The Typing of The Dead: Overkill

The Typing of The Dead: Overkill

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Challenge Accepted Achievement Guide
By SyphonLife
This guide is designed to assist people in earning the Challenge Accepted achievement. I chose to write this guide to clear up some misinformation some people may have while working on this. The main focus of this guide will be to assist people in earning High Scores because that is the challenge that seems to cause the most confusion and frustration.

This achievement is not nearly as difficult as many are lead to believe.
   
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The Challenges
In order to unlock the Challenge Accepted achievement there are 7 challenges that must be completed on each level of Director's Cut mode. These challenges can be completed separately over multiple runs if needed.

The challenges are as follows:

COMBO
This is the number of mutants you must kill in a row without missing a shot or taking damage.

ACCURACY
This challenge requires you to complete a level with 90% accuracy or higher.

This is actually really easy if you are using the Automatic Shotgun. During my first playthrough of Director's Cut (while working towards unlocking the Gwendolyn) I actually earned this challenge in every single level except for one.

GOREGASM
This challenge requires you to get to Goregasm status and hold it for a certain number of seconds.

This can be easily accomplished by getting a Goregasm and then camping at a knife-throwing mutant. Just keep shooting the knives and wait for the challenge to complete itself.

PLAYER DEATHS
Awarded for completing a level without dying.

HIGH SCORE
Complete a level with at least a certain number of points. This is definitely the hardest challenge to complete and I will go more in depth with this later in the guide.

PICKUPS COLLECTED
Collect all the pickups in a level. This doesn't need to be done in one run, you can acquire these over multiple runs if needed.

Most of the pickups are very easy to find and this challenge really shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Most likely, you will play through the levels multiple times while trying to earn High Score challenges which will give you several chances to find them all.

If you are having trouble locating certain pickups then I recommend checking on YouTube. There are tons of videos for House of the Dead Overkill: Extended Cut that show how to get them all. (That's what the game was called on console and the pickups are all the same.)

CIVILIANS SAVED
Rescue all the civilians in the level. This must be done in a single run.
Challenges by Level
This section breaks the challenges down by level and gives the exact values needed to unlock the challenge.

Papa's Palace of Pain
  • COMBO - 50 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 60 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 225,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 11 total (3 comics, 2 figurines, 2 records, 4 posters)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 4 civilians

Naked Terror
  • COMBO - 75 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 60 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 135,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 7 total (2 comics, 2 figurines, 1 record, 2 posters)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 3 civilians

Ballistic Trauma
  • COMBO - 100 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 120 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 350,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 8 total (2 comics, 4 figurines, 1 records, 1 poster)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 4 civilians

Carny
  • COMBO - 100 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 120 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 320,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 6 total (2 comics, 2 figurines, 2 records, 0 posters)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 7 civilians

Creeping Flesh
  • COMBO - 60 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 90 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 135,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 3 total (1 comic, 1 figurine, 0 records, 1 poster)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 2 civilians

Scream Train
  • COMBO - 60 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 90 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 135,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 5 total (1 comic, 1 figurine, 2 records, 1 poster)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 3 civilians

The Fetid Waters
  • COMBO - 90 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 90 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 225,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 7 total (2 comics, 2 figurines, 2 records, 1 posters)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 4 civilians

Jailhouse Judgment
  • COMBO - 60 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 90 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 300,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 10 total (4 comics, 2 figurines, 1 record, 3 posters)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 4 civilians

Overkill
  • COMBO - 90 mutants
  • ACCURACY - 90% or higher
  • GOREGASM - 90 seconds
  • PLAYER DEATHS - 0 deaths
  • HIGH SCORE - 300,000
  • PICKUPS COLLECTED - 8 total (4 comics, 2 figurines, 1 record, 1 poster)
  • CIVILIANS SAVED - 4 civilians
Recommended Equipment
To set yourself up with the best equipment to succeed you will need to do a few things:
  • 1. Purchase the Automatic Shotgun and all upgrades (Can be done at any time)

  • 2. Complete The House of the Dead: Overkill (Unlocks Director's Cut mode)

  • 3. Complete Director's Cut mode (Unlocks ability to purchase the Gwendolyn)

  • 4. Purchase the Gwendolyn

Anything you unlock during your House of the Dead: Overkill playthrough will carry over to Director's Cut.

