House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii

This revamp of the classic arcade and Dreamcast shooter is one of the most entertaining titles of the year so far.

Rather than churn out another remake of the original with bonus features, Sega have taken the series in a new direction. They’ve dispensed with the serious tone of the original, giving the development team the opportunity to let their imaginations run riot.

Full of B-movie shtick, the game revels in showering the player in buckets of blood, cheesy dialogue, an outrageous assortment of characters and copious amounts of bad language.

The game’s central characters - Agent G and Detective Isaac Washington - provide the backbone to the relentless and extremely gory action. Their love/hate relationship, leads to some entertaining foul-mouthed dialogue, which is extremely amusing for all the wrong reasons.

As you would expect from a light gun-style shooter, the action is relentless and the enemies varied. Grotesque mutants, insane clowns and festering hospital patients come at you from all sides. Luckily, the Wiimote was made for this type of game, and, aside from a few minuscule lock-ups during loading, the action is smooth and fast-paced throughout.

Each level has bonus objectives and collectibles to shoot at, while there's a great combo system in place which ensures multiple playthroughs. Not only that, but new weapons can be bought and upgraded and messing around with them is great fun.

Add to that an excellent two-player mode, and House of the Dead: Overkill is an essential purchase for Wii owners looking for some over the top shooting action.

Images courtesy of Sega