The House of the Dead (1996 Video Game) User Reviews

What can I say? It's a classic

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 8/10 · 14 March 2005]

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 The graphics are somewhat outdated and there are blatantly obvious flaws in it(including, but not limited to; several of the enemies lacking a connection between their torso and the lower body),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

inserts coin (ominous voice) The House of the Dead!

[reddragonhero17 · 9/10 · 9 September 2015]

I enjoy blasting ghouls as one of may favorite pastimes and this game is one of them. I love the gameplay here: blast the zombies, save the hostages, your performance determines route. The enemies come in a wide range such as unarmed, axe, chainsaw, spider, frog, monkey, and bat. While not as diverse or long as the sequel which is my favorite, I still find this game pretty enjoyable to this day even with the dated graphics and bad acting (not as bad as the second). The bosses are pretty generic (for the time) though the Magician more than makes up for it if you make it to him. The music is really slamming! Gets your blood pumping with excitement as you blast the zombies. The 9 I'm giving it is for the minor faults and surprisingly low difficulty, but otherwise fun to play.

House of the Dead 1 (CD-ROM 2005 Fair Game Value)

[popmanw · 8/10 · 5 July 2006]

Sometime in 2005 Sega's classic hit 'The House of the Dead' (1996-98) was re-published onto CD-ROM by Empire Interactives as one of there Quality Fair Game Value collections. It works on Windows 95, 98, Me and XP. Higher PCs like XP require you to right hand click on the game as set the compatability to Windows 95 mode. It runs perfectly. Just make sure your monitor can support 640 X 480 resolution. Most monitors are backwards compatible and change once the game loads on there own.

You can use the PC mouse to shoot and 'reload' or use the keyboards arrow keys and space bar. Two player mode uses 1p mouse and 2p keyboard. You can use PC light guns as well, however most monitors today are LCD and light guns only work with the old fat CRT monitors. You can get LCD light guns today that work on PC, PS2, XBOX etc.

Depending on your PC, you can set the textures to low or high. Most high resolution computers (XP) do not not display the game properly when high textures are on. You also get DirectX 5 on the CD-ROM to play the game or play the game with DirectDraw. DirectX is better but DirectDraw is handy if any issues occur. Most XP PCs have DirectX 9 + on them so that installation can be skipped for most people.

The game is a classic copy of the arcade version and is a great CD-ROM for your collection, or retro collection for that matter. I use Xp and the issue I have is the sound. Sound effects work perfectly (i.e. guns, zombies and speech) but the music don't always play. Some days it will decide to play music and sometimes it wont. You can tell as soon as the demo starts. Also by watching the demo to the end, it will crash and must retsrt in order to open up THOTD game again. This might be due to XP. Get arcade mode, PC mode, boss mode. A must get.

Fun

[monkey_island_parasiempre · 28 January 2005]

Of course you can't expect anything clever like a brilliant story line or amazing graphics but that isn't what the game intended to be. It's a basic shoot-up arcade-style game and that's what I love it for.

Basically you are a secret agent and you have been sent out to deal with a problem at a house that's festering with zombies. It's been a time since I played it but I remember it having to do with a mad scientist and his experiments. Now you have to help other scientists who are being attacked by zombies, weird frogs, mean giant maggots etc. You also have the bosses, before you fight them you are told the weak spots you have to aim for except for the last boss, you'll have to guess all on your own. There's a boss who I particularly love who looks like a flying grey demon that sends his bat friends after you. His voice is high-pitched and sorta squeaky so even when he's threatening you it just sounds so damn cute.

Although when you've completed this game you'll find you can just play straight through it in a very short time which I think is good because it means there's enough time to have plays of it before you start doing the work you're supposed to be doing. Fans of shoot em ups and old arcade-style games should love this but I'd recommend it to any video game fans just to give it a try. It's really fun.

This game brings back memories back in the arcades

[pappyson88 · 8 January 2004]

God I love this game. I remember when this game used to cost at least $1.00 in the arcade. now it has been about 5-6 years later that this arcade now cost a quarter or .50 cents to play. I played this with my family, my friends, or by myself. i even spent almost $20.00 to beat the magician, the last boss of the game when the game first came out. I give this game 10/10. warning do not get the sega saturn version of this game, the graphics are so horrible ( why did i even bother telling you not get this game for the sega saturn. I mean sega saturn no longer exist anymore)

A great arcade game that deserves an M rating

[The_Light_Triton · 3 May 2006]

Do you dream of walking into a house and just blasting the green out of the dead people walking around? well, this arcade first person shooter is for you. you're a guy who walks into a house full of zombies and you blast the guts out of them. literally. or parts of their head. you can even shoot off arms and legs and decapitate enemies. all from your pistol. doesn't that sound fun and innocent? Nope.

I Suggest you wait till your child is 12 or 13 before he or she tries this game. even if it deserves an M rating, those ratings are stupid. Children see worse things at school. there's m rated content on the news. Heck, let them play this when they're 8. it's not like they've seen a zombie on TV without his head before.

it's an M rated game with 8/10.