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Sunset Overdrive

“Sunset Overdrive is the uncontested Xbox One system-seller in Microsoft’s fall 2014 lineup.”
Sunset Overdrive Game Cover
86%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, stability
90% User Score Based on 12,047 reviews
Critic Score 83%Based on 28 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCXbox Game PassCloudXbox OneXbox Cloud GamingXboxWindows
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Sunset Overdrive Game Cover

About

Sunset Overdrive is a single player and multiplayer open world shooter game with a comedy theme. It was developed by Blind Squirrel Games and was released on November 16, 2018. It received positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Sunset Overdrive" is a comedic open-world game with excellent story and gameplay, offering both single-player and multiplayer modes for up to 2 players. The game features stunning visuals and a spectacular soundtrack, with a variety of grinding and parkour moves to explore the contaminated Sunset City. The Deluxe Edition includes the Season Pass, offering three game add-ons, exclusive outfits, and additional in-game items.

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Play Modes
Sunset Overdrive screenshot
Sunset Overdrive screenshot
Sunset Overdrive screenshot
Sunset Overdrive screenshot
Sunset Overdrive screenshot
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90%
Audience ScoreBased on 12,047 reviews
story898 positive mentions
grinding698 negative mentions
  • story
    3,390 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of *Sunset Overdrive* is characterized by its humorous, self-aware tone, filled with fourth-wall breaks and absurd scenarios, making it entertaining despite its simplicity and predictability. While the main narrative is often overshadowed by repetitive fetch quests and basic mission design, the game's charm lies in its vibrant world and engaging gameplay mechanics, which keep players invested. Overall, the story serves as a light-hearted backdrop to the action, appealing to those looking for a fun, comedic experience rather than a deep narrative.

    • “The story is fun and irreverent, with tongue-in-cheek writing and plenty of jokes peppered into the dialogue.”
    • “The story is extremely goofy and doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest, and you definitely won't walk away feeling like the title did anything impactful or groundbreaking at all; rather it simply delivers unadulterated, unfettered fun, and for that I think it's a real good time.”
    • “The story, while not groundbreaking or super memorable, is certainly serviceable.”
    • “The story is where it all falls down for me, too many NPCs that are just there to be there.”
    • “The story is just nonsensical garbage, I kind of wish they actually did care.”
    • “The majority of the story involves doing fetch quests for characters you don't really know much about.”
  • gameplay
    2,413 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of *Sunset Overdrive* is widely praised for its innovative traversal mechanics, combining elements of parkour, grinding, and shooting in a vibrant open world. Players enjoy the fast-paced, fluid movement that encourages constant action, making exploration and combat feel engaging and dynamic. However, some reviews note that the gameplay can become repetitive over time, and the story and character writing may not resonate with everyone, but the overall experience remains fun and entertaining.

    • “Game is super fun once you get the hang of the traversal mechanics and how they tie into combat.”
    • “The gameplay is fast, fluid and incredibly fun, and the movement is incredibly satisfying to play around with.”
    • “The gameplay is fantastic and the humour is hit and miss, 7.5/10.”
    • “I really like the game no doubt about it, only reason I am giving a negative review is this game lacks variety in overall gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay itself lacks engagement.”
    • “The gameplay loop of what you do is fairly limited.”
  • humor
    1,934 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in "Sunset Overdrive" is a mix of self-aware, fourth-wall-breaking jokes and absurd, often juvenile comedy that resonates with players who enjoy a lighthearted, chaotic experience. While many find the humor genuinely funny and engaging, others feel it can be hit-or-miss, with some jokes feeling dated or forced. Overall, the game's quirky characters, witty dialogue, and playful tone contribute to its unique charm, making it a memorable experience for fans of irreverent humor.

    • “Awesome voice acting and amazingly funny characters that had me laughing like crazy!”
    • “The game is hella funny with a very distinct and unique identity, one of the best games I've ever played.”
    • “Plus, the game’s humor is spot on—your character's always cracking jokes and keeping things light.”
    • “It is so painfully unfunny that the quality of the whole is reduced every sentence uttered by the brilliant voice cast.”
    • “The constant fourth wall breaking is pretentious and unfunny.”
    • “The stories lack motivation and compelling characters, mixed with the awkward, unfunny, and cringy meta-humor that lacks any punchline or enjoyment, quickly goes from mild irritation to massively annoying.”
  • music
    1,176 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Sunset Overdrive" is widely praised for its energetic punk rock soundtrack, which complements the game's vibrant visuals and fast-paced gameplay. While many players find the soundtrack to be a highlight, some note that it can become repetitive over time, with a limited number of tracks playing throughout the game. Overall, the music enhances the fun and chaotic atmosphere, making it a key aspect of the gaming experience.

