The Typing of the Dead: Overkill was developed by Modern Dream and published by Sega in 2013. It is a first-person shooter that fuses the gruesome and colourful horror of the House of the Dead series, with keyboard typing mechanics. A sort of: “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing with Zombies and Monsters“, if you will.

This game is the sequel to the 1999 game, The Typing of the Dead, but is based on the Wii game, The House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut. It has a story mode, a multiplayer mode, and a number of minigames that can be unlocked by completing portions of story mode.

The story puts you in the middle of a zombie/mutant outbreak in Bayou county, and there are nine different stages to play out, eventually uncovering the mystery behind the outbreak.

The gameplay basically involves typing out words and phrases as quickly as possible, to shoot the monsters. You don’t have any control over movement, weapons or reloading – you simply have to concentrate on typing out each word, phrase or letter on each zombie, monster or projectile. Each successful typing attempt will stop whatever it is that is hurtling toward you. Fumble, and you’ll receive damage. Lose all your health and the game will end, but you can continue if you wish to.

You’ll occasionally be presented with a ‘rescue’ situation, where you have to type something quickly in order to save a person in peril, and there are also boss battles at the end of each chapter.

The Typing of the Dead: Overkill is a funny game in places, and the dialogue is peppered with humour and profanities (making it an adult-only experience). There’s film grain and scratches on the screen, to simulate the ‘grindhouse’ look of old film prints that have seen better days, and the 3D graphics are detailed and well-lit, with some lurid colour used to enhance the visuals.

The game can be played at three difficulty levels, with an unlockable, fourth ‘hardcore’ mode for the greatest possible challenge. There’s also a two-player cooperative mode, and there’s a full port of the PS3 version of the original The House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut included with the game, that can be played with either a mouse or a controller.

A number of DLC dictionary packs have been released for the game, which change the text that you type to various different themes. I’m showing the DLC called “Filth of the Dead” at the end of this set of screenshots, which – as you can imagine – is full of rude words and phrases. I didn’t buy it – a friend gifted it to me. Honest! 🙂

More: The Typing of the Dead: Overkill on Wikipedia
More: The Typing of the Dead: Overkill on Steam