Also, feel free to unlock any other weapons you enjoy, but I recommend that you become familiar with the Automatic Shotgun because that will most likely be your primary weapon 90% of the time.

The Gwendolyn

The main reason why I recommend going through all the trouble to unlock this weapon is simply due to the fact that you never have to reload while using it. This can be a godsend when you have tons of enemies on-screen and don't have time to reload.

Not only do you not have to reload, but the Gwendolyn is also very powerful and can kill almost any mutant in one shot. This makes it a great weapon to use if you are trying to snipe far-off mutants in the background for some extra points. The Automatic Shotgun can sometimes have trouble killing far-off enemies with one shot, so I would often use the Gwendolyn in these circumstances.

Another great feature of the Gwendolyn is that you can fire as fast as you can click the mouse. This makes it my weapon of choice on boss fights due to their massive health, and riot shield mutants because you can break down their shields and kill them so quickly. (Thanks goes out to Larkin for reminding me to include this information in the guide.)

Now all that said, there are some disadvantages to using the Gwendolyn. The biggest disadvantage is the fact that you need to have perfect accuracy while using it. This makes it much more difficult to build up combos than the Automatic Shotgun, however, the fact that you never have to reload makes it a great weapon to switch to if you need to reload your Automatic Shotgun but still have mutants about to hit you.

The Automatic Shotgun and Reloading

The reason why I recommend this weapon is due to the fact that it has such a large spread. This makes getting combos much easier and doesn't require you to have perfect accuracy all the time.

That said, there are some disadvantages to the Automatic Shotgun. The biggest disadvantage is the fact that you have to reload after 8 shots. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to minimize the dangers of reloading.

1. Remember that you can switch guns if you know that reloading will take too long.

If you need to reload but still have enemies on the screen ready to attack you then simply hit [Tab] to switch weapons. You can use the Gwendolyn to clean up any remaining mutants and then switch back to the Automatic Shotgun when the coast is clear.

2. Leave the farthest mutant alive and reload before killing it.

Often you will have slow mutants shambling towards you from a distance, and this can be a great chance to reload safely. By doing this you don't run the risk of getting hit while reloading when the camera carries you off to the next encounter.

Unless you have the level memorized you never know exactly how much time you have before the camera is going to put you in harms way again. Reloading during these sequences can end badly and ruin hard-earned combos.
Earning High Scores
This section will talk about things that can help you earn the High Score challenges.

I would like to begin by saying that you DO NOT need to play perfectly to earn a High Score challenge. I have read in other guides and websites that you have to get a Goregasm and hold on to it the entire level and also shoot every collectible in order to get enough points to earn these challenges.

THIS IS A BALD-FACED LIE!

The truth is that you can make mistakes and still get a High Score. The number of mistakes you can get away with really comes down to which level you are playing. Some levels are really easy while others can be a challenge.

Goregasm

The most important thing to do to get a High Score is racking up kills while in Goregasm mode. While in this mode you will earn a bonus 1,000 points for every mutant you kill. If you are good at hitting the background mutants you can earn tons of points on top of the mandatory mutant kills in each level.

Losing Goregasm does not mean you failed, you just need to get back up to it as quickly as possible. I have gotten Goregasm 2-3 separate times on some levels and still earned a High Score. It just comes down to your ratio of Goregasm to non-Goregasm time.

Traps

Whenever I use the term 'Trap' I am referencing times when the game will swing the camera quickly into a mutant and you take nearly instant damage without any time to react or see what is happening.