    • “The soundtrack alone makes this game worth playing.”
    • “It's insanely fun, has a banging soundtrack, and just oozes style.”
    • “The music is punk rock and fits so perfectly with all the carnage on screen.”
    • “The biggest issue I actually take with the game is its music; while tonally it lines up with the in-your-face, happy-go-lucky tone, the rock music that plays through the majority of the runtime feels extremely repetitive and uninteresting.”
    • “The soundtrack gets boring after a while; it has a good amount of tracks but they feel so similar to each other, prepare to listen to your own music if you're gonna play this game for 100% completion.”
    • “I also don’t like listening to the same 4 punk songs on loop, especially not in a game with such longevity.”
  • graphics
    1,088 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of *Sunset Overdrive* are widely praised for their vibrant, cartoonish art style that has aged well since its 2014 release, providing a visually appealing experience that complements the game's punk aesthetic. However, many players note the limited graphical settings and occasional performance issues, such as flickering textures and stuttering, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, the game's unique visual design and lively color palette contribute significantly to its charm and enjoyment.

    • “The game looks great, with beautiful, colorful graphics.”
    • “The graphics are a sight to behold, with a vibrant color palette that pops on the screen.”
    • “The art style is beautiful, love the cartoon/comic book feel of it.”
    • “The graphics settings are a joke, the keybindings are horrible and dumb.”
    • “No meaningful graphics settings, the LOD scale makes the game look awful at times, the lack of anti-aliasing and the poor resolution support is driving me away.”
    • “The game is locked in 16:9, so being outside of that resolution causes letterboxing; this game lacks even the most basic normal game graphics like model distance, texture resolution or shadow quality, with everything being an on or off for things like film grain, motion blur and ambient occlusion.”
  • grinding
    712 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding mechanics in "Sunset Overdrive" are a central aspect of gameplay, providing a unique and fluid traversal system that combines parkour with combat. While many players find the grinding enjoyable and integral to the game's fast-paced action, some criticize it for becoming repetitive and tedious, especially when pursuing upgrades and collectibles. Overall, the experience is often described as fun and exhilarating, though it may require patience due to the grind-heavy nature of progression.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The main thing in the game is a lot of grinding and collecting things that are completely useless, because even with the very few things that you unlock by passing the mission, they are enough to pass the game.”
    • “Going after 100% completion is kinda tedious cause of very slow in-game currency (overcharge) gain.”
    • “The grinding gets repetitive and boring quickly.”
  • optimization
    308 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering, frame drops, and bugs, particularly on PC. While some users experienced smooth gameplay at high settings, others noted that the port feels poorly optimized, with limited graphical options and inconsistent performance across different hardware configurations. Overall, while the game can be enjoyable, its optimization problems detract from the experience for many players.

    • “Steam Deck performance was a solid 60 on max, no dips recorded.”
    • “It's also optimized incredibly well; I don't meet minimum specs and have no problems.”
    • “Despite the PC port being exceedingly glitchy, it's one of the most optimized ports I've played, with some of the shortest loading screens I've ever seen in an open-world game.”
    • “This game is buggy and unoptimized as shit, but when it works it's so much fun I don't care.”
    • “Extremely bad optimization.”
    • “There is an alright game here but unfortunately the game's performance is very unstable, there are many bugs which have still yet to be ironed out even as early as when you reach the main menu, a stutter fest right from the start.”
  • stability
    247 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes affecting gameplay. While some players note that it runs well on certain platforms like the Steam Deck, many others experience significant issues such as corrupted save files, audio problems, and mission-breaking glitches. Overall, the game is described as fun but plagued by a lack of polish and optimization, making it difficult to recommend without caution.

    • “Runs great on the Steam Deck, ignore the unsupported tag.”
    • “The game runs great throughout, and with lots of enemies on screen, it manages well.”
    • “Overall amazing port, runs great.”
    • “It's a fun game, but it's very buggy.”
    • “The game is terribly buggy.”
    • “Crashes and glitches galore.”
  • atmosphere
    64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its vibrant, punk-inspired tone, characterized by a playful and lighthearted spirit that complements its humor and fast-paced gameplay. Players appreciate the energetic soundtrack, which enhances the overall experience, while the sarcastic writing and colorful art style contribute to a unique and engaging environment. Despite some critiques regarding the music's memorability, the overall atmosphere is seen as a refreshing and enjoyable aspect of the game.

    • “The game's tongue-in-cheek humor and clever pop culture references create a lighthearted atmosphere that resonates with many players.”
    • “The punk atmosphere is so refreshing, as I love the punk spirit of freedom that is reflected in this game.”
    • “Sunset Overdrive's colorful, playful tone and atmosphere sets it apart from other games in the same genre.”
    • “While the atmosphere and art seem garish and crude, the whole game seems to balance that with equally fun, challenging gameplay and a fast-paced, action-packed parkour system.”
    • “While it does fit the atmosphere very well, the music itself is pretty forgettable and doesn't really go anywhere.”
    • “This probably isn’t such a big deal for some people, but for me it handicaps the game’s atmosphere in a big way.”
  • emotional
    54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the emotional aspect of the game is perceived as lacking depth, with many reviewers noting that it does not deliver a resonant or engaging story. While some players found moments of humor and excitement, the narrative is often described as simple and somewhat boring, leading to a general consensus that the game should not be approached with expectations of an emotionally charged experience. The focus is primarily on fun gameplay mechanics rather than emotional engagement, making it more of a lighthearted adventure than a profound journey.

