Now Playing: The Typing of the Dead

The Typing of the Dead: Overkill is a piece of educational software designed to improve your touch typing skill in terms of speed and accuracy. You are presented with a rapid fire of word and phrase challenges. Failure to complete these challenges in the allotted time results in a penalty – the loss of at least 1 ‘heath point’. Continual failure may (will) result in death.

I played the original Overkill when it was released on the Wii in 2009, a continuation of the popular House of the Dead series. Like previous titles, it’s an on-rails FPS playable solo or in co-op. You progress through several levels set in a variety of locations shooting various zomb- mutant types leading to a boss confrontation.

 

You’re scored on a combo system by stringing together accurate hits, not taking damage and occasionally rescuing civilians. As you progress you’ll discover collectibles (music, comics, art, 3D models) plus cash which can be spent on new weapon types and upgrades (ammo count, reload speed, damage etc). There are three difficulty modes including a ‘Director’s Cut’ mode with additional challenges, plus three mini-games.

The story and style of Overkill is very much in the grindhouse style. It’s silly, over the top, gory and full of foul language, but it has its tongue firmly in its cheek. I’m sure some people would think it all rather unnecessary and offensive but I don’t think I ever stopped grinning from the moment Isaac Washington declared ‘I’m gonna rip your motherf**king balls off!’

Of course, this review isn’t really just about the ‘regular’ Overkill game which is included in this package, but the ‘Typing’ version. It’s the same game, of course, but updated in a way whereby letters become bullets. As the zomb- mutants attack, words or phrases will appear on the screen. As you start typing you also start shooting and completing that word or phrase will kill the attached mutant. Easy enough, until you have 3 or more mutants on screen, some of which may also throw items at you which must be deflected with a single letter.

 

Obviously, you can only tackle a single letter, word or phrase at a time, so not only must you type quickly, but you have to learn to prioritise the most urgent threat. But it’s not all about speed, but accuracy too, especially if you play on the Hardcore variation setting (separate to the three main difficulties) where a single letter out of place will reset the word or phrase entirely, meaning you have to begin from scratch with something new. Like in the original version, you are scored on accuracy and stringing together hits, building an increasing combo. The typing version also has its own updated mini-games and collectibles to find.

I’m not really sure what else I can say about Overkill. It’s a game where you type words to kill mutants and that’s not really something you can f**k up. That said, the typing mechanic has been very neatly integrated into the original game in a way that feels finely balanced and even throws in a clever twist on the final boss which I won’t spoil here.

 

As a package, with the regular game plus the typing variation, including all the mini-games, co-op, difficulty modes, DLC levels and a few free DLC dictionaries included, you get a lot to keep you busy. It’s not a very long game if you only intend to play through once (maybe a couple of hours) but there’s a lot of replay value here if like going for high scores or challenging yourself on harder modes. Oh, and it may just improve your touch typing skills too.

It can look a bit rough given its Wii origins, but that kind of adds to the charm. It also has a great soundtrack. So yeah, if you want an arcade style light-gun game on your PC, you really can’t go wrong with it. It’s enjoyable and challenging to play, although perhaps a little easier on the regular version thanks to mouse accuracy. It’s a game where you type words to kill mutants. And it does that pretty much perfectly. It won’t ever quite capture the fantastic fun of standing next to a mate, each with a plastic gun, shooting at the CRT in your living room, but it’s about as close as you can hope to get.

8/10