HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 & 3 Return
Published by:
Sega Corporation
Developed by: Sega
Available only on:
Nintendo Wii
INTRODUCTION:
Ahh, House of the Dead.
In case you’ve been living under a rock since 1996, the HOTD series has been
an arcade (and console) mainstay since making its debut on the Dreamcast
several years ago. It even spawned a movie, a truly awful movie (that was
sadly somewhat faithful to the game) by famed director, Dr. Uwe Boll that I
paid to see in theatres. This one is at the forefront of zombie shooters,
and essentially consists of stupid government agents out to stop the hordes
of the undead, pausing only to face gigantic and monstrous bosses of the
strangest design. So here we are in 2008, on the most innovative system to
come about in years- the Wii. And we get HOTD 2 & 3 on one disc. Read on for
more!
GAMEPLAY:
I’m not going to lie;
I’m bummed about this disc. The best thing about it is that it features both
HOTD 2 and 3, which isn’t saying much. If you’ve never played one of these
games before, then you’ll likely be really surprised when you pop it in, and
I suppose I’ll get to why now. You see, the fact of the matter is that HOTD
really is a game from the late 90s.
You will be darting
around with your Wiimote, holding it like a gun, and shooting zombies. The
game is on rails, so you don’t do any moving. You will reload a lot by
shooting off screen, pick up special bullets, and kill tons of zombies. You
will also shoot projectiles, and when it comes to bosses, you’ll die a lot
and try to shoot them in their weak points. The story is hilariously awful,
although it will change depending on some of the choices you make (i.e. –
the innocents you kill or save). Being good and quick and helpful gets you
health and points, which is nice.
The boss battles are
easily the best part of this game, as they are the only real parts that
require a bit of a brain. Don’t get me wrong, the game isn’t easy, but once
you get used to zombie patterns (they always show up in the same places),
you can get the hang of things.
Really, what you see is
what you get here. You want to shoot lots of zombies? You can, but you ain’t
going to do much else.
Gameplay: 7/10
GRAPHICS:
You won’t be buying
this game for its graphical abilities. The zombies look nice, and have some
pretty good details, but their models are a bit simple and quite frankly
they aren’t too scary looking at all. Environments are decent too, but
remember, these games came out on Dreamcast (yeah, 98) and haven’t evolved
much since then.
Graphics: 6.5/10
AUDIO:
Sound is okay, lots of
thuds and drops and shots and scratches, just where you’d expect them. Where
does this one get the aural axe? In the voice acting- it’s become a staple
of HOTD games and is absolutely brutal. I find it hard to believe that this
isn’t something that was done on purpose, this is the worst voice acting
I’ve ever heard, and it’s the first thing I think of when I think of HOTD.
It takes you right out of the story and makes the game permanent camp.
Audio: 4/10
FINAL VERDICT:
So then, are you still
undecided? Well, let me sum it all up for you. I like these games and grew
up with them, so they have a certain nostalgia factor for me. They’re tough
games, and although 2 is the better game, 3 looks much nicer. If I had to
give one game an edge, it’d be 2, although it’s really difficult. If you
have a Wii Blaster, I recommend grabbing this, because the price is right
and with a buddy and a lot of patience, you’ll dig it too. But if you’re
brand new to the series, you may want to rent this bizarre little series
before you dive in headfirst.
Final Score:
7/10
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