Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico
Action game fans ought to be able to settle in and blast their ways through Total Overdose's relatively brief campaign with reasonable levels of enjoyment. Just be prepared for one extremely cheesy ride.
Rarely has a game reveled in
its own crapulence the way that Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico
does. Taking the concept of a stylish, violent third-person shooter to the
height of hyperactive instability,
Total Overdose is an all-out celebration of all things gun. Bullets fly with
reckless abandon, bodies pile up to an almost alarming
degree, and all the while you're pulling off the kinds of acrobatic maneuvers that would make Keanu Reeves
say, "Woah." Of course, it's also all been done before. From playing
Total Overdose, you get the feeling that the developers at Deadline Games had
an awful lot of affection for the Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne games and that
they may have watched one too many Robert Rodriguez movies late at night.
That's because the main character plays just like Max Payne, the world around him operates just like the one in Grand Theft
Auto, and the storyline plays out like a script Rodriguez might have written
early in his career, before he knew what he was doing. Because it's made up of
so many familiar parts, action game fans ought to be able to settle in and
blast their ways through Total Overdose's relatively brief campaign with
reasonable levels of enjoyment. Just be prepared for one extremely cheesy ride,
and to sift through a few serious flaws as well.
The story of Total Overdose
is cut from the kind of heavy-on-the-gunplay, light-on-the-drama cloth made
famous in 1980s-era action films. Ramiro Cruz is an ex-convict and all-around
screwup. His twin brother works for the DEA. Ramiro's twin is injured while
working undercover, right as he's about to get in with some rather powerful
drug lords down in Mexico. In a twist that plays like a vaquero movie version
of the Anthony Hopkins/Chris Rock vehicle Bad Company, Ramiro is brought in to
replace his brother so he can get in with the shady dealers. About a billion
bullets, bodies, and busts later, you're dealing with crooked DEA agents,
big-time drug deals, and a revenge plot about who really killed Ramiro's
former-DEA-agent father. None of this means a thing, mind you. The plot here is
merely a vehicle for you to get out and start shooting
things. What little storyline exists here is largely turned irrelevant by the
incredibly cheesy voice acting and writing, so there's no real opportunity to
care about any of these people. But that suits the game just fine, since you'll
be too busy killing everybody to bother caring about them.
What makes Total Overdose
more than just another dull shoot-'em-up is the ludicrousness of its action.
There isn't a kilo of realism to be found anywhere in this game...a fact
flaunted at every opportunity by the insane acrobatic moves Ramiro can pull off
for seemingly no reason other than because they're fun. Like Max Payne, Ramiro
can shoot-dodge in bullet time while pumping tons of rounds into bad guys
within a split second's time, all the while bouncing off walls and spinning
around like a man possessed. These moves all play into a points rating that
judges the different maneuvers you pull off and earns you points you'll need to
complete missions. It's a neat system, but it's hindered by the most obnoxious
aspect of the game, which (oddly enough) is the naming system for said moves.
Moves are named the cheesiest things possible, like "Gringo loco!"
and the oft-repeated "Spicy move!" In fact, you'll hear the words
"spicy move" so often throughout the game that after a while a small
piece of you will die inside every time it's uttered.
Thankfully, the basic
shooting is reasonably satisfying. You're given plenty of different weapons
with varying degrees of effectiveness. Fully automatic guns pump more rounds,
but they also lack accuracy. Pistols are accurate, but they lack punch. Assault
rifles tend to offer the best of both worlds. Rocket and grenade launchers?
Well, you can imagine the level of destruction they inflict. If there's any
complaint to be made here, it's that you often get the short shrift on ammo.
There are upgrades you can earn throughout to give each gun type more available
ammo. But even then, in a game this silly--where it's all about highly
unrealistic action--you'd think the developer might have been a touch more
generous with the ammunition. As it is, it's far too easy to run out of ammo
for all guns very quickly, forcing you to constantly run around to pick up
weapons off fallen enemies, which can be a risky affair in the middle of a
firefight.
Ramiro can also earn a
number of wacky special moves that border on comedic. Simply press a button and
one of several select moves will occur, ranging from a kooky jumping spin move
with dual Uzis blazing, to the appearance of an angry Mexican wrestler who will
aid you by attacking any nearby enemies. Don't question it, because you'll
absolutely despise this game if you try to put much thought into it. If you're
willing to roll with the crazy Mexican wrestlers, the exploding piñatas, and
the move called "El Mariachi," which straight-up gives you the
Antonio Banderas-style "guns in the guitar cases" from the titular
Robert Rodriguez film (though they should have called it "Desperado,"
since that's the actual film the move is from), Total Overdose can be a
hysterical romp (though often unintentionally so).
Don't expect Total Overdose
to be an especially challenging piece of work though, because it fails
miserably in this regard. The enemy artificial intelligence borders on damaged.
