I'm sure that many people have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of 20p coins on the House of the Dead arcade machines in the past - I sure have anyway as my dad and I battled time and time again through the hungry horrors of the original. Since then there has been a sequel on the ill-fated SEGA Dreamcast, a trequel on Microsoft's Xbox and even an arcade-only fourth version, but now it's time to go back in time with a prequel - House of the Dead: Overkill. With so much already done, can developers Headstrong Games really breathe any new life into this Wii-exclusive iteration? Well, it's been a long time since I last jostled with the dead in a light gun game so I'm not sure how much has in Overkill is brand new, but it's certainly the best and most head-crackingly fun point-and-shoot game I've played in years.

The main source of this fun isn't the story, as that's suitably short and to the point: mutants (don't call them zombies, they hate that) have slaughtered hundreds of innocent townsfolk in Bayou City and your job is to shoot every last one of the disgusting creatures until you find the cause - and then shoot that too. There is more to the plot than that but I'll keep the details to a minimum so as not to spoil the juicy bits for you. The game is introduced as thousands of TV shows and low budget films have been before, with two main characters; one is a well-trained, emotionless government agent who's by the book and just does his job, while the other is a loud mouthed, wise-cracking cop who's gun happy and not afraid to break the rules. This may be the most overused cliché in the entertainment business but it actually works wonderfully well in Overkill, giving it a tongue-in-cheek humour that is a very welcome change from the increasingly serious games of today; this game makes you laugh your guts out while blowing out the guts out of mutants.

Other instances of this never serious approach can be found, such as freakish mutants dressed in clown costumes. However, I must make it inescapably clear though before we go any further that this is adult humour; women wearing revealing clothes and harsh language are commonplace. This more mature comedy is to be expected as the game has obviously been heavily influenced by cult Quentin Tarantino grindhouse movies like Planet Terror but don't let that put you off as even I am not a great fan of this style of movie but still really enjoy Overkill. This foundation on motion pictures is apparent in the structuring of levels, each having an old-fashioned movie poster and catchphrase title such as Papa's Palace of Pain or Ballistic Trauma - a clear repercussion from the success of Valve's awesome zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead.

With our two heroes introduced, the proper gameplay begins and fashionably, for any action movie involving mutants, the reason for the sudden outbreak of these slimy psychopathic horrors is left unexplained at the start and it is not until the end that you'll have some sort of half-hearted explanation. As I mentioned, the story and discovering the cause of the mutant invasion is not what makes this game cool; it's the gameplay that wins the day. The rootin', tootin' mutant-killing gameplay is simpler than words can describe; you point the Wiimote (or Wii Zapper, for the best gameplay experience) at the screen to move the crosshair and shoot the dead dudes that are walking, crawling or running towards you. Killing the dead does take a few shots depending on where you hit them but ammo is unlimited for any weapon; you need to reload too, by shaking the Wiimote, and different weapons restock their bullets faster than others, so there is an ounce of realism. Careful planning of when to reload is vital; reloading only when your clip is empty and the game chimes in with the words "Reload" is far from the best plan and can often prove fatal. There are also power-ups to shoot like health-boosting medkits or the new Mo-Fo time (no idea why it's called this but maybe I'm just not hip any more), slowing things down for a few seconds to let you aim for the brain [I'll give you a clue, Tom: swear word, four syllables, made up of two words beginning with 'M' and 'F'. Got it? Good! Curs-Ed.] So there's blasting at anything that moves or glows and, er, that's pretty much all there is to it; you don't control your characters' movements, the game kindly does this for you. Since, at its roots, the game is just a moving shooting gallery then you'll be glad to know that there is never so much on screen at any one time that your finger gets tired pulling the trigger, which is a huge boost to the gameplay as there is nothing as frustrating as having a barrel of a time playing a game only to be let down by an increasingly sluggish trigger finger!

As you shoot the bad guys and do your best to save the good guys (the unarmed civilians), you are awarded a score that's shown at the end of a level and is influenced by how many shots hit their mark, how many civilians you rescued from the pursuing ghoulies, how many civilians you shot (by accident, of course), how many times you died and how many floating golden brains you collected (by shooting them). A high score means big bucks and having lots of cash is to be encouraged because it allows you to buy weapons from the gun shop and upgrade the ones you have for some extra kick. The purchasable armaments are limited to the standard fare - shotguns, machine guns and assault rifles - which is a bit disappointing for such a tongue-in-cheek game but the ability to upgrade each one in every way from clip size to reload speed definitely makes up for this lack of originality. Another minor disappointment is that you can only enter a level with two guns from your purchased gun bank - one as your primary death-dealer and one to keep handy for close encounters.

