Sometimes it feels like I've seen it all: I've shot up the streets of L.A., kicked Commie ass in North Korea, and blazed my way through the cities of Liberty, Vice and San Andreas respectively'where else is there for a man to freely roam and shoot at things? Deadline Games plan to answer this originally rhetorical question with Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico!

To say Total Overdose has a passing similarity to the Tarantino school of film and

Rodriguez's 'El Mariachi' trilogy would be an understatement- hell, it's as close to an

interactive version of 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' as you'll probably get. Which isn't to say it's unoriginal, because there's really nothing quite like it on Xbox. Total Overdose draws obvious inspiration from games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the oft-maligned Dead To Rights, but it adds enough of its own flavour- which has more than a hint of tequila- to the mix to stand on its own as a damn good time!

The story is cool in a b-grade way, centered on the Cruz family (Penelope not included): a DEA agent's father- also a Drug Enforcement Agency employee- is killed while on mission in South America, and so his son, Tommy, attempts to go deep undercover and infiltrate a Colombian cartel and find out who offed his old man. Things go pear-shaped and Tommy winds up in a wheelchair, unable to maintain his cover and thus exact revenge. Enter Ramiro 'Ram' Cruz, his twin brother, a low-life degenerate with a shady history and a rap-sheet with twice the currency than 50-cent. You'll take your goody-two-shoes brothers place and work your way up the corporate ladder of a drug empire, all in the name of justice and revenge!

There are plenty of twists along the way, and not just in the plot- one of the key features in Total Overdose is the ubiquitous bullet-time mode, which allows Ramiro to get the drop on his opponents in all manner of acrobatic, gyroscopic moves that would make even the most hardened circus contortionist wince. All these moves have amusing names like tequila takedown, extreme makeover and devil's right hand, and they all carry a point value that stacks with previous moves to create epic kill-chains. This is really the key to success in Total Overdose, which most certainly does *not* reward cautious gameplay and tactical advance'you either go hard, or go home. Chaining together attacks gives Ram instant gratification: 3 kills equals bonus health, 9 equals a rewind, and amounts above that can yield loco moves.

Sangre de dios! I should probably segue more smoothly into new territory, so lets, well, rewind! In addition to all the combination carnage, Ram can also turn back time just like the song says, and just like Prince of Persia, this takes place in real time, so you can actually see where that grenade landed or who it was that took you out with a freakishly well-aimed rocket. Earning rewinds becomes crucial in the later stages of the game, when you're facing more enemies than the US ambassador at a meeting of the United Nations.

The loco moves are a novel addition too; they're basically just a whacky variety of super-moves that can even the odds during particularly tricky battles. El Toro turns you into an angry man-bull who charges into enemies, killing them in one hit. In a nod to 007, the Golden Gun is a one-shot, one-kill powerup, and my personal favourite, El Mariachi, gives you dual chainguns mounted in guitar cases, allowing you to serenade your foes with a riff of bullets. There's over half a dozen of these moves at your disposal and they can really turn the tides in your favour, giving you yet another reason to string together those combos.

It's not the only way to earn them though- there's over 30 challenge missions that you'll unlock as you progress through the story mode. Beating these is a great way to net a few loco moves, as well as earn ammo-increases for various weapons and gain skill increases. There are 300 to be collected, divided evenly across health, adrenaline (which lets you enter into the bullet-time mode basically) and weapons. For the first two categories, every 10 skill-ups nets you a 10% increase in your health and stamina bars. Weapons are a little more fun: the first 50 allow you to dual-wield various weapons, and the last 50 actually give you unlimited ammo for a few select tools of destruction like the handgun, shotgun and even grenade launcher!

The challenge missions are pretty cool for the most part, and usually see you mowing down dozens of enemies with the sole aim of getting as a high a score as possible to earn some goodies. Others have a purpose, like blowing up burrito stands, collecting evidence or using a forklift to move boxes. Seriously.

When you're not on a mission there's some free-roaming to be done, hunting down bonus points towards a global total (every 50,000 or so gets you 5x a particular skill up, which is a valuable bonus), or participating in some truly hilarious mini-games. Day of the Dead turns everyone in sight into lycra-wearing zombies with skeletons painted on them, and you have to kill as many as possible. You can also turn into a fat Mexican wrestler- also spandex suited- and you have to take down as many other fat Mexican wrestlers using only hands or melee weapons as possible. Nutty stuff.

As I've already mentioned, Ramiro requires a certain amount of agility to execute his repertoire of moves, and thankfully the game handles this really well. You'll be wall running and executing cartwheel headshots in no time thanks to the intuitive, responsive controls. Sadly the same cannot be said for the vehicles, and unlike True Crime where driving has as much finesse as the gunplay, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a game on Xbox with worse car controls than Total Overdose. On the plus side you don't have to spend too much time behind the wheel if you don't want to, but in the challenge missions that require you to race, there's a lot of frustration to be had.

In fact, vehicles almost feel like an afterthought that the developers whacked in at the end, because they look pretty ordinary too. There's little variety (probably 8-10 types of car total) and they seem blocky and unrealistic. Which is a shame, because the rest of the game looks great! The frame-rate is rock solid even during big battles, and thanks to Havoc physics enemies and vehicles get thrown around by bullets and explosives in a most satisfying manner.

While the levels may lack the attention to detail of the GTA series, the locales themselves more than make up for it. You'll take the war on drugs to ancient Maya ruins, opulent haciendas (complete with wet-bar), speeding trains and all throughout the fictional city of Los Toros. The enemies tend to get a little repetitive, but there are so many amusing touches- such as scoring bonus points for catching the hat of someone you just blew away- and a few zany characters like M16-wielding bikini babes that it doesn't get old. Repetitive, yes, but hey, what game isn't?

The soundtrack warrants a special mention, because rather than just including a boring bevy of ghetto-gripe C-rap (that spells CRAP for those of you who missed the joke), Deadline Games have incorporated an awesome selection of Mexican and South American tunes from bands like Molotov, Control Machete and Delinquent Habits. It really adds an authentic flavour to the experience, as does people cursing and swearing at you in Spanish, pendejo!

Total Overdose is not a particularly hard game thanks to the abundance of rewinds and auto-aiming, bullet-timing gunplay. There's around 20 main missions and 35 challenges, which should account for a solid 12-15 hour experience for most players. Sadly there isn't much reason to explore the city or replay the game, but it's one hell of a ride while it lasts!