Grenades are the only thing I've found to be useful at getting past traps, but you won't always have grenades so sometimes you can't count on that.

The issue with traps is that it comes down to timing. I believe the mutants are running on some kind of loop where they will swing their arms periodically and if you happen to time it so that the camera swings you into them at just the wrong moment then you, literally, have no time to react. On some attempts I've found traps to give up to a second to react while at other times I will get hit instantly.

Unfortunately I have no way of knowing what my timing is or how mutants are going to react, so getting past traps either comes down to luck or using grenades, and I hate relying on luck while working on achievements.

I really only had trouble with traps in Naked Terror because there are a few traps in the strip club and the level is rather short. For most of the game traps shouldn't cause too many problems.

Collectibles and Civilians

Another great way to earn points is by shooting collectibles and saving civilians. Each civilian save will earn you 5,000 points (or cost you 5,000 if you shoot them) and each collectible you shoot will earn you 2,000 points. These can really help you out, but don't feel obligated to shoot every collectible. Many times it can be risky trying to get collectibles and you should be focusing more on the mutants anyway.

When going for civilian saves be very careful if you are using the Automatic Shotgun. The wide spread makes it a very real possibility that you may hit the civilian. If you don't have a lot of room to work with then simply hit [Tab] and switch to the Gwendolyn. It will require better accuracy on your part but reduces your chance of shooting civilians.

Cash, First-Aid, & Slow Motion

Shooting these power-ups are a great way to make money, recover health, and get some breathing space with slow motion. However, these will NOT earn you any points.

Honestly, I do not recommend going for cash power-ups while working on a High Score. In my opinion, you are just taking an unnecessary risk and may end up losing your combo.

First-Aid shouldn't be necessary because you shouldn't be taking much damage anyway. If you are getting hit a lot then you aren't building up your combo. However, if you do need health then go for it.

Slow Motion is definitely recommended because this gives you plenty of time to line up your shots and reload. While playing a level, try and figure out the best time to shoot a Slow Motion power-up so you can maximize the number of on-screen mutants.

Take Your Time

One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to not rush things. Many times you will have slow mutants shambling towards you from a long ways off. Don't feel rushed to shoot them immediately.

Instead, use this as an opportunity to take a look around for collectibles or any background mutants that you can kill for extra points. You can also take advantage of knife-throwing mutants by simply shooting the knives and using the extra time to look around.

Grenades

I found grenades to be useful for getting quick kills in Goregasm mode and for getting through traps without taking damage. In some levels you will have lots of background mutants and not a lot of time to kill them. Grenades can help you kill a lot of them and earn you a lot of points if you are in Goregasm mode.

Also, if you know a trap is coming and don't want to risk losing your combo then use a grenade as soon as the camera swings you into the trap. This has helped me hold on to combos and get many more kills without having to take unnecessary risks.

Practice

You will most likely need to practice a level a few times before you earn a High Score. Don't feel bad, you will get better.

For this reason I highly recommend that you stick with one level until you earn all the challenges. This will help you familiarize yourself with the level and can help you memorize where certain traps may be located.
Personal Tips & Preferences
In this section I'll go over a few things that helped me earn this achievement.

Fighting Boredom

This might be the most important thing I did while working on this achievement. The story and voice acting are pretty hilarious the first, second, MAYBE third time you experience it. But let's face it, there's only so many times you can listen to this game before you want to bash your brains in.

Turning the sound off really helped me both while unlocking the Gwendolyn and while working on challenges. Anytime I was trying to beat levels just to unlock weapons or earn money I watched/listened to Netflix on my other monitor.

However, when I was actually working on beating challenges I only listened to music while playing. I personally found videos running on other monitors to be a visual distraction so I just listened to music when performance actually mattered to me.

Mouse Sensitivity

I personally found this game to be much easier to play with low mouse sensitivity. I really saw my accuracy increase because I wasn't overshooting my target as often and this helped me build up huge combos.

