Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico Preview

I was shown a demo mission of Total Overdose entitled “Smash the Stash.” The entire game takes place in Mexico, providing a very sandy, dry, desert setting – but don’t think it’s empty; there are plenty of things to play with. The mission begins with the main character confronting a gang leader. The head honcho challenges the main character’s cocky attitude with a test: to destroy some architecture at an enemy marijuana factory of sorts.

The game plays a lot like a mix between Mercenaries and Max Payne, with a little more flavor and even some gags. Players can run and gun, dive in slow motion and fire, or take aim and pull off head shots. To target an enemy, you can hold the lock-on button. The longer you hold it you will notice a target zeroing in tighter and tighter in the enemy. If you wait until the last moment the target will turn from red to yellow, which means it’s at its tightest. If you fire at this moment, you will get a head shot and an instant kill.

Also, as sort of an easter egg ability, the player can steal the hat off any enemy wearing one and wear it themselves for awhile. It doesn’t really do anything special, just a fun way of taunting your enemy while dressing up your own character.

As you kill enemies in succession you’ll notice a counter in the lower left corner of the screen. Each enemy you kill within a certain amount of time chains to the last, and your number grows. Every 3 enemies killed in a row grant you with various bonuses such as health or super moves.

One of the over-the-top elements of Total Overdose that really amps up the action is the inclusion of super moves. The three shown to me were El Mariachi, Tornado, and Golden Gun. When activating El Mariachi your character pulls out two large guitar case machine guns. He walks slower, but can deal crazy damage to enemies in front of him. Tornado causes the main character to jump and spin in mid-air, firing two guns in every direction. In a tight space this is devastating. The Golden Gun power up give the player a gun that kills in one shot, and it comes with 4 shots. One other trick players have up their sleeve is the rewind ability. Much like Prince of Persia, if players don’t like how they did something or were threatened with death, they can use a rewind and back the game up a little ways to try the event differently.

Another noteworthy ability I witnessed was the vehicle bail-out. While driving, players can prepare to bail by hanging out of the open door while still steering. When leaping from the moving vehicle the game will slow down as if they were doing a shoot dodge, allowing the player to take out nearby enemies and watch their automobile plow through everything in its path. I should also mention that vehicles can be destroyed, and while being destroyed various parts will fall off realistically.

Total Overdose is expected to have 20 main missions as well as 30+ side missions that may require some exploration to discover. This title is looking great and was a blast to play. Moves are easy to pull off and the controls are tight. Total Overdose is being released by Eidos, so keep an eye out for more updates.    

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