What can I say, how can I most accurately express my initial and continued reaction to this? I think it would be best to quote Keanu Reeves: Whoa. Quick introduction showing you the current situation, and then you're right in the middle of the action, gunning down zombies and fighting for your life and the lives of everyone trapped in the area. The adrenaline rush lasts for just about every second of the time it takes you to beat this, only interrupted every now and then by a short cut-scene(and those are fast and to the point, too). The cinematic style lasts throughout, placing you in what feels remarkably like a Hollywood action flick(a well-done one, mind you), where you play the part of the lead(alone or with one other). It is perhaps not a long one, but there's re-playability in the different paths you can take, and earning yourself a place on the high score list. You will be able to beat this whole thing within about fifteen minutes, and potentially in the first try. There are three modes of play, and the two of them are admittedly more or less the same, with the third being a run-through of the bosses. The sound is another issue... it's... well, let's just say it's not really of that high quality, except maybe for something that has been converted from an arcade shooter. The voice acting is below par, even for an arcade piece of the time(and the lines they're saying just about redefine camp, with the moral being so hit-you-over-the-head obvious that protective head-gear is required). The ambiance sound is the definition of simple. However, the opponent and gun sounds, despite the latter being somewhat simple, are incredibly effective. When you hear one of the undead(though I do believe they prefer the term "living impaired") moaning and see it coming directly against you, the last thing you'll have on your mind will be "hey, it's just a game, it can't hurt you", whereas the current thing on your mind will be something to the extent of "die die die!" The graphics are somewhat outdated and there are blatantly obvious flaws in it(including, but not limited to; several of the enemies lacking a connection between their torso and the lower body), but somehow, I can't really bring myself to care about that. Most of the time is spent blasting them away, and when you're clicking the mouse or joystick button like crazy to pump them full of lead, you don't really notice it. About that; shooting said foes in this is extremely far up the list of the most gleeful things possible to do on a computer, and it's an effective and magnificent reliever of stress or aggression. My father used to come home after a hard day at the job and say "oh, work was awful today... can we play House of the Dead?" No lie. It's about the most detailed thing you find in any of these on the other side of the new millennium. You can blow off arms, chunks of legs, heads, the better part of the upper body... you name it. There's a particular one who only has one eye, and if you shoot his head off, it will fly off to the side. Details like that help to make this great. Furthermore, this is one of the only ones where you can actually successfully fend off most of the attacks made on you... you see that ax being thrown toward you? Shoot it. The barrel that the big one is just about to throw at you? Shoot it a couple of times. This goes for the generic newly re-risen, too. You see them attack you with some part of their body, be it an arm, the head, the upper body... shoot it off, just as they're attacking. This makes for some solid fun, playing with them, by the way. To a wide degree, if you time it right, you can prevent one attacking as they are doing it, by simply removing(read: pummeling the crap out of with lead) what they're attacking with. The bosses, their designs, movements, types and fights are interesting, entertaining and(the last-mentioned) challenging, like they should be, and about as fearsome as the main ones. It should not be overlooked that this actually manages to "marry" intense game-play with, well, somehow allowing you a break if you turn out to need it... if you're hit, almost invariably, they will pause briefly, while it moves on instantly and at a speed-packed pace when you kill the immediate threats to your survival. This ensures that whether you're skillful or new, it may fit(the several settings and difficulty levels further aid in this). The story and characters is one more addition to the short list of shortcomings of this; they're about as thin as air. Your wife(or your buddy/partner's, in the case of the second player) is some place, you arrive, the place is swarming with you know what, you fight... that's it. The characters are either all good or bad to the bone. Not much left to say about this, so I'll just leave you with one final thought before my final verdict; are all Japanese so bad at being subtle about their symbolism and hidden messages(there's a reason for them being called that, you know) or is it just the ones who make electronic entertainment? You'll see what I mean when you play this(when, not if, because I've hopefully convinced you to get this marvelous VG by now). An excellent shoot-em-up entry, and one that needs to be played by anyone in need(or want, as the case may be) of relieving tension through interactive entertainment. I recommend this to any fan of shooters and any fans of the horror creature shooting. Most, if not all, will enjoy this, though you may want to check out the demo just to make sure(or give it a quick try at the arcade, if it's available there). 8/10
Review of The House of the Dead
