Perhaps more importantly, the game is balanced in a way that really encourages you not to be on the ground longer than you have to be. Seeing all the game's crazy visual tricks is a big part of the appeal here. The second you stop using the traversal mechanics, that style meter depletes rapidly, so you want to keep moving just to keep your abilities powered up. First, bouncing, grinding, and shooting enemies while doing both will build up a "style" meter that activates a bunch of special abilities you can customize and equip. Nearly every object in the environment serves as a bounce pad for no particular reason, and once you're airborne, you need to find a power line, railing, or other rail-like surface to grind on as soon as possible, for two reasons. Playing the game is about always being in motion. There are plenty of opportunities for absurdity among the various factions you meet, which include a scout troop that follows the bushido code and a group of LARPers that take their role-playing very seriously. The comedy is at its best when the game is poking fun at itself, and luckily you get more of that in the latter half of the game. Hearing NPCs mocking the ridiculous design tropes of open-world games, and seeing your character grab a HUD element to use as a weapon or threaten someone by popping up the radial weapon menu is always a delight. There's a worrying number of eye-rollingly flat one-liners early on that makes it feel like the game is trying too hard to be edgy, but Sunset seems to get more comfortable with its sense of humor as you get deeper in. From the first minute, it combines dynamic camera work with a creative use of motion graphics and a clever self-awareness to create a lot of moments worth chuckling at. The way Sunset Overdrive presents itself is absolutely top-notch. (It's worth noting that you don't have to play a punk type yourself-the robust character maker lets you revise your gender, face, body type, and a huge range of silly clothing options at any time.) How much of the game-playing youth even knows who The Melvins are at this point? Anyway, everything about the writing and visual design of Sunset Overdrive has a snarky, irreverent tone to it, as your nameless player character continually thumbs his or her nose at Fizzco, an ethically bankrupt mega-corporate beverage maker that's unleashed a new energy drink which turns all of Sunset City's residents into slobbering mutants. I mean, the game's cast features one of the members of The Melvins. I fell into the former category, which probably means I'm old. The game is shot through with a punk rock aesthetic and sensibility that will either feel really fun or kind of dated (or both), depending on how old you are. Some of its gameplay concepts could stand to be a little more fleshed out, but Sunset is a high-flying good time with some clever writing and design, and a lot of gleeful attitude. After the dull bro-shooter doldrums of Fuse, it's great to see Insomniac getting back into its wheelhouse with a game focused on bouncing around bright, colorful environments and shooting a bunch of ridiculous weapons. Sunset Overdrive is one of the most breakneck, hyper-saturated, unflappably original games in quite some time. The apocalypse tends to bring out the weird in people.
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