When Microsoft announced that Insomniac’s next title would be exclusive to XBox One there was a lot of hype and anticipation to say the least. Now that the game is out, I’m here to say you can forget the hype…because Sunset Overdrive surpasses it. 

Spoiler alert!!!!

I love every single little aspect of this game. It’s exactly the type of game I’ve been looking for for years. It’s visually appealing, the music is great, the world is huge and the game is just a ton of fun. Readers should be ready to read the word game in this review a lot because that’s my absolute favorite part of Sunset Overdrive; it feels like a video game. Something that has been missing from gaming for too long.

The story in Sunset Overdrive is laughable and that is in no way a bad thing; In short, armageddon is upon us and it’s all a beverage company’s fault. That’s right folks you can blame the end of the world on a company named Fizzco that boasts the quality of its’ products every chance it gets, even in the most inappropriate times.

Players take control of their customizable character in an open world known as Sunset City.  Gamers have their choice of how to get around; Running through the street, grinding up and down any surface imaginable including power lines, jumping from rooftop to rooftop or even an automated fast travel (Although traversing through the map is so much fun that fast travel won’t even be a thought with most players). 

Weapons found throughout Sunset Overdrive become more and more operationally hilarious as the game goes on and can be upgraded quite often. These are complemented by weapons created by the environment, a great example of this is a railway power switch that electrocutes enemies, holding them in place on a subway track as the train plows them over as it passes by.

Collectibles are a big part of every open world game, and this game has no shortage of them. The big difference for me between this title and every other sandbox game is that I couldn’t wait to find them all. As I stated earlier, every facet of this game is just plain fun to me.

I’d hate to spoil any of the surprises held within this game, and there are a ton of them, so I won’t go into any more details of it, but I will throw this out there: The story is hilarioius, the talk track is interesting, the living-breathing world is a blast to explore and there is no shortage hilarious anecdotes. The game does not take it too seriously and i’m pretty sure that this is the first game ever where I was excited to die. Simply put, Sunset Overdrive is a must play for any XBox One owners and if you don’t have an XBox One, find a friend that has one and either try their copy. If they don’t have it then rent it and try it out, because I can just about guarantee that it’ll be on your wish list this holiday season afterward.

A warning to parents; The language in Sunset Overdrive is quite adult-oriented, however there is a language filter in the options menu.

This review of Sunset Overdrive was conducted using a digital code provided by Microsoft. The opinions reflected in this review are those of Richard Booth and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the rest of the staff at GamesRelated.