Headstrong talks House of the Dead: Overkill, Part 2

Can you tell us a little about the arsenal? Any weapons that are new to the series?

We have three classes of weapon: pistol, shotgun and automatic. In each category there are two types, and each one can be upgraded to about double its natural firepower. Players can take two weapons into each level (assuming they've bought them), so there are a lot of tactical choices available.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that the weapon customisation allows players to tune the guns to their own playing style. If you're a crack shot, you'll want a powerful pistol, whereas if you're a bit more spray-'n-pray, you might want an automatic with a nice big clip.

As for new weapons -- I don't think there's been a Minigun in House Of The Dead yet.

This will be the first House of the Dead game to let players slow down time -- can you expand on how that feature works?

Scattered around the levels are various pickups, just as in previous House Of the Dead games. We have "Score," "Health" and "Slo-mo-fo". When you shoot one of those, all time slows down -- music, dialogue, physics, gunfire, explosions -- everything. You'll have about fifteen to twenty seconds of slowdown before time snaps back to normal, but it's time enough to pick perfect shots and appreciate the slow-motion ballistic ballet of zombie destruction.


At any point, has Sega intervened to remove content that it deems to be too extreme or gory, or have they adopted a more 'hands off' approach? How do you think censors will react?

SEGA has been absolutely fantastic to work with on this. The pulp/exploitation/grindhouse style was a partnership from the start, so they've been extremely supportive and even come up with some of the more extreme suggestions.

"Overkill is actually quite light-hearted and joyful at the core."

The thing is, our game is actually quite light-hearted and joyful at the core. Like the film style it's celebrating, the goal of the entire spectacle is to entertain an adult audience. We want to shock, titillate, thrill and enthuse the same folks who enjoy those sorts of movies. We want the player to feel that they're part of their own grindhouse flick.

Since the censors don't have problems with our source material, and since we're very upfront that this is a mature title with a good sense of humor, I'm not expecting any problems from anyone who understands the film or the games industries.

Finally, how would you personally rate other games that have used the Wii Zapper to date?

I've enjoyed them. I thought Ghost Squad was great, and I really enjoyed Link's Crossbow Training. Obviously I enjoy House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, and I had good fun playing Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Naturally, I think Overkill has the edge on all of them, but then I'm hardly an unbiased sample!