Chili Con Carnage is a semi-sequel to the Latin-style action game Total Overdose. The game has new missions and a structure fine-tuned for handheld play. The single player mode El Macho is a collection of different mini challenges which do not tell any story but give access to different characters with different gameplay. The game also future two dynamic multiplayer modes: Hangman for up to 4 players on 1 console and Fiesta for Wi-Fi gameplay. There is a massive amount of exotic weapons and the gameplay is over the top, with bullet-time and gravity-defying moves.
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CARNAAAAGE
I had a friend who was a big time ROM pirate back in our school days, and one of the gems he passed me back then was this game. He was, obviously, a good friend, enriching my life with weird semi-racist hidden gems that I think about all the time.
du pollo
Ahhhhh nostalgia. This was a childhood game that I never beat so I had to hunt myself down a copy to finally play through it fully. Its been a bummer because I have been doing this with multiple PSP games that I didn't finish growing up but most of them have been very bad besides a few. Very glad to say that this game is VERY fun and one that I am glad I got around to playing again.
If you have played max payne or dead to rights this game will feel very much at home for you. A revenge story setting you out to get revenge for your father the games story is very basic but gets the job done however what I didn't remember was how funny the game could be. It has a lot of humor and for the most part its funny enough.
The gameplay is very fun but can be annoying at times due to shooting games just never really being that good on PSP. But there is auto lock as you would expect and a few other ways to hard lock onto things. If you Hold L1 the game will auto aim you onto hazard items that can blow up like TMT boxes etc etc and if you hold R2 it will auto lock you onto enemies however if you hold R2 and time it perfectly you can get a 1 kill headshot on most enemies ( until they get head gear which will take 2 shots instead). Combine fun movement with fun skills and a decent variety of weapons to play with the combat is very fun when it works correctly.
My only complaint really with the game would be very random difficulty spikes and a terrible and I mean TERRIBLE final boss fight. This game won't change your way of thinking of gaming as a whole but it is damn well a good time and doesn't overstay its welcome.
If you can track down a copy for a fair price I say give it a go!
If you have played max payne or dead to rights this game will feel very much at home for you. A revenge story setting you out to get revenge for your father the games story is very basic but gets the job done however what I didn't remember was how funny the game could be. It has a lot of humor and for the most part its funny enough.
The gameplay is very fun but can be annoying at times due to shooting games just never really being that good on PSP. But there is auto lock as you would expect and a few other ways to hard lock onto things. If you Hold L1 the game will auto aim you onto hazard items that can blow up like TMT boxes etc etc and if you hold R2 it will auto lock you onto enemies however if you hold R2 and time it perfectly you can get a 1 kill headshot on most enemies ( until they get head gear which will take 2 shots instead). Combine fun movement with fun skills and a decent variety of weapons to play with the combat is very fun when it works correctly.
My only complaint really with the game would be very random difficulty spikes and a terrible and I mean TERRIBLE final boss fight. This game won't change your way of thinking of gaming as a whole but it is damn well a good time and doesn't overstay its welcome.
If you can track down a copy for a fair price I say give it a go!
my feelings on this game are complicated but overall positive. the game is a pseudo sequel remake/reimagining maybe even reboot of total overdose: a gunslinger's tale in mexico. aka one of my favorite games of all time... only this game is for the PSP and is almost hiding its relation to the first game, so already its weird, but even MORE baffling is the tone, as the whole games story is presented as a joke. the game literally opens up with ramiro celebrating his dads birthday with kittens when suddenly the bad guy crashes into the building with a combine harvester and turns them into hay barrels. this happens in under 30 seconds and it sets the tone for the entire game, as all the other cutscenes have that same feeling to them, but honestly i was just more baffled than entertained while watching them. the first game had its humor, a good amount, but this just feels like a parody of the first game, and maybe it is. i just dont know if it worked.
but on to the gameplay. now then, since this is a sequel on a handheld device, corners were naturally cut. so no more open world, instead its a series of linear levels occasionally interrupted by challenges. 19 levels and 12 challenges, and also some other single player missions titled "el macho" but thats literally running around in a circle shooting people until you either die without a rewind or lose your combo, but since enemies spawn in a fixed location, if you can make one loop, you can easily do it infinitely, especially if you unlock infinite ammo weapons (more on that later) but frankly i dont think there's any reward for el macho, it just seems mindless. only real interesting thing about it is that you can use unlocked characters in it, which you can't do in the campaign, but thats about it.
back to the campaign, it seems like it mostly recreates locations from the first game, in remixed ways. i havent played total overdose in a couple years, so i didn't notice how different or similar they were, but i will say they didnt seem familiar beyond the general aesthetic of the areas.
