QCF: Sunset Overdrive

t’s no secret that I take a particularly guilty joy out of the dichotomy that defines the éclat of video games—it’s a pretty silly identity crisis that I can’t but find amusing. On one hand, I want to the art and impact that video games create to continually expand into legitimate expression of art that can stand on par with some of the greatest literature and film ever produced by mankind, and yet on the other, I still want games to indulge into some of the stupidest shit imaginable.

Sure, that sounds unreasonably flippant, since making headway in one of directions would congruently set back the other, but I’d like to think that we can live in a world where gaming can cater to both of these worlds respectively—Insomniac’s Xbox One exclusive, Sunset Overdrive, is living proof of that.

Yeah, we live in a world where things like Deadpool and Tumblr have saturated our culture with facetious satire and fourth-wall humor to an obnoxiously pandering degree, but the latest effort from the same people behind Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, is one of the most refreshing games to have released in 2014. A world and action woven by the over-the-top chaos and fiction of this modern open-world odyssey of caffeine and attention-deficit youth has all the makings that truly define the special kind of enchantment that only a video game could offer.

If there’s one thing that Sunset Overdrive want’s to beat over your head harder than anything, it’s momentum; a non-stop motion that’s gradually more frenzied, athletic, and faster than you’ve ever maneuvered before in a virtual space.

Every inch of architecture that makes up the urban reaches of the overrun metropolis of Sunset City is solely constructed around the single purpose of being the player’s own personal, redeye-fueled jungle gym—you’d have a harder time trying to sit still than you honestly would zipping around the place. Intuitive level design withstanding, the other side of the token that makes the larger-than-life parkour of Sunset Overdrive so easy is how responsive the controls and mechanics are.

The challenge in maintaining the finesse required for some of the frenetic maneuvering is largely padded the super smooth context recognition from all of the interactive points of travel that’s further enriched from the receptive input anytime you’re jumping, sliding, or grinding all over the screen. The execution of these fundamentals are vital in keeping the demanding pace of the action consistent, and to that sentiment, Insomniac has thankfully developed a system that’s so organic that keeping up with the steadily accelerating rate of Sunset Overdrive can easily become second nature.

While simply crafting an accessible system of speed and stunts is one way to drive the action, Sunset Overdrive is relentless at enforcing the importance of being restlessly energetic, and it goes on the punctuate the point through combat as well—which makes for the tastiest icing atop the sweet cake of its kinematic gameplay.

What makes the enemy AI tick in this action romp is the numbers game; the gross ranks of the “OD” thrive off of flanking and overwhelming at each and every turn, and in spite of your surreal set of abilities and gravity defying talents, taking these flesh-eating mutants head on is a certifiable death wish. The trick to standing a chance all lies within the use of the Amp system, which are essentially passive perks that you can customize and equip. Each amp activated a variety of different effects, ranging anywhere from an enhancement or modifier to battle conditions to full-fledged moves and tricks that specialize in a variety of ways like crowd control, or defensive.  The cool trick to triggering these crucial power-ups, all depends on the level of your style combo rank—what’s that you ask; it’s your livelihood here folks, and fortunately, it’s the most engaging element within the package.

Racking up style ranks all hinges on how creative and persistent your actions are and how unique that each action was that’s linked in the combo chain, determines how much score is accumulated, which is what awards the jump to the next rank. These actions of course can range anywhere between switching up weapons, jumping between cars and grind surfaces, and the numerous tricks and acrobatics in between.

So just to illustrate you a picture here; you’ve got a mob encounter that roughly number with over forty freaks or so, and your immediate instinct is to launch off of the nearest car to reach the adjacent telephone wire. Once you’re there, you’re grinding and zip-lining between a flurry of vinyl records catapulted from your haggard-ass pie shooter, to string of bursts out of your Shorty Shotty against the hordes of rotting dweebs that’re menacing you. Finally, you then proceed to follow up your assault with a head-stomp off the nearest ghoulish beast you can land off of thanks to the amp you triggered when you reached style level 2…and honestly, I could go on.

The point I was trying to make with that little scenario is that when it comes to anything you do in this adventure, at any given time, the sky is the limit. Sunset Overdrive feeds off whatever violent imagination you can apply towards the comical mayhem that it throws at you, and the fun from it is all uphill from there.

Coming into a title with gameplay mechanics that bend the laws of reality to the point where any suspension of disbelief should be applied with a grain of salt, it’s natural to assume that the nonsensical premise of surviving a viral outbreak of mutation caused by the release of an energy drink is bound to be stupidly tongue-in-cheek. The difference here is that Insomniac brilliantly takes these surrealistic liberties they’ve created with the narrative, and hits at every potential point within the spectrum of comedy and culture it speaks too, and ensuing hilarity is shockingly spot on and effectual.

Whether it’s inside humor and fourth-wall references that riff at the expense of gaming culture tropes or the sharp dialogue and convincing delivery from all the colorful characters and their profanely vulgar dispositions on the off-color comedy of their quote unquote “tragic” situation at hand, Sunset Overdrive will always have something to say, and more often than not—it’s gold.

If there’s one shortcoming to be found here, it’s the lackluster addition of multiplayer with the “Chaos Squad” mode. The setup of Chaos Squad a series of facile, wave-based stronghold defense missions that will task you and up to a possible count of seven others in defending against mob encounter, after mob encounter, until you reach the end. Now to clarify, these missions are capable of being an enjoyable palate cleanser to the main campaign from time to time, but the blandness and monotony of the one-dimensional objective and construct behind the whole endeavor gets old real quick. The novelty will especially wear thin when the only variety the engagement offers comes from arbitrarily competing over getting the best style performance; which really doesn’t add anything to what’s primarily a single-player centric experience.

Uninspired multiplayer aside though, Microsoft has scored a worthy flagship exclusive for their current future-proof game machine in Sunset Overdrive, and to that sentiment, the next generation has inducted yet another notable release that exemplifies everything good about buying into the new age of gaming now versus waiting to do so later. If you’re looking for something different this Holiday and happen to own an Xbox One, you owe to yourself to grabbing one of the best games that justifies you owning Microsoft’s new system.