Bad guys will sometimes run around in circles, shooting at nothing in
particular, or they'll get stuck in parts of the scenery. The only time they're
at all hard is when there are just too many of them, and even then you can
enact the game's "rewind" feature to just reverse time back a few
seconds to avoid whatever bullet killed you a moment ago. Ramiro's special
moves can also be abused to almost depressing levels. All it takes is one bout
of El Mariachi to blow away just about any boss, without taking any damage
yourself. Not that you need to cheat like this, since most bosses can be beaten
just as easily with some nifty shoot dodging, but even still, exploits like
this are prevalent throughout the game.
Total Overdose's Grand Theft
Auto inspirations come from the vision of Mexico that the developer has created
for you to play around in. The city you work in is largely open-ended, with plenty
of pedestrians, ancillary traffic, buildings, and multiple locales, which
unfortunately can't be jumped to without some load times. Additionally, these
locations are also often difficult to find, since the in-game map is absolute
garbage. As you wander around, you can look around for hidden bonuses and
items, or you can just shoot the hell out of anyone who crosses your path.
Unlike in GTA, though, there are really no consequences for your actions. Some
cops might show up, but that's as far as it escalates, which effectively turns
the process into a pretty dull affair. You get your missions by driving to
icons located on the aforementioned terrible map, though it's at least good
enough to denote the difference between a story mission and a side mission.
Side missions are mostly
secondary and optional, though there are a few instances where you'll be
required to do one or two side missions before the next story mission is
available. Most of these are pretty simple "kill everyone in sight,"
checkpoint race, or "blow up a few burrito carts filled with cocaine"
types of things, but they're fun enough for what they need to be. The story
missions are longer and much more involved, often with multiple sections and
plenty of heavy combat against drug runners, border patrol officers, and just
about anyone else who might cross your path. The game is absolutely rife with
save points, though, so you'll almost never find yourself having to repeat a
lengthy section of the game. However, in the rare instance that you do, it's
super-annoying.
There are also plenty of
vehicles in the game, and they easily represent the least fun you'll have with
any aspect of the gameplay. The cars handle in a very squirrelly manner, like
the General Lee on a greased hockey rink or something. Fortunately, apart from
the occasional checkpoint race, it's rare that you'll have to drive for more
than a short distance. Often, cars are simply an optional means to an end,
rather than a required piece of equipment for a mission. That's good, because
if you had to drive for long bouts with these absolutely atrocious driving
physics, you'd break the disc in half before you got anywhere near the end of
the game.
Total Overdose certainly has
style, but this isn't a particularly good-looking game. The character models
are drab and blocky, and they don't animate as smoothly as they ought to. The
rare exceptions are the style moves, but even they can be occasionally
weird-looking. The cities are better-looking, and there are plenty of colorful
set pieces decorating the background. However, the things going on in the
background are frequently ugly. People dive out of the way of cars that aren't
anywhere near them, cars will sometimes drive onto pieces of the scenery and
get stuck there, and all manner of other little crazy glitches will go
on--especially if you're involved in gunplay. The three versions of the game
are all comparable, with only the PlayStation 2's lackluster frame rate setting
it a notch or two lower than the rest. The PC game also does have a tendency to
chug a bit, but it's marginal at most.
The game's sound manages to
be both better and worse all at once. The voice acting, as mentioned before, is
awful, though perhaps intentionally so. All the dialogue is terribly cheesy,
and the actors ham it up to the nth degree. The credits list a number of Latino
actors as playing the parts here, but most of them overdo the accents and slang
so ludicrously that it all sounds forced and poorly stereotyped. However, the
soundtrack is, in a word, tough. Featuring a smattering of songs from Latino
rap group Delinquent Habits and Mexico City rap-metal group Molotov, the music
complements the hard-edged tone of the game perfectly. What's more, a number of
action sequences kick in with random bits of traditional flamenco guitars and
upbeat mariachi tunes. Surprisingly, the jauntiness of these tracks sets a
delightfully comedic contrast to the shooting, and it just plain works. The
sound effects for the weapons, explosions, and whatnot are all effective
enough, so you won't get any shortage of thunderous booms and bullet-riddled
screams throughout the experience.
Total Overdose is one of
those games that presents a conundrum. Most people shouldn't buy it, as it's
far too short, too patently ridiculous, and too weak outside of its combat to
be worth the money. Conversely, the game's utterly ludicrous nature makes for a
fairly entertaining ride at times, and the shooting can be quite fun. Shooter
fans on the hunt for something brainless and easy, but with lots of stylish
gunplay, should certainly rent Total Overdose just to see how bananas the whole
thing is. Those with slightly more-discerning tastes ought to just leave well
enough alone and look elsewhere for their needs.
Processor= 1.7 GHz
RAM= 256MB
Graphics= 32MB
