|
 |
Total Overdose (Reviews)21/11/2005 11:41:41
Total Overdose is totally rad! It's an action fix of such epic proportions you could quite possibly OD on fun. To put it simply, Total Overdose packs more explosions, stylised action sequences, gore, humour and slow-motion death sequences into one minute of gameplay than your likely to see in the combined cinematic back catalogue of Arnie, Sly Stallone and the Muscles from Brussels. Now, if it just had the production values of a Grand Theft Auto or Half-life 2, well, we'd be laughin' Our adventure takes place in Los Toros, the type of seedy, Mexican city you'll identify with films such as El Mariachi. You play con Ramiro Cruz who has been busted out of the joint by his FBI agent brother on the proviso he goes undercover to help bring down a powerful drug cartel. The story unfolds through a host of cut-scenes blessed with great vocal SFX, funny dialogue and fun action sequences - it's a good, if simple story that provides the necessary hook. Los Toros itself is an open city split into distinct neighbourhoods. You are free to roam the world looking for collectables, power-ups and playing mini-games in between undertaking challenge missions or progressive story-missions (which are always entertaining). Wandering around the city is a far cruder experience than San Andreas, but it remains fun thanks to an emphasis on jumps (you can jack any vehicle in the game), indiscriminate pedestrian killing and the aforementioned mini-games. But this is all superfluous to one thing: combat! Best described as a cross between Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne and Serious Sam, the action is gameplay bliss. On foot, our hero can enter slow-motion at almost any time and in a number of different ways, unleashing volleys of bullets from a large range of weaponry at multiple targets in the one dive. While driving, you can open the door and dive from a vehicle letting it crash and explode into an obstacle or building. There is no star system, you can run for as long as you like and there are things to find everywhere - it's unbelievable fun! Let us elaborate. A typical piece of gameplay could go as follows: jump out of moving vehicle in slow-mo watching it explode in the background as you pump a full clip from duel pistols into a henchman. Land in a roll to real-time but quickly cartwheel off a nearby wall into slow-mo again, targeting an explosive drum and firing, automatically switching to a shotgun as you run out of ammo but, still having time to hold the target-head button and shoot a bloke twice: the first decapitating the bugger and the second gibbing him to pieces. And that's without using a special move! What's more, the controls respond quite well (most of the time) and it's all balanced well enough that it requires skill despite its ease, which in turn feels very rewarding. You can play games like this all day.] The problem is, Total Overdose is a classic example of 'gameplay above all else' game development and this may not sit comfortably with all comers. It's seriously fugly, with repetitive bland models, collision detection flaws and a total lack of finesse. The car physics are also incredibly simplistic and more effort here would have really heightened the overall experience. And it's so heavily focused on combat that it's very lax in the way it shapes your path through the game. The trick is, you need to accept Total Overdose as something other than a GTA clone - it fun in a whole different way. Just think of it as Serious Sam going loco in the Mexican equivalent of San Andreas and you'll bloody love it!
Score =9.0/10
 [ Printer Friendly Version ] [ Other stories about Bliss, Dialogue, HIS Limited, Gameplay, FBI, Brother ]
|
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of IDG Communications is prohibited.
IDG Sites: PC World | GoodGearGuide | Computerworld Australia | CIO Australia | CSO Online | LinuxWorld.com.au | ARN
Subscribe to Newsletters | Contacts |
Terms Of Service Agreement | Privacy Statement | Email Us | Advertise
