We caught up with Insomniac Games founder and CEO Ted Price to discuss their over the top shooter Sunset Overdrive that's making a splash on Xbox One this October.
"This game is full of unconventional weapons," says Price. "Weapons you simply won't find anywhere else and that's part of our heritage at Insomniac. We like making things that again you won't find in other games. One of my favourites is the TNTeddy. It's this teddy bear launcher and it fires this teddy bear who's got dynamite strapped to his belly. And he goes out and he kind of bounces around and he squeals and he blows up!"
For all it's flair and can be a bit tricky to peg down exactly what kind of game Sunset Overdrive is.
"This is a story-driven game. So it's an open world where you are following a fairly detailed story and as you are exploring this giant city you are picking up... more and more story elements, also earning weapons, you're crafting what we amps in the game. And these amps confer new abilities to the weapons that you've been buying or earning and they can also be attached to the hero."
In addition to the singleplayer campaign there is also co-operative multiplayer to be had with Chaos Squad:
"It takes place in the same open world that the campaign takes place in," says Price. "So you and seven friends are going on a series of missions that are randomised as your moving through the world."
Progress and weapons carries over between modes and there are special bonuses (weapons, amp recipe, cash, customisation items) to be had for those who complete what culminates into a Night Defence mission where you protect vats of Overcharge.
What really sets the game apart is it's light-hearted take on the end of the world, as Price puts it:
"The story is very self-aware. And what's fun for us is that it's also driven by what we feel are some important themes. One of which is as a society we seem to have this obsession with end times, right? There has been so many movies, so many games about the apocalypse. And they're usually grim, dark visions of the apocalypse. We decided to turn it on its head and make this your "awesomepocalypse". What would happen if something horrific happened in your city, well maybe it's actually fun. Maybe you don't have to worry about that dead end job. Maybe you can play your music as loud as you want. Wear what you want and have fun. And that's what a lot of this game is about."