Name: House of the Dead (73.33% in 3 votes)
Type: ACT
Platform: WINDOWS
Company: Sega
Release date: 1998
Reviewed by: KurenaiJiku
Anybody who has been to the arcade lately has seen that gory and bloody zombie blaster called House of the Dead 2. The incredibly hard levels and split second reflexes, and some major whoop kicking stamina is heavily required to beat the muster out of those mindless zombies. One would be lucky to be not tired and sweating at the end of the game; if you make it that far, or if you have enough money to keep continuing. It was composed of ingenius level design, some hectic moments, and even some fear; but most importantly, it brang back some of that ol' haunted house feeling. House of the Dead 1 is the first version to the game series, and is probably one of the best wacky shooters to date.
The name House of the Dead is definitely a household name to those who love shooters. This game is great for nullifying those urges to go back to the arcade, spend your hard earning money and get all trigger happy from those mindless walking guys. However, it may give you the sights and sounds, it won't give you the full effect. There are substantial differences from the arcade and this humble PC version for Windows. First off, the game lacks high quality textures, polygon pops up more than the arcade version, the sound seems lower in quality, there's no light gun, and that annoying flashing everytime you fire your gun is gone. Ok, that last one is ok, but the rest is certainly something to get all worked up about.
Because the PC is not your beaten down customized super computer (better known as the model 2 arcade board), there are significant details missing. Like two sided polygons; because all the characters in the game are segmented 3D models, you can see through the character when two body parts move too far from each other revealing the segment. This is most evident when Sophia is on the floor getting up, or being whacked around by the first boss. When you blow a hole in a crazy zombie, you can see that the hold is entirely just a hole. There is no dimension or innards shown, which in reality and perspective you should see. I don't remember much from the arcade version, but in the PC version it seems a slight sloppy. If they did a direct port, then it seems pretty much arcade perfect.
Why do I have such a change of mind? Well, from first sight, you can't really see a big difference overall from both versions. All camera movements are the same, as with the frame rate which seems like an astounding 60 fps. All the zombies blow up in the variety of ways as do the arcade zombies do, along with all that lovable, horrid voice acting. All the sounds are intact with all the grunting down to that psychotic masked chain saw zombie, to the squirting of the worms feeding on some poor corpse. Technically the game can be improved a lot compared to the graphics technology we have today, but that was already done in House of the Dead 2.
Compared to the arcade, it provides the same fun as the original. Though, because a PC isn't a model 2 board, the game lacks visually and phonically slightly. This doesn't mean it's a bad game, it upholds the fun factor, ambience, and carnage as the arcade version does. However, without a PC peripheral such as the light gun, you might as well throw out the game. It's simply not the same as using mouse with a little pointer as your gun. It simplifies the game a lot and makes it incredibly easy. The only thing which holds interest is the gory zombies, and the strikingly boring PC mode. PC mode is the exact same thing as the arcade mode, but allows you to choose different characters with a variety of attributes. This mode will give some replay value allowing some subtle differences in difficulty and gameplay, but other than that; it's the same thing all the way through. You'll probably find this game in the bargain bin or in a jewel case on those cheap CD racks for 9.99 or less. If it comes that cheap and you have money to burn, get this game. Though guaranteed it'll only last you an hour or so. If you're not in it for that type of trouble, get a Dreamcast, two guns and go zombie hunting with a friend.
Graphics (technical) - 3/5
Graphics (creative) - 3.5/5
Sound (technical) - 3/5
Sound (creative) - 3.5/5
Technical Gameplay - 4/5
Fun Factor - 4/5
Diversity of Features - 3/5
Story - 3/5
Overall Value - 3.5/5
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