If you are having a tough time being consistently accurate then I recommend turning down your mouse sensitivity.

Left Hand Positioning

Your left hand really only needs to hit two buttons: [Tab] and [R]. [Tab] allows you to change weapons and [R] will reload. I placed my left hand so that my pinky finger was resting on [Tab] while my index finger rested on [R]. This allowed me to reload or change weapons without moving my hand around and helped increase my reaction time.

It may be possible to change the keybindings to something that suits you better. I personally never looked into modifying them so I can't help too much in that respect. If you figure out a way to change them then by all means use whatever keybindings you prefer.
Final Comments
This is the first guide I've written so let me know if I messed up anything or if I failed to talk about anything important.

I'll update this guide if I happen to come across anything pertinent or if someone tells me about something I missed.
10 Comments
adambenjamin 5 Sep, 2021 @ 2:06am 
This is a fantastic guide! Thank you so much for creating this! Great job!
dfg 6 Jan, 2021 @ 8:10pm 
Great guide, and great advice in the comments too!
Alaska Question 7 Dec, 2020 @ 11:21am 
A note that might be helpful to anyone who's struggling with the aiming challenge on the last level because of the minigun: you can "farm" accuracy on the first stage of the boss fight when she's chasing you around the tunnel. Just shoot out 3 sets of pillars and then let her chase you around and around while you shoot her. This phase goes on forever until you destroy another set of pillars and all of the shots that you hit her with boost your accuracy. If you spend a bit of time doing this then you'll have a significant buffer going in to the last phase and it should be easy to hit 90%+
Zhnigo 11 Feb, 2019 @ 4:58am 
Too late, already got it. I ended up just not shooting the projectiles and swamp monsters and tanking damage unless I was 100% sure I'm gonna hit the mark.
Anyway, thanks for your guide!
SyphonLife  [author] 10 Feb, 2019 @ 5:27pm 
@Zhnigo It's been a long time since I've played this but I think you are talking about the final boss where you use the minigun? I might be remembering things wrong but I think you can just keep pumping rounds into the boss to build up your accuracy rating even if you aren't inflicting damage. Then when other monsters come out it doesn't matter too much if you are missing. But still try to hit as much as possible. I think that's how I did it but it's been a long time since I've played the game.
Zhnigo 10 Feb, 2019 @ 1:57pm 
Any advice on getting the accuracy challenge on the last level? The minigun portion screws everything up
Clego 7 Nov, 2016 @ 8:18am 
The minigun is by far superior to the Gwendolyn, if you ignore accuracy. You don't actually have to be accurate as long as some of your bullets hit zombies. The game is pretty forgiving with the minigun. You won't have a high accuracy rating at the end, but you can maintain combos and get through "traps" by just waving your crosshair around the screen frantically while firing, as that'll either kill your enemies or make them stagger.
V 9 Mar, 2016 @ 2:51am 
666:csgoanarchist:
SyphonLife  [author] 1 Apr, 2015 @ 9:24am 
@Larkin

The way I handled those guys was to use the Gwendolyn, actually. I preferred the Gwendolyn because I could fire so quickly to break the shield and kill the mutant. An awesome thing with the Gwendolyn is how you can shoot as fast as you can click, but be careful to aim at centermass so you don't miss. It shouldn't take more than 3-5 shots to kill any riot shield mutants.

I recommend using the Gwendolyn on the riot shield guys. Once he goes down, switch back to the Automatic Shotgun for any remaining mutants.
Larkin 1 Apr, 2015 @ 7:12am 
hey man...great guide. this last achievement was taking me ages...and still is. i tried to do all the levels with the gwendolyn because...for some reason i thought this would be the best way to get accuracy up and as you mentioned, the point of not reloading helped a couple of times. using the shotgun made a lot of levels way easier.
i got one question left though. i am having trouble to kill mutants with shields. it takes about 4 hits with the shotgun to kill them. how did you get rid of them?