Sega announces House of Dead: Overkill as Wii exclusive

Wii gamers who find themselves defending the system as a legitimate platform for hardcore gamers have been given some new ammunition (of course, they may want to save that ammunition for the zombies). Sega has announced The House of Dead: Overkill will be coming to the Wii early 2009. The game is being developed by Headstrong Games (formerly Kuju of Battalion Wars 1 and 2) and is being built from the ground up specifically for the Wii platform.

Using the Wii remote (as opposed to the light-gun approach of the The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return port), the game will be presented in a pulp action-style design. This is made quite clear in the trailer which was instantly one of the best game trailers I have ever seen. Check it out:

In an interview with IGN, Headstrong Games producer Neil McEwan explains that the title has been in development for a couple of years now, and they’ve got a team of around 40 people working on it. And although the game is inspired by The House of the Dead series, it’ll be taking an entirely new approach:

“While we’ve of course taken the right amount of inspiration from the HotD series, and fans will notice where we have referenced the other games, we’re not sharing assets or technology. As a game, story and visual experience, it’s entirely brand-new.”

And if that’s not enough to get you get you ready for some zombie killing action:

IGN: What about the Nunchuk. Can it be used for anything?

Neil: No, we wanted it to be accessible, but mainly we wanted to free up peoples’ hands for more guns. I can talk about that specifically in the future.

Free up peoples’ hands for more guns?

Sweet.

Having been somewhat amused but ultimately disappointed in The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, I’m thrilled to see this game taking full advantage of the Wii’s capabilities, and I’m looking forward to following its development.

Read [IGN] Also Read [NintendoWiiFanboy]