The Typing of The Dead: Overkill is what would happen if Quentin Tarantino wanted to make a game/teaching tool. It's not exactly a typing tutorial, but you do learn to type fast and keep your eyes glued to the screen ... not the keyboard. With its 1970s grindhouse style, this long awaited The Typing of the Dead sequel is a lot less work-safe and a lot more fun than your usual educational software.
As someone with formal typing lessons under their belt, I'm averaging 70 - 80 words-per-minute, and that's without looking at the keyboard. On the other hand, if you are not like me and were not formally introduced to proper typing or just never mastered the skill, this game can help improve your speed. The alternative is to suffer as you struggle to find the keys and keep up with the pace.
Click For the Full Picture ArchiveBased on the similarly titled House of the Dead: Overkill, The Typing of The Dead: Overkill is rated M for a reason. The language is, shall we say, colorful. The hardcore violence is punctuated by strippers, sexual innuendo and all kinds of other grindhouse cliches. The storyline is presented cinematically (though rendered in the game's engine), with film scratches, jarring cuts and even a psychedelic intermission screen when data is being loaded. Each chapter arrives with a movie trailer voiceover that perfectly captures the spirit of the cheap, sleazy, crime dramas from the golden age of B-movies.
Gameplay is pretty straightforward. It's the same on-rails setup you're used to from the House of the Dead series. You'll just sit back and type, because there's no need to move around or navigate. You also don't need to worry about capitalization, spaces or punctuation. Just type the words as fast as you can. Pop-culture shout-outs abound in the phrases, as do odd combinations such as "more tea vicar” and "Areolas."
Click For the Full Picture ArchiveSingle letters appear as hurled weapons: Type them fast, or take damage. If you see anything glowing, hit 'tab' to collect a power-up or collectible souvenir. These include comic book pages, fake movie posters and concept art.
The Typing of The Dead: Overkill is a kind of zombie in its own right. Designed as a modification of The House of the Dead: Overkill, the development house, Blitz Games Studio, died while the game was only partially done. The developers managed to negotiate a new contract with Sega and complete the game in a surprisingly short amount of time and I as a fan of the original Dreamcast game am glad they did.
Click For the Full Picture ArchiveAlthough I found the game to generally run quite well, some research shows others are having all kinds of problems. I did find the audio cuts out for some character dialogue, as well as an instance where the game would not respond to input and caused me to die. To the game's credit, this only happened once in four hours of play. Unfortunately, I was not able to test the multiplayer component.
Do you want to take out zombies? Do you need to improve your typing skills? If the answer to these questions is yes, then grab a copy of The Typing of the Dead: Overkill. However, I do issue this warning: From personal experience with the game, make sure to play it around fellow grindhouse or Tarantino fans, and not your middle-aged fundamentalist father while on vacation.
