Chili Con Carnage

The gunmen were armed to the teeth and they weren’t about to let some punk make a fool out of them even though minutes before the lone gunman appeared they were happily attempting to break a piñata like a group of rowdy children. Yet the young man isn’t afraid, not with his fancy gunfighter moves like “Golden Gun” to back him up and there’s no doubt that his guns won’t let him down. It’s a Mexican stand-off on the PSP and Chili Con Carnage is just what action fans want in an action game … a tequila-fueled shooter with a good sense of humor.

Chili Con Carnage is a retooled version of Total Overdose: A Gunslinger’s Tale in Mexico, a console game that introduced a humorous action game that mixes elements from the Max Payne games, a dash of Grand Theft Auto and dose of Robert Rodriguez/John Woo-inspired action. This portable game brings back Total Overdose hero Ramiro Cruz as he visits his father on his birthday. As a Policia Federal Agent, Ram’s old man must have stepped on a lot of toes because as soon as opened his birthday present (kittens!) he is chopped into bits by a drug cartel baddie riding a combine. Swearing revenge on his father’s killer, Ram goes on a killing spree that will put him up against Mexico’s vilest scum.

While Total Overdose allowed gamers to explore a huge section of a dusty old Mexican town, this PSP version of the game simply skips the open-world environment for the console game’s action-packed missions. This might seem like a bad thing (after all, the exploration of said Mexican town wasn’t as fun as exploring places like Liberty City or even Vice City in the GTA games) but the game more than makes up for the lack of an open-world environment with its missions and El Macho challenges. You will still be performing many of the high-flying acrobatics from the console game as well as unleashing a number of Loco Moves (such as El Mariachi where Ram fires two guitar cases/machine guns like Antonio Banderas does in Desperado). You can even summon allies like Gatling Gunzalez and El Gimpo, who will appear to cause as much havoc and chaos for a short period of time.

The mission structure might seem a bit familiar to those who played the console game. Remember when Ram muscled his way into a drug cartel’s rancho to destroy a series of silos? You’ll be doing just that in the first mission. You’ll still be shooting any bad guys that get in the way and you can even hop into vehicles such as trucks or tractors to cause more damage. Part of what makes the single-player mode (also called El Gringo Loco mode) is the fact that the levels are quite lengthy and there are some fun boss battles like the beefy Mama who tosses chickens wired with explosives at you. You’ll be attempting to mow down enemies on the flatbed of a pickup truck and even battle a fighter jet. The game tallies up your level score (shooting enemies raises a combo chain meter so continuing your killing spree will increase your points) to unlock new features. After each level you’ll also be able to complete challenges like one where you are asked to kill 20 bad guys before your combo chain meter runs out.

While the levels are entertaining and the moves pretty cool, the game suffers from the hardware’s limitations. For starters, targeting is just plain awful. Instead of targeting the nearest threat, Ram seems to target enemies that happen to be in the direction he’s facing no matter how far away that enemy is and this will cause you to either get shot or lead to more elbowing on your part. You’ll be glad the game brings back the Rewind feature that allows you to rewind back before you made a fatal mistake. Still, even with these flaws, the game manages to remain fresh, occasionally very funny and good shooting fun. There’s even a multiplayer mode (Ad Hoc only so no online multiplayer) with two game modes. While the multiplayer action isn’t deep (most use the same formula found in the single-player mode such as keeping up the combos), you can unlock playable maps and extra characters to use.

Visually, Chili Con Carnage looks exactly like the console game and that’s a great thing seeing as the character models are great and so are the nicely detailed environments. There are sight gags aplenty as well and the game brings all of what we’ve seen on the console game on to the PSP widescreen. As far as the sound is concerned, the soundtrack is composed of pretty decent Latin hip-hop with some good Cumbia and Ranchero music for a complete Latino vibe that sets this game apart from other action games in the genre. The voice acting is excellently handled and while many of the characters sound like bad stereotypes there’s nothing that gets too out of line.

Chili Con Carnage for the PSP doesn’t play as well as the console game but it’s still a hilarious, action-packed game that’s never short on bullets or outrageous situations. The game skips on many of the things that made the console game a complete package and the targeting leaves much to be desired but there are some great levels that make this a fun game worth the purchase price.

Gameplay: 7.5
Pulling off Spicy Moves and Max Payne-like gun tricks makes Chili Con Carnage such an enjoyable action game but it’s the humorous missions that separate this game from others in the genre. Sadly, the game is far too short and the controls and targeting system aren’t as great as the console version. At least there’s some multiplayer action.

Graphics: 8.2
The game looks as good as it did on the PS2 and it still retains its wonderfully detailed environments and charming characters. Ram’s moves look great on the PSP screen and the game does a great job of bringing a Robert Rodriguez-styled Mexico to life.

Sound: 8.5
The voice acting is top-notch and thanks to some humorous (and occasionally off-color but not offensive) dialogue the game is downright hilarious. The sound effects are also pretty good but it’s the music that makes the sound such a highlight.

Difficulty: Medium
The controls will get you killed in this game but there are times when boss fights will really provide a challenge and sometimes enemies will come at you in groups so you will make good use of the Rewind feature.

Concept: 7.7
Ram’s road to revenge is worthwhile trip to make even though the open-world environment of the console version is missing. There are still plenty of cool acrobatic shooting and any game that allows you to toss an explosive piñata at your enemies is Ok in my book. There’s multiplayer fun but it’s not as inventive as it could have been but it’s still worth playing.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Two players can get together using the PSP’s Ad Hoc connectivity and take each another on in Fiesta Mode. There’s also an “offline multiplayer” game called Hangman where you literally pass your PSP to a buddy when it’s their turn.

Overall: 7.9
Outrageously fun and packed with a number of memorable action moments, Chili Con Carnage for the PSP doesn’t fail to provide the over-the-top moments that make this game such a treat but is still far from perfect. The hardware does cramp the game’s style but overall this is a wild tequila-filled ride well worth taking.