[b][u]EDIT: THE GAME CRASHED AND I LOST MY SAVE AT THE PIGEON MISSION, EVERYTHING STANDS IN THE REVIEW IF THE GAME FUNCTIONED, SADLY AS GOOD AS IT IS IF I CANT PLAY IT WITHOUT TIME WASTED I CANT RECOMMEND THAT TO ANYONE [/u][/b].
Sunset Overdrive is a good game. The story is a simple, quirky zombie (mutants for the lore nerds in the back) outbreak narrative that is pretty generic, mostly just an excuse to throw you into a loud, colorful world full of sarcastic weirdos. The plot actually feels more meaningful when you meet different groups of survivors, each acting like caricatures of real life social groups you’d see in an MTV style high school drama.
The art style feels like a mix of Fusion Frenzy and Fortnite, with its bright 3D comic-book look, exaggerated weapons, and loud early 2000s Xbox energy that fits the punk vibe perfectly. The dialogue feels like the aforementioned bratty 2000s MTV teen drama mixed with emo angst, some Rick and Morty style fourth wall breaks, and a cast of sarcastic weirdos talking at each other. It won’t work for everyone, but I found it charming in its own dumb way.
The real reason to play it is the gameplay. The movement is good and only gets better the more movement tech you unlock, though it needs a wee bit of polish to flow better. Grinding, bouncing, air dashing, and chaining everything together make traversal and combat feel fast and satisfying. It’s kind of Dying Light adjacent in that movement matters a lot, but it’s way more arcady, with a bit of Saints Row energy thrown in too. Honestly, it weirdly feels like Fortnite before Fortnite existed in the way every movement input has that snappy feedback to it.
There’s also a ton of collectibles and side content. If you dislike collecting stuff, you can ignore most of it, but if the game clicks with you, it’s the kind of game a completionist would want in their library. My only real gameplay gripe is ammo. Having to stop sometimes and look for it can break the flow of constantly moving through arenas, and I think either infinite ammo or more generous drops would’ve fit the arcade feel better, especially since combat often feels secondary to movement.
It’s a shame this game got stuck releasing on the Xbox One, because I really think it could’ve grown into a great niche movement-shooter franchise if more people had given it a shot. If it came out in the 2020s with a bit more polish, I think people would appreciate it a lot more. Even with its rough edges, it’s still a fun chaotic and movement shooters out there.
I haven’t finished the main storyline, but I’ve played enough to get the gist of what it’s going for, and it’s a pretty good Insomniac game. 8.1/10 is fair to say even without beating it.
