The Typing of the Dead: Overkill
- October 29, 2013
- Modern Dreams
- 38h median play time
The Typing of the Dead: Overkill fuses the horror and comedy of the legendary House of the Dead series with unique typing mechanics in order to deliver a truly original gaming experience! This gruesome shooter puts you in the middle of a mutant outbreak in Bayou county. Blast pieces out of the zombie horde across 9 stages, one keystroke at a time, in order to save you and a friends life as you wor…
Reviews
- Unique and fun typing gameplay that helps improve typing skills.
- Hilarious and over-the-top grindhouse story with memorable characters.
- Includes both Typing of the Dead and House of the Dead modes, providing great replay value.
- Technical issues and crashes, especially on Windows 10 with certain graphics cards.
- Repetitive gameplay and limited variety in levels can lead to boredom.
- Excessive profanity and crude humor may not be suitable for all players.
- humor366 mentions
- 98 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The humor in "Typing of the Dead: Overkill" is predominantly characterized by its over-the-top, campy style reminiscent of grindhouse films, featuring absurd dialogue, crude jokes, and intentionally cheesy scenarios that often elicit laughter. While many players find the humor hilarious and engaging, some critique it as excessive or poorly executed, with a reliance on profanity and lowbrow gags that may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the game successfully combines humor with typing mechanics, making it a fun and entertaining experience for those who appreciate its unique comedic approach.
“The story is absolutely over the top, crazy, and most importantly downright hilarious.”
“The dialogues are quirky and hilarious.”
“This game is a gloriously, hilariously absurd way to improve your typing skills.”
“Extremely unfunny humor that is relentless.”
“I understand that it is supposed to be funny but it is just embarrassing.”
“It's just pushed to be ironically like a B-class movie to the point that it's not funny anymore, it's just cringy.”
- story366 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The story of "Typing of the Dead: Overkill" is a deliberately over-the-top, grindhouse-style narrative filled with cheesy dialogue, absurd characters, and a heavy dose of humor that parodies classic B-movies. While some players appreciate its campy charm and entertaining absurdity, others criticize it for being shallow and poorly executed, often feeling that the intentionally bad writing detracts from the overall experience. Ultimately, the game's narrative serves as a humorous backdrop to the typing gameplay, appealing to those who enjoy a lighthearted, irreverent take on zombie horror tropes.
“The story alone is a masterpiece.”
“Set before the events of the first game, you are tasked to investigate a mutant outbreak in Louisiana, which might have been masterminded by a criminal mastermind named Papa Caesar, who also killed Isaac's father, so you're put on a quest of vengeance.”
“The story is written like an 80's movie, and the aesthetic matches it, with the narrator announcing each mission with a cheesy title card before you play.”
“The story is abysmal.”
“The events of the story are clichéd and surface level, and the characters are completely one-dimensional and also never shut up.”
“The story is pure nonsense, and that's not entirely unexpected; that doesn't make the stupidity and/or grossness of everyone involved any less obnoxious.”
- gameplay230 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Typing of the Dead: Overkill" is a unique blend of typing mechanics and on-rails shooting, providing a fast-paced and humorous experience that challenges players' typing skills while maintaining the absurdity of the original "House of the Dead" series. While the typing gameplay is engaging and can improve typing speed, some players find it repetitive and marred by long cutscenes and minor glitches. Overall, the game is praised for its fun mechanics and comedic elements, though opinions vary on its replayability and depth.
“The gameplay is both entertaining and challenging with high replayability.”
“Unique, fun typing gameplay that provides some challenge with a story and presentation that's purposefully dumb but nonetheless witty.”
“The typing gameplay actually improves the light gun gameplay - because you're not only practicing something useful, but the gameplay actually lets you strategize about which targets to attack or when to start typing what.”
“The gameplay itself is slow and boring, with pointless cutscenes that constantly slow it down.”
“The gameplay is glitchy, repetitive, and the graphics look like mush with bland, muddy colors because of the old movie filter.”
“Do not expect a good story or anything really redeeming about the gameplay.”
- graphics189 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users noting that they appear dated and lack polish, reflecting its origins as a port from older consoles. While some appreciate the grindhouse aesthetic and find it fitting for the game's tone, others criticize the low-resolution textures, graphical glitches, and limited customization options. Overall, the visuals are generally considered subpar, but they do not significantly detract from the gameplay experience for fans of the genre.
“First and foremost, the graphics of the game have been vastly improved with crisp new graphics.”
“The graphics look pretty good and the songs that play are damn catchy and can be unlocked in the 'jukebox' later for your listening pleasure.”
“The graphics are nice and crisp, fluent on average to modern hardware.”
“The graphics are terrible, the animation is weird.”
“The graphics are very rough-looking with some blurry textures and bad animations.”
“The graphics in this game are not so important, but they are what they are - low-res trash.”
- music109 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its catchy, '70s grindhouse-inspired tracks that complement the game's campy aesthetic, while others find it mediocre or repetitive. Many players appreciate the energetic gameplay music, which fits the action well, but criticize the cutscene music for being less engaging. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a fun and fitting element of the game's over-the-top style, though it suffers from occasional sound mixing issues and glitches.
“Last, but not least, the soundtrack is absolutely stunning.”
“The music is a mix of catchy grindhouse funk, but keeps it modernized and fresh with some dubstep and electronic elements.”
“The voice acting is great, and the background music is flat-out awesome.”
“The music is terrible.”
