Full disclosure...I don't own an Xbox One as of yet. My raison d'etre for this is simple: There haven't been any exclusive games on the system that have made me say, "OK, I need an Xbox One right this second so I can play that." And besides, I have a butt-kicking PC that can run anything the Xbone and PS4 can run, so why should I bother right now?
"Sunset Overdrive" may just be the exclusive game that finally gets me hot and bothered for an Xbox One, and makes me break open the proverbial piggy bank. Developed by Insomniac Games (the "Ratchet & Clank" series and the "Resistance" series), the title is an always-changing, open-world game set in the not-so-distant future. A catastrophic event has left your city overrun by mutants.
While the majority perish or transform, you flourish. It turns out your calling isn't picking up trash or serving food, it's mutant destruction. Not only that, from what I've seen of the game in action, it seems like Jet Set Radio melded with Crackdown with a madcap touch of Lollipop Chainsaw thrown in for good measure.
The game releases today, so let's see how it has fared with the critics so far:
Daniel Bishcoff of Game Revolution gives "Sunset Overdrive" a perfect score, stating: "'Sunset Overdrive' doesn't take itself seriously, making the action and character of the game stand-out about as much as its vibrant color scheme. Sequences that slightly alter gameplay or offer up a big boss manage to delight beyond most of what's available on the latest consoles today."
Simon Parkin at the Guardian found the game to be creative but it "...never quite surpasses the chaotic physics of 'Just Cause,' the coherent style of 'Blood Dragon' or the assured sense of place of GTAV - nor does it manage to draw its story and systems toward a coherent, impactful point. In the end its hero escapes the purgatory of a boring job and successfully wreaks revenge on the judgmental consumers he once served. But the game itself does little to undermine the increasingly over-familiar, open-world establishment, instead quietly celebrating the status quo."
"Insomniac Games has crafted an excellent game in Sunset Overdrive," said Peter Brown of Gamespot. "It's not without a few niggling issues, but you'll be too busy enjoying yourself to care. You can compare it to games like 'Crackdown,' 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater,' and 'Ratchet and Clank,' but by combining the best elements of those games into a single package and injecting it with an anything goes, rock and roll attitude, you'll never think of it as anything but a singular achievement that stands tall on its own merits."
Sam Prell at Joystiq also thought this experience was worthy of a perfect score, gushing: "The bottom line is that regardless of whether we're talking about character appearance, weapons, special abilities or buffs, 'Sunset Overdrive' piles the number of options you can choose from sky-high. No matter who you choose to be, what weapons you equip, what play-style you choose, or how you deck out your secondary abilities, everything feels valid and worthwhile."
And finally, Steven Burns at Video Gamer.com thought the title was lacking because, "Sunset Overdrive's campaign is disappointing; it has some excellent ideas, but its triumphs are sadly suffocated beneath ultra-repetitive mission design and unsatisfying enemy encounters. Its multiplayer offers a glimpse of how a potential sequel could fulfil its largely-squandered promise. Built for 2-8 co-operative players, it consists of three rounds of player-voted maps (each with a unique objective) before culminating in a wave-based 'Night Defense' finale. It challenges players to both work as a team and compete against one another, lending the score attack nature of the game, so underwhelming elsewhere, a real purpose."
As of this moment, "Sunset Overdrive's" Metacritic score stands at a very respectable 82 (7.7 user score) for this Xbox One exclusive. It will be interesting to see if this game is the system seller/killer app, as "Halo" was on the original Xbox, that Microsoft desperately needs at this stage of the game to catch up on Sony's rather large lead in overall system sales for this generation.
Only time will tell...
