created, you can only unlock Overdrives using Badges, which you earn by simply doing things. Grind on rails a lot and earn a Grind Badge, which you can then use to unlock a Grind Overdrive. It’s a little confusing and overwhelming at first, but trust us when we say that it’s this level of extensive intricacy that makes Sunset Overdrive such a deep and engaging game to play.
There are various side quests strewn across the map and while most of these are effectively clichéd fetch quests, escort missions and other things you’d find in other games, they’re still quite entertaining in that they’re typically always done differently here. Now we can’t say this was always the case but certainly a lot of times there were twists and turns and what seemed like a standard, arbitrary, run-of-the-mill quest turned into something entirely different.
In doing these quests and the main story which once again picks up after a slow start, you will meet various factions in Sunset City of all sorts of variety from preppy college kids to samurai warriors to LARPers, each of which will have quests for you to perform, over and above all the collectibles and ambient questing. But that’s not all! There is also a set of weekly challenges which will be updated by Insomniac each (you guessed it…) week, and there’s even a broadcasting thing in-game called Sunset TV, which the developers will be using to communicate directly with players.
As if that isn’t enough, there is also a cooperative mode called Chaos Squad which allows you to invite a bunch of your friends to play through various missions including a Night Defence mode. Playing through co-op unlocks a bunch of items for you to take back to your singleplayer story, and the more you play in co-op, the more you unlock for your singleplayer. The result is a lot of cooperative hours because all that sweet loot, man.
In all, Sunset Overdrive has really delivered on what we as fans have been expecting from it. It’s entertaining and memorable and while we’d never recommend a single game that could justify a small-fortune-level purchase, we can say that it’s currently the best you can get on Xbox One in terms of a fun and lasting gaming experience. It’s got a lot of game within it and really, that’s all you need.
But even then, Insomniac weren’t content to simply stop there. No. You get the humour and you get the cool methods of exploration, but none of it is forced onto you, and you still get more out of the package as well. If you don’t want to grind and bounce everywhere, you can fast travel. If you don’t want to do the main story, you can just do side quests. If you don’t want to kill enemies, you can just run right by them. There is choice here in the game and even death has little consequence. Typically not a good thing but here, it just works.
Sunset Overdrive is quite possibly one of the best games we’ve played this year and it’s refreshing to see a game actually live up to its hype. Goes to show that sometimes a developer actually can deliver and they don’t need millions of preorders, a popular console or a $500 million budget to do so.
The Verdict
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Name: Caveshen Rajman
Location: Durban
Position: Former Managing Editor
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