“If someone told me the entire soundtrack was bought off a library somewhere, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.”
“The soundtrack is an uninspired mess that tries to distract you from its incompetent execution with painfully forced wackiness.”
- replayability54 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
Overall, the game exhibits a high level of replayability due to its randomized word selection, various difficulty settings, and the inclusion of community mods and DLCs. Players appreciate the challenge of topping scores and collecting hidden items, although some note that the short campaign and repetitive elements may detract from long-term engagement. Despite mixed opinions on execution and design flaws, many find the gameplay entertaining enough to warrant multiple playthroughs.
“The game overall has quite a bit of replayability, especially because the words you type are always randomized and can be modded.”
“It's short but with high replayability, with 3 difficulty settings plus hardcore mode, and you can dial in each DLC word bank for more replays.”
“Just when you think you've mastered the game, newer, more challenging modes open up for extended replay value.”
“Typing of the Dead is a great concept for a game with a fairly poor execution due to the lack of a tutorial mode and an extremely short replay value for its price tag.”
“Otherwise, this is just an overpriced, terribly short game with not much replay value to be had.”
“The carry out is that you have poor graphics with limited replayability, even with custom dictionaries, as the dialogue which is not skippable gets very tiresome and this detracts from the game.”
- stability34 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- -6 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with numerous reports of graphical and audio glitches, particularly on AMD cards, which detract from the overall experience. While some players find the bugs add a certain charm, many others express frustration with the frequency and impact of these issues, especially in multiplayer modes. Overall, the game is described as "buggy" and "unpolished," yet still capable of providing entertainment.
“Runs great”
“The game maintains a smooth performance without any noticeable lag.”
“I haven't experienced any crashes or bugs, which makes for a stable gaming experience.”
“There are numerous sound glitches where sound effects are wrong (guy picks up wooden thing and makes a metal slashing sound) and in some cases the game just goes completely silent.”
“There are an incredible amount of graphical and audio glitches, such as music cutting out and not repeating; characters' lines cutting out mid-sentence or just not saying them altogether; preset animations clipping through the environment or through characters; etc.”
“Game could have been fun, except for the tons of glitches and CTDs.”
- optimization15 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users citing significant performance issues, particularly on AMD cards, and technical problems such as crashes and poor scaling. While some players noted that the game runs smoothly on lower-end hardware, the overall sentiment leans towards disappointment due to the lack of optimization compared to the original game.
“I do recommend it over the original game as well; for me, the original game isn't as optimized.”
“Clicking may not be as satisfying as pulling a trigger button, but the presentation shines through and it's well optimized.”
“Looking at the technical end, the port runs smoothly even on a mobile i3 with integrated video, and the developers have paid particular attention to the control scheme.”
“It's poorly optimized and you're gonna spend most of the time figuring out how to start this thing.”
“My main issue is that it's poorly optimized and that I have a lot of technical issues where the game crashes and doesn't scale properly.”
“A good game in concept, especially considering the popularity of the original Typing of the Dead, but the poor optimization and lazy stripping of depth really kills what could have made this game a worthy sequel.”
- atmosphere14 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of "House of the Dead: Overkill" is characterized by a distinct grindhouse style that diverges significantly from the original games, incorporating humor, campiness, and a B-movie vibe. While some players appreciate the detailed visuals and engaging soundtrack, others find the grotesque design off-putting, suggesting that it may not resonate with fans of the classic titles. Overall, the game offers a unique blend of humor and horror that appeals to those seeking a more irreverent experience.
“I love the humor and B-horror atmosphere that this game carries.”
“The game is fun and the dialogue is funny; the atmosphere of the entire game has the feel of an 80s crime drama.”
“I gotta love it, the music, the atmosphere, the writing; it's all so wonderfully and deliciously campy in the grindhouse style, I'm just filled with glee.”
“Overkill goes for a grindhouse style that totally conflicts with the atmosphere of the original games.”
“Warning: this is not like other House of the Dead games. It literally takes in that whole grindhouse, raunch atmosphere. If you want the atmosphere of the old titles, you gotta hunt them down. This is not the same House of the Dead we grew up on.”
“The original's clean and campy atmosphere is swapped out for a grindhouse vibe and grosser (possibly just more detailed) visuals, so be forewarned if you were thinking of getting this as a Mavis Beacon alternative.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly due to the need to replay levels for achievements and the cumbersome menu navigation. While some enjoy switching to alternative game modes to alleviate the monotony, the overall sentiment leans towards frustration with the grindy elements.
“My only real complaint about this game is that a lot of the achievements are really grindy.”
“You have to play the same levels over and over again, which can get tedious when you marathon games like I do.”
“Tedious nonsense.”
- character development4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate a mixed response to character development, with some praising the plot and character design, while others criticize it as lacking depth and sophistication, likening the story to a simplistic school assignment. Overall, character development appears to be a significant weakness in the game.
“Just for the amazing plot and character development, play it! :p”
“The character design and playstyle for each of the bosses are great.”
“Character development is lacking.”
“The story was written by a fourth grader for his first English class assignment, and character development is non-existent.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for its poor execution, including bad voice acting, animations, and writing, which collectively demonstrate a lack of sensitivity towards emotional engagement.
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviewers express disappointment with the monetization strategy, particularly highlighting ineffective advertising as a significant issue.
“The monetization system feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
“I find it frustrating that essential features are locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game fully.”
“The constant push for in-game purchases makes it feel more like a cash grab than a genuine gaming experience.”