Getting a close-up with a mutant isn't as ugly as you might think though, because the graphics and level of detail are majorly impressive for a Wii game. With that said, as soon as you begin playing the game, the Hollywood B-movie theme is apparent, with the graphics being suitably low tech and a bit grey and blurry with occasional black screen burns like old films. These downgraded visuals do not imply poor quality though - quite the opposite in fact, as the graphics are very nearly the best I have clapped eyes on for a Wii game - they are just lightly stylised to look like a low budget horror flick. Of course, the underpowered Wii when compared to the processing beasts within the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, struggles a bit in the more hectic scenes and the frame rate drops, allowing some pesky little invasive pauses and disrupting the otherwise smooth flow. This infrequent stutter is Overkill's major letdown; it's a great shame but it never makes the game totally unplayable so it's quite easy to forgive. In addition, it very rarely affects the animation or cut scenes, leaving these as dazzling and appropriate as you would expect from a game based around movies.

The graphics ooze that B-movie quality and the sound sits perfectly in balance, seeming to focus on giving the game a kind of episodic TV show vibe. For example, TV shows back in the old (not too old) days often had a dark and sinister announcer who narrated what was coming in tonight's episode, pushed the plot forward or just butted in and built up some anticipation in the audience. Overkill has just such an announcer with some spellbinding and humorous phrases like "Tonight you have been admitted to Bayou County General" and "It came to maul. It came to kill. It came to feed." When the announcer is locked back in his cage during gameplay, sounds include the moans, screams and shuffles of mutants, the twang of bullets hitting things other than the cold flesh of the dead, the slicing sound as scalpels, axes and hammers are flung through the air and the frequent but never long winded witty banter between the heroic duo of cop and agent. All these effects are suitably pitched and never get in the way of the spectacular head-popping fun.

This fun is further intensified by the superb music; on the menus and screens before the bullets even start flying you are treated to country and western songs that seem to be variations on what is said during cut scenes; the developers have obviously spent a large amount of time and money on recording unique songs specifically for Overkill (if all developers took this much care then game music as a whole would improve substantially). Again, swearing and black comedy are frequent in this music but when a level begins these cheeky tunes are replaced with intensive beats to let you focus on the action. Every level must come to an end though and after a short cut scene introducing the mandatory end of level boss, the music flares up again - not into the voiced songs as before but now some fantastic rhythm that really gets you into the required "Let's kill this freak!" mindset.

The levels are actually fairly short, which is a godsend in a game that's so focused on shooting things; the action would quickly become repetitive with the vast level sizes of Dead Space or BioShock. These short levels and the whole straightforward, on-the-rails arcade shooter approach to gameplay makes Overkill a bit of a rollercoaster ride; every moment is enjoyable and you know that any periods of calm are sure to be followed by instant thrills. Continuing the analogy, it's very difficult to get off before the end of the event (unless you want to die a particularly horrible death, of course) and it's also very hard to actually lose a game in Overkill. I'm not saying that it's too easy - it only takes around eight swipes from mutants to kill you - but upon death you have the option to continue from the exact spot where you died and your overall score for that level goes down, but the first time you play through you are unlikely to care. The upside of this constant forward momentum is that you can be sure that you will make at least some progress each play - you won't be stuck replaying the same old bits again and again - keeping that "Just one more go" mentality. The downside, however, is that it does make the mutant-killing fun (phew, almost used the 'z' word there!) brief - you could easily finish the story missions in one weekend. After this, a Director's Cut opens up, featuring an extended version of the game with tougher enemies, limited continues and even some unseen playable sections. This makes getting to the proper end a bit more time consuming and saves Overkill from a speedy fate but cannot really push it to the dizzying replayability heights of many leading action games.

However, this is one game that refuses to fall off the lifespan mountain entirely as it dangles for dear life just above the halfway camp; strengthening the fingers that save it from the nasty drop is the co-operative play option that allows for a second mutant-slayer to join you on your quick blast through the story. This co-op mode doesn't require an additional Wii Zapper either, as you can play with the Wiimote on its own, although I definitely recommend a back up as the enjoyment you get out of the game drops slightly because blasting evil dudes is just so much more fun when you have a proper gun in your hands! There are also three mini-games for up to four people to play but these just don't share the same polish as the rest of the experience - they're something to do on a cold, rainy day but don't add anything to the game.

House of the Dead: Overkill is definitely something to do any day, cold and rainy or not; it's an extremely entertaining, light-hearted, pick up and play shooter. I do recognise that it isn't for everyone - the frequent harsh language and the black comedy rule this game out for kids although I doubt that any doting parent is going to buy a game for their child that is centred around shooting dead people in the face! Other than the restricting adult themes, the only major minus point is the occasional but never too obtrusive stuttering screen, although this is no reason to leave the game rotting on the shelf. In fact, I would definitely recommend getting Overkill because if you have enjoyed previous House of the Dead games or simply welcome the return of light-gun games as a genre then there's no better place to get some practice for that inevitable time when half-dead mutants walk the Earth for real!

Reviewed by Tom Clark for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).