Sunset Overdrive Is 8 Times Crazier With Friends

Sunset Overdrive” is already one of the highlights of E3, and that’s just from seeing the single-player portion. But we got a chance to sit down with the eight-way multiplayer, Chaos Squad, as well, and it really solidifies the game as one of the most bombastic, wacky, and hilarious titles at the show. Everything you can do in single-player – grinding on rails, performing acrobatic tricks, and blowing so much stuff up – is available in multiplayer. So, take the single-player madness, and multiply by eight.

Set up as a series of missions with different objectives in the open world, multiplayer culminates in a defensive enemy-at-the-gates Night Defense mode, which is what we got to play. Players work together to set traps and inflict mayhem, to fend off waves of enemies before they devour the tanks of energy drink you’re protecting.

To be honest, “Sunset Overdrive” is so wonderfully frenetic that it can be a little overwhelming at first. But once your brain catches up to the craziness after a minute you fall into a perfect gameplay groove: grinding along rails, hitting explosive traps to take out a whole group of baddies, then performing a series of tricks to snag more power-ups for the next wave.

We stuck to the rails high up, doing perimeter sweeps with propane-tank explosives. Down below, another player set off explosives around the map to thin the herds of monsters rushing towards us. Meanwhile, another player posted up high and picked off the bigger enemies that tried to come along the side. “Sunset Overdrive” lets you play in your style, and together we all kept the bad guys at bay. All along the way, we were earning power-ups and costume items that could be used not only in multiplayer matches, but also in single-player.

The Night Defense portion of “Sunset Overdrive’s” Chaos Squad multiplayer feels like Insomniac took the over-the-top weapons they’re known so well for, crammed it in a blender with “Jet Set Radio,” and then poured that mess all over an awesome tower defense game. It’s incredibly addictive, rewarding, fast-paced, and most of all, really fun to play. This is how co-op multiplayer should be, and we can’t wait to play more.