Sunset Overdrive And The Mystery Of The Mooil Rig! DLC Review

This year, Insomniac Games gave us an early Christmas present in the form of Sunset Overdrive; a colourful, zany and incredibly fun game that ended up being better than expected. Now, a couple of short months after the Xbox One exclusive Game of the Year contender’s release, the OD-filled and punk rock-fuelled badass simulator has been given added life with a brand new downloadable content campaign titled Sunset Overdrive and the Mystery of the Mooil Rig! Try to say that five times in a row without stopping or making a mistake. I dare you.

As you’ve likely gathered from its overly long and utterly strange title, The Mystery of the Mooil Rig! takes place on an offshore oil rig. Not just any drilling outfit, though: One that has, itself, also been overrun by OD, thanks to a mixture of oil and everyone’s favourite new energy drink. And that’s not all, as some of the rig’s former employees (who have not only survived, but also remained human) have taken up arms against any and all intruders.

Those assholes.

Kickstarting this uncharted quest is an S.O.S. pertaining to Bryllcreem (aka. the guy who ate his own limbs). It seems that he’s gone missing again and is in need of a saviour. This time around, though, the player must locate parts of his new body, that being a mech which has seen better days. Getting to the troop leader quickly becomes a top priority, and it’s his recovery that acts as the beginning of this paid expansion quest.

After saving his survival-focused ass, Mr. Bryllcreem tells us of a scary situation involving his sister, who has apparently become trapped on Mooil Rig. All that’s really said is that she was once an employee of the company that ran the thing, and has been forced to find shelter on it since the OD outbreak began. So, being the natural badass that our created character is, he (or she) offers to help and sets out for the dangerous waters which border Sunset City.

While Sunset Overdrive is filled to the brim with missions, its first add-on is a bit sparse in that department. As such, completing its nine (or so) mission-long quest line will only take you about an hour-and-a-half. It’s certainly not the longest bit of DLC that you can purchase for $9.99 in today’s world of digital downloads, but it is pretty fun. Unspectacular, but fun.

The missions themselves aren’t entirely new designs, either. You’ll find yourself standing pat as OD attempt to eat your face, destroying egg clusters, setting fires and fighting new kinds of unholy creatures, but none of it will feel particularly original. There are a few of neat twists, though, which come in the form of additional abilities and weapons.

For one, the protagonist can now use the momentum from a butt slam to fuel an incredibly high jump when H2O is involved. Continuing on, a helpful but relatively awkward mini-jet, a decent flamethrower, unlockable amps and a couple other items also lend their assistance. The flamethrower must be created, though, out of three easy-to-collect parts that are then given to a modern day Psycho.

A news item on the Xbox Wire website promises “several hours’ worth of new story and side missions,” but unless there’s a second quest line hidden somewhere within this DLC, that’s a stretch. I only ever encountered one side quest, and it popped up on my map after some exploration. No others ever appeared, but according to the achievement list, I did miss one. Outside of what I’ve mentioned, the only other things I noticed were a night defence base, a new Chaos Squad map, twenty collectible UFO balloons and several challenges. Nothing too extravagant.

The challenges are new and relatively fun. One type has you using the jet (or glider, as it’s called in the game, even though it has engines) to pick up colour-coded numbers that represent points, while another has you doing the same thing using your water slide and new H2O super jump. The best ones involve going from point-to-point to deliver bombs while dealing with a time limit, and some South Park-inspired fishing, the latter of which tasks players with throwing explosive barrels into the water.

Undoubtedly, the most memorable part of Sunset Overdrive and the Mystery of the Mooil Rig! is its final encounter with a boss bearing one of the best names in gaming history. However, like the main campaign’s last battle, it won’t win any awards for mechanical ingenuity, though it’s fun and satisfying nonetheless. In actuality, that line accurately sums up this DLC as a whole. It’s not going to win any awards, but it’s fun and only ten dollars. On top of that, it’s genuinely hilarious at times.

In the end, it’s easy to recommend this expansion to fans of Sunset Overdrive, as it’s a lot more of the same addictive and thoroughly enjoyable gameplay. Still, what could’ve been great is merely good at best, which is a bit of a disappointment given how surprisingly awesome the main game is.

This review is based on the Xbox One exclusive, which we were provided with.