gameplaywise, there needed to be more sacrifices than just gutting the open world. since the game is on a handheld with only one nub instead of 2 sticks, and also just less buttons in general, changes had to be made. as a result, the game now has a much heavier auto aim and tank controls. the latter may be a deal breaker to some, but tbh you get used to it. i don't believe there is a sprint. jumping is a lot more jank, as you can only bullet dodge (will get back to that). now then there is also a hop ram can do while standing still, but thats useless, its really never used. to get over obstacles, you walk into something chest high until ram vaults over it. the loco moves got nerfed, instead of carrying various and switching between them, you can only have one at a time. its not so bad given that this game is more level to level with weapons and and loco abilities being reset with each level. beyond that, they pretty much managed to transition total overdose's max payne styled bullet time gameplay pretty well. you can still bullet dodge with the x button, shoot with square, triangle is your el loco move, and holding circle is your free aim (its clunky, only used for boss fights really). L button locks on to objects, R button locks on to heads (camera locks on to enemies by default) left and right on the d pad switch weapons, but up and down do seemingly nothing? start pauses, but select also seems to do nothing. i cant help but feel like those unused buttons could go to work, like maybe the up button will instantly throw a grenade or molotov, the down button could be used to quick turn. its a bit of a problem not being able to do that in the game at times, as the closes you can do is start a reverse dodge by double tapping x while holding back. and select could be a quick rewind button, because unlike with total overdose, in chili con carnage, you can only rewind in death. rewinding restores health if you're low and keeps your combo going, so being able to do it at will would be a great help. there are also a couple of moments in the game where you're in a claustrophobic environment and forced to platform. these moments suck as you can only dive and vault, and most of the time you end up undershooting your dive, and they usually give you combo extenders here, but miss that jump and thats a combo killer right there. now combos can be important, because you get up to 4 rewards at the end of each mission
bronze reward, which is usually an upgrade to your health or combo time or something similar
silver which usually unlocks concept art or something
gold reward which... idk i never got a gold
and a special chili reward which will usually grant infinite ammo. the first 3 rewards can be earned by getting enough style points, thankfully a bronze is pretty much always guaranteed no matter your skill level, so there's no risk of losing out on its, admittedly tacked on, rpg element. its more or less "you beat the level, you get the upgrade"
the chili is the unique one because once you start a combo, you have to beat the level before the combo meter dies. i like that you can actually complete a level without losing your combo, especially with how bite sized the levels are. that actually might be one of the games downsides however. its only about 5 hours. but hey its a psp game and it encourages you to replay the levels so i'll allow it. honestly for how much they had to cut back from total overdose, and all the weird changes, it still does make legitimate improvements on the original, even if some were likely out of limitation. if you're looking for a max payne like game on the go....well okay your options there are pretty much just between this and max payne gba, but this still scratches the itch.
but on to the gameplay. now then, since this is a sequel on a handheld device, corners were naturally cut. so no more open world, instead its a series of linear levels occasionally interrupted by challenges. 19 levels and 12 challenges, and also some other single player missions titled "el macho" but thats literally running around in a circle shooting people until you either die without a rewind or lose your combo, but since enemies spawn in a fixed location, if you can make one loop, you can easily do it infinitely, especially if you unlock infinite ammo weapons (more on that later) but frankly i dont think there's any reward for el macho, it just seems mindless. only real interesting thing about it is that you can use unlocked characters in it, which you can't do in the campaign, but thats about it.
back to the campaign, it seems like it mostly recreates locations from the first game, in remixed ways. i havent played total overdose in a couple years, so i didn't notice how different or similar they were, but i will say they didnt seem familiar beyond the general aesthetic of the areas.
gameplaywise, there needed to be more sacrifices than just gutting the open world. since the game is on a handheld with only one nub instead of 2 sticks, and also just less buttons in general, changes had to be made. as a result, the game now has a much heavier auto aim and tank controls. the latter may be a deal breaker to some, but tbh you get used to it. i don't believe there is a sprint. jumping is a lot more jank, as you can only bullet dodge (will get back to that). now then there is also a hop ram can do while standing still, but thats useless, its really never used. to get over obstacles, you walk into something chest high until ram vaults over it. the loco moves got nerfed, instead of carrying various and switching between them, you can only have one at a time. its not so bad given that this game is more level to level with weapons and and loco abilities being reset with each level. beyond that, they pretty much managed to transition total overdose's max payne styled bullet time gameplay pretty well. you can still bullet dodge with the x button, shoot with square, triangle is your el loco move, and holding circle is your free aim (its clunky, only used for boss fights really). L button locks on to objects, R button locks on to heads (camera locks on to enemies by default) left and right on the d pad switch weapons, but up and down do seemingly nothing? start pauses, but select also seems to do nothing. i cant help but feel like those unused buttons could go to work, like maybe the up button will instantly throw a grenade or molotov, the down button could be used to quick turn. its a bit of a problem not being able to do that in the game at times, as the closes you can do is start a reverse dodge by double tapping x while holding back. and select could be a quick rewind button, because unlike with total overdose, in chili con carnage, you can only rewind in death. rewinding restores health if you're low and keeps your combo going, so being able to do it at will would be a great help. there are also a couple of moments in the game where you're in a claustrophobic environment and forced to platform. these moments suck as you can only dive and vault, and most of the time you end up undershooting your dive, and they usually give you combo extenders here, but miss that jump and thats a combo killer right there. now combos can be important, because you get up to 4 rewards at the end of each mission
bronze reward, which is usually an upgrade to your health or combo time or something similar
silver which usually unlocks concept art or something
gold reward which... idk i never got a gold
and a special chili reward which will usually grant infinite ammo. the first 3 rewards can be earned by getting enough style points, thankfully a bronze is pretty much always guaranteed no matter your skill level, so there's no risk of losing out on its, admittedly tacked on, rpg element. its more or less "you beat the level, you get the upgrade"
the chili is the unique one because once you start a combo, you have to beat the level before the combo meter dies. i like that you can actually complete a level without losing your combo, especially with how bite sized the levels are. that actually might be one of the games downsides however. its only about 5 hours. but hey its a psp game and it encourages you to replay the levels so i'll allow it. honestly for how much they had to cut back from total overdose, and all the weird changes, it still does make legitimate improvements on the original, even if some were likely out of limitation. if you're looking for a max payne like game on the go....well okay your options there are pretty much just between this and max payne gba, but this still scratches the itch.