Sunset Overdrive looks glorious. It looks like a return to form for Insomniac, who kind of lost their way with their games on the PlayStation 3, and it looks like the natural evolution of their game making philosophies from something like Ratchet and Clank.
A lot of people also feel it feels distinctly ripped off.
Responding to these allegations, Insomniac’s James Stevenson was clear on Sunset Overdrive’s originality: “I don’t think we’ve pinched anything,” he told TrustedReviews. “No one has made any sort of combination like Sunset Overdrive. Certainly there’s inspiration from Jet Set Radio or Tony Hawk,. Peggle was a big inspiration because we wanted to have that ‘holy sh*t’ moment when fireworks and pyros are going off.”
He also added some other influences for the game, which include movies and literature such as I Am Legend, and even Breaking Bad. All of this was done to celebrate modern pop culture, he insists.
“We wear it on our sleeve. We’re not trying to pinch anything. We’re trying to show our respect for a lot of that stuff,” he said. “Like I said, what we made ultimately made feels very different to everything else you’ve ever played. So while it was certainly inspired by all those things, we’ve certainly not pinched or ripped anyone else off.”
“It’s really a celebration of games, gamers, and Insomniac’s history and the games Insomniac has made,” he added. “It takes a lot of the best things we’ve done and wraps them up in a new way and also puts some brand new spin on it.”
References and gags have always been a part of video games- in fact, Insomniac’s previous games were known to have them too. So honestly, I am not too worried about Sunset Overdrive’s originality.
It launches exclusively on the Xbox One next month. Stay tuned.