The Top 10 Games of Christmas 2014

06. Sunset Overdrive

ESRB Rating: M (for Mature)

Price: $59.99

When you are a game that is developed by games studio Insomniac Games you can claim the sort of lineage that tends to impress other games; name dropping Spyro and Ratchet & Clank let alone the clearly under-appreciated Resistance in a bar full of AAA games does more than generate silence and the sort of appreciation that...

The thing is, while Sunset Overdrive is a lot of things that widely get commented on, the one critical element that it presents that rarely is focused upon is the fact that it is a platform exclusive title that was created expressly for Microsoft's new Xbox One - and while there is certainly the risk of being accused of too strongly embracing the whole conspiracy theory set, it seems to us that that exclusivity was neither accident nor happenstance.

The thing is when a studio calmly and discretely points out its lineage of the past in order to position its most recent efforts, it does so by putting silent emphasis upon the normalcy that is attached to that sort of effort.

That the normalcy - that is the best word to label it - found in those titles somehow conflicts when Sunset Overdrive is mentioned.

Not because it doesn't belong in the same column as the others - it very clearly does - but rather it is the voice with which it speaks that tends to raise eyebrows.

Developed by Insomniac and published by Microsoft Studios in October 2014, at least part of the eyebrow hoisting can be traced to the fact that, while Sunset Overdrive is decidedly an action-adventure shooter with some RPG elements to it, at its heart it is also a comedy take on the action-adventure genre that clearly pokes fun at itself and the genre, and that is a combination that tends to startle the mainline gamer population.

Oh, it is not an unheard of approach, not by half!

Games like the massively popular Borderlands series and Saints Row are great examples of how to do that right.

Even ostensibly serious titles like the games of the BioShock series and Dead Island have chosen to insert a string of the funny into their otherwise serious plots, some with more success than others.

What seems to separate Sunset from most of the games that choose that fusion approach though is the manner in which its basic plot elements nicely fit together like the lips and grooves of a handmade chest of drawers.

Far from losing the ever-essential suspension of disbelief around which such games and their stories thrive, the third-person approach in this vastly open-world romp uses its collection of circumstances tactically and with great success.

It certainly does not hurt it that its population of mutants nicely triggers all of the inherent natural responses of the bogeyman that are hard-wired into our lizard-brains.

And the notion that the protagonist is more a victim of circumstances than an intentional hero also serves to reinforce the simple rightness of our actions - actions that if they were isolated and then judged on their own merits? Well we leave that conclusion as an exercise for the reader.

The combination of elements that go into creating the game play mechanics and the environment in Sunset naturally play off of each other in order to springboard the entire plot and collection of sub-plots to a level that, frankly, we had not anticipated. And it works!

Set in the not-too-distant year of 2027, the fictional open-world metropolis called Sunset City might be LA, or even Slat Lake, and its corporate culture while really just hinted at offers a measure of connection and a commonality of circumstances that the typical Pepsi-Generation gamer will find no difficulties in connecting to.

The protagonist is a fully customizable drone for FizzCo, or at least the general assumption was that they were that entity until circumstances forced them to take on a new role.

When the otherwise normal humans around you are suddenly transformed into mutants who, let's not split hairs here, are the victims of a transformation caused by an energy drink under circumstances that may not be so innocent, they can't properly take accident as a defense!

Basically that translates into a solid back story that already offers elements of mystery and conspiracy that the wizards behind the game could opt to shape into a major presence in the game. Or not.

The fact that an already proven set of fusion genre and sub-genre has been solidly linked together by a game play mechanic that leverages a collection of parkour moves like wall-runs and zip-lines, and a rather broad arsenal puts the player in line with the notion that they just might be up for any problem that comes along!

That is perhaps the greatest strength and attraction for this game: it does not treat every problem as a nail, or suggest that the solution is that hammer in your belt.

In fact it rewards a sort of out-of-the-box thinking that most open-world games only pretend to support, while sticking with the partly concealed rail upon which their stories function.

If we have made this one sound like the best thing since sliced bread than we have only partially delivered the intended message. Because it is not precisely that - though close!

In the process of creating what is genuinely an over-the-top romp for this particular fusion style of game, the wizards who created it crossed more than a few lines they probably shouldn't have...

While the basic mechanics are focused around what the development team publicly declares to be “agile combat” that is backed up by a believable if over-the-top arsenal, here are some hiccoughs to be found.

Much of the modern firepower that is included in the game is offset by the presence of the AMP system - an artificial boost and damage leveling system for upgrading the lethality of the weapons that, along with a Hollywood sort of reloads philosophy, simply boggles the mind.

We need to put AMP in perspective for you. While it holds itself up to be the leveling system for armoed combat, it also happens to function almost like a force multiplier at the same time!

Channeling the spirit of the spaghetti westerns of the 1960s, we find that nearly all of the weapons that are used by the player are a limitless tool of death that, while they do eventually run out of ammunition, that fact does not interfere with play.

How is that possible?? Why, because they don't actually require a reload - at least not while the player is using them!

The big sin that they committed here, throughout the game happens to number among the most excusable, which was to make the protagonist a bit too funny, and the weapon selection a bit too whimsical.

A great example among the weapons is the celebrated (at least inside the game anyway) piece called the TNTeddy Grenade Launcher.

Basically it is a Grenade Launcher that fires plushy teddy bears who have, strapped to their hug-worthy bodies, sticks of dynamite!

While those elements - those over-the-top elements - run the risk of forcing the player to take themselves a little too seriously, thanks to the Style-Points system that was added into the mixture, that potential for introspective disaster is defused.

After all, you can't take yourself too seriously when you score style points for creative kills that cause you to laugh at yourself, right? Right!

Despite those obvious flaws the picture that we painted of this game for the first two-thirds above still maintains.

For all of those faults, Sunset Overdrive is a game that shines, and based upon our extensive exposure we feel confident that it has inherent within it the sort of attraction and entertainment levels that promise a long and hearty following.

For that reason, we caution you not to allow the middle-of-the-road position it captures on this list fool you into thinking it is a middle-level romp.

Sunset Overdrive is a worthy play, has a lot to offer in terms of addictive interest retention, and offers a story that is worth experiencing.

And that means that it is worthy of gifting - and especially of receiving as a gift because hey, aren't the holidays about getting really great gifts at least as much as they are about giving them??

Posted: 17th Dec 2014 by CMBF
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