I loved fighting enemies like the giant Hurkers, as each encounter felt like a mini-boss fight in and of itself. But Sunset wisely avoids harsh punishments with quick respawns with amusing animations that lovingly pay homage - in clever ways - to dozens of classic works, from Portal to Terminator to Night of the Living Dead.Īs long as you keep moving and refrain from lingering on the ground, Sunset’s combat proves to be deep, entertaining, and rewarding. Seriously, if you find yourself on the ground for more than 10 seconds, deprived of your godly mobility, chances are you’re going to end up dead shortly after that.
In fact all of this is encouraged thanks to a punitively slow regular ground running speed, the rewards of a smart combo system, and an ridiculous abundance of monsters, soldiers, and robots. Narrative conceit be damned, your hero or heroine can, using nothing but their own two feet, bounce off anything remotely buoyant, dash through the air, and grind on all manners of power lines, billboards, and anything that presents a right angle - now all I want is for Insomniac to make a Spider-Man game. I rarely found myself using the fast travel system, because this is a game that’s about the journey as much as the destination.
While that structure might sound monotonous, Sunset makes the very act of traversal a constant joy instead of an obligatory trudge. Like most any open-world game, the mission structure here has you talking to a character at point A, making your way across the map to point B, and engaging in some activity that usually results in being sent to collect a reward at point C. This distinct style transcends aesthetics, and actually aids in Sunset's most successful and often-used mechanics. I really appreciate that Insomniac has crafted a world that successfully adheres to a strong, unique, and artistic vision. Monsters explode into an ocean of bright-orange viscera, certain weapons allow you fire off a torrent of blazing fireworks, and freezing enemies will result in the word “BRRRR” appearing in the air above them. Like the cult-classic Jet Set Radio, Sunset assaulted my senses with a never-ending barrage of stimulus. Its bright colors, punk-rock attitude, and nose turned up in the direction of authority all meld together wonderfully. Sunset Overdrive visually pops, like the Easter Bunny on an acid trip. More often than not, it led me someplace that I'm thoroughly glad I visited. Because of Sunset's superb traversal, impeccable comedic writing, and wealth of upgrade paths for my character and weapons, I was more than happy to take the road less traveled. This isn't due to a lack of interesting things to do, but rather a testament to the abundance of them.
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