Sunset Overdrive Review: An Enjoyable Explosion Of Creativity

Sunset Overdrive checks in as the newest project from Insomniac Games. Be prepared to have one of the greatest gaming experiences you will ever take part in.

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Prepare to buckle in, because Sunset Overdrive is like nothing you have ever experienced before. Insomniac Games is no stranger to creativity, and Sunset Overdrive will undoubtedly push that bar further than you have ever experienced before. Sunset City was my canvas for one of the most entertaining playthroughs I have ever experienced in a video game.

From the get go, Sunset Overdrive, and more importantly, Sunset City, smack you right in the face with the over the top style and color scheme. On a next generation console, you’ve likely never seen colors pop so brilliantly, or felt like you were caught in the most amazing piece of artwork ever. I couldn’t help but catching myself staring around the environments as the game kicked off.

Introduced slowly, Sunset Overdrive makes sure to explain what exactly you are trying to accomplish. There are no boring training missions, but instead the story is told to you as you begin your big open world journey. Enemies are introduced slowly, and the game teaches you just how to survive in Sunset City.

Honestly, you couldn’t thank Sunset Overdrive enough for the slow start. As the game progresses, the control scheme becomes one of the most complex in any video game of recent memory. Thanks to a plethora of weapon choices and combos, there is a multitude of commands to master.

While an open world game at heart, Sunset Overdrive gives you plenty of direction. With mission objectives laid out on your map, it is in your own choosing that dictates your next move. Although there is a fast travel option, using it would remove much of the fun that is getting lost in Sunset City.

Constantly diverting from your once desired objective to explore a new area or follow a more shiny, alluring part of the city, is something I found myself doing all to often.

Sunset Overdrive combines entertaining monsters and even more entertaining weapons, to create one of the most fun combat scenarios you will ever play.

Then comes the enemies. Sunset Overdrive combines entertaining monsters and even more entertaining weapons, to create one of the most fun combat scenarios you will ever play. Blowing up a Hurker with a TNTeddy really never gets old, and the amount of weapons at your disposal makes the experience never feel stale.

Sunset Overdrive also begs you to use your own creativity. Almost nothing in the world can’t be used as a trampoline to propel higher, or a surface to grind on. Finding yourself traveling miles across the game world while seldom touching the ground is truly a gratifying feeling.

All in all, Sunset Overdrive is the single player experience that every game wishes to emulate. The experience is more than worth spending time in, and it makes you feel as though you have become a part of the game world. Rather than rushing off to a multiplayer mode to fill a void, Sunset City welcomes you in, and the gamer doesn’t want to leave.

All in all, Sunset Overdrive is the single player experience that every game wishes to emulate.

Don’t worry though, Sunset Overdrive does have a co-op mode, Chaos Squad. The eight-player mode pits gamers against a wave of enemies, and the monstrous explosions that occur can be more than entertaining. While it wasn’t as gripping as the single player was for me, Insomniac made sure to have something for everyone here.

Sunset Overdrive isn’t just one of the best games on the Xbox One, but it’s one of the best story driven, creatively directed, and well executed games in a long time. Take a bow Sunset City, you have outdone yourself.

The Good

Amazing art direction and style
Fun upgrades and weapon offerings
Innovative travel system

The Bad

Missions can feel underwhelming

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