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Happy Endings With House of the Dead: Overkill

Posted by John Constantine

Happy Endings is a new, semi-regular feature on 61FPS that highlights some of gaming’s most memorable climaxes. Most games end badly. These games sum it all up in style. It goes without saying that Happy Endings is spoiler heavy so beware before you proceed.

House of the Dead: Overkill could have been an astounding failure. Headstrong Games had a decent pedigree, and there was little doubt that they could make a solid, entertaining rail shooter that stood next to the very best in Sega’s franchise, but humor is hard to implement in any game. Styling Overkill as a 1970s grindhouse feature was a brilliant move in theory, but making something that looks and sounds cool is a far cry from making something smart and legitimately funny. Headstrong pulled it off though. From the guffaw-worthy banter between Detective Washington and Agent G, to the waving American flag that adorns your health bar after stringing together thirty consecutive kills (yes, that combo is called a “Goregasm”), Overkill pulled off the impossible: it was a good game that was also funny.

But none of its cheese, ultra violence, or winking nods to classic exploitation prepared me for this dialog at the end.

As G and Washington fly off into the sunset on a helicopter, having killed the villain’s towering mother-turned-zombie-monster, they have this exchange:

“Frankly, Casanova, I’d be more worried about reading the past twelve hours as a fucking indictment of contemporary feminism!”

“Beg pardon?”

“I just think two dick wielding cop clichés taking down a one-hundred foot birthing mother is a statement limited in its interpretations.”

“I’m not sure you can read too much into that.”

“Not to mention the strongest female role model in this entire affair ain’t much more than a girkin in a pickle jar!” (Female lead Varla Guns is just a jar-bound brain at this point.)

I didn’t even know what to say when I saw this. Can anyone out there show me a single other game that actually ends on a self-analyzing punchline? No. Because it doesn’t happen. The princess is in another castle, tee-hee, does not count.

Related links:

Ode to the Light Gun or The Only Peripheral You’ll Ever Need
WTFriday: Goldman's Drama Academy
Trailer Review: House of the Dead – Overkill
Will Games Ever Be Funny?

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Posted Apr 17 2009, 03:00 PM

Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, wii, headstrong games, house of the dead, kuju, happy endings, fouse of the dead overkill, overkill

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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