    • “For me, it's intensely heartbreaking that this timelessly fantastic game won't get the sequel it had been setting up.”
    • “Yes, yes, yes, this game has made me cry and laugh way too many times.”
    • “Many people really like these games as they offer emotional rollercoasters of stories, engaging characters, and other elements.”
    • “It has fun combat, but the story is kind of boring.”
    • “Boring story.”
    • “The story lacks emotional depth.”
  • replayability
    50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's replayability is generally praised, with many reviewers highlighting the fun combat, variety of missions, and collectibles that enhance the experience. While some users noted a lack of replay value, the majority found the game infinitely replayable due to its engaging gameplay and humor, making it enjoyable for multiple playthroughs. Overall, it is considered a solid title with good replayability, despite some mixed opinions.

    • “Really, really good game in my opinion, great replayability and getting a 100% doesn't get tedious but is still challenging.”
    • “It has excellent replay value, great visuals, and it offers a unique and incredibly fun experience that you won't find in any other game.”
    • “Conclusion and result: with all that said, Sunset Overdrive is a game with beautiful graphics, a soundtrack that fits well, a hilarious storyline, fun and refreshing gameplay, and a lot of replay value.”
    • “It has no replay value.”
    • “Absolutely no replay value.”
    • “- has little to no replay value.”
  • monetization
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization model of the game is praised for its absence of microtransactions, allowing players to enjoy a complete experience for a one-time purchase without the pressure of additional costs or cosmetic purchases. Reviewers appreciate the focus on gameplay and creativity over profit-driven strategies, contrasting it with other games that rely heavily on microtransactions. Overall, the game is recommended as a value-packed option for those seeking quality content without the pitfalls of modern monetization practices.

    • “Because this game is $20, has no microtransactions, and is packed with content - it's a recommended instant buy.”
    • “Fun for the sake of fun, built just before the era of microtransactions were shoved down the throat of every game that offered a single player experience.”
    • “Not something that was designed to be a cash cow that would produce tons of microtransactions first, with gameplay taking the backseat of their focus.”
    • “With games like Sunset Overdrive, consumers do not have to be convinced into understanding why a game needs to steal more money from them in the form of predatory monetization price gouging because the quality content is already here for a one-time flat price - sans marketing spin or PR vomit spewing 'poor us we're suffering with our billions in profits.' Fanatics and paid community managers can try to justify microtransaction scams all they want; microtransactions are stealth price gouging through and through and destroy quality.”
    • “I'm happy that I never had microtransactions forced down my throat or anything like that.”
  • character development
    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is generally viewed as lacking depth, with many players noting that the protagonist feels like a blank slate and that significant story events do not lead to meaningful changes in character. However, some missions, like "Fizzie: The Inside Story," showcase moments of growth and complexity, particularly in supporting characters. Overall, while the character designs and customization options are praised for their creativity and uniqueness, the narrative focus on humor and action often overshadows character development.

    • “My favorite mission (in terms of character development) is [b] Fizzie: The Inside Story [/b] which showcases Fizzie's psycho personality, but also shows that it is possible for it to feel guilt.”
    • “I can't tell you how much I love the dialogues and character development.”
    • “The self-referential humor, the constant 4th wall breaks, the outstanding character design, and awesome parkour make for a really incredible experience.”
    • “No co-op, unappealing character designs, unskippable cutscenes, a very hand-holding tutorial that goes on too long, another open world with icons on the map and fast travel, music that is sometimes playing and sometimes just completely silent, the controls are a bit overwhelming, and eye-rolling irreverent self-aware Borderlands/Marvel dialogue that makes you want the characters to shut up forever.”
    • “The game still has many positives if you are a casual player with a smooth parkour system and some creative weapons that can change the flow of gameplay, the story is full of fourth wall breaking and pop culture references which made me laugh at points but it lacks character development so when something significant happens in the story, nothing really changes.”
    • “The character is basically a blank slate, but because of how short the story is, character development is not really needed. Instead, your character is just a threatening, quippy idiot, which adds a lot to the story, as well as the mass amount of customization, allowing you to become a lucha libre or a space engineer ninja, which really adds quite a lot of enjoyment as you pick your outfit to slaughter the population of oversaturated gooey monsters.”
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83%Critics’ scoreBased on 28 critic reviews
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10h Median play time
12h Average play time
10h Main story
34h Completionist
5-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 68 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Sunset Overdrive is a open world shooter game with comedy theme.

Sunset Overdrive is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Windows and others.

The main story can be completed in around 10 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 34 hours to finish. On average players spend around 12 hours playing Sunset Overdrive.

Sunset Overdrive was released on November 16, 2018.

Sunset Overdrive was developed by Blind Squirrel Games.

Sunset Overdrive has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Sunset Overdrive is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Agents of Mayhem, Saints Row: The Third, Shadow Warrior 2, RAGE 2, Days Gone and others.