The House of the Dead - Review

Author: Nanaki_Xii Date: Mar 20 2006 - 15:08 Score: 35 points

House Of The Dead (HOTD) was an excellent rail shooter when it was released in the arcades. It's laughable dialogue and voice acting entertained just as much as the light gun game play did, and playing with a friend was a blast.

How did it translate to the PC? Well, it may not be a shining star of a game, but it still has its merits, and may provide a bit of fun... for an hour or two. Let's get more in-depth, too little details won't show enough.
HOTD works easily enough, you use your mouse to aim and fire, and when the need to reload arises, you simply click. It's simple enough, but as you would think, it causes major repetition. While it is certainly fun with a light gun, relying on your reflexes and coordination, a mouse is just too simple. Although this doesn't ruin the experience completely, it just isn't as entertaining as it was in its father form.

The graphics are certainly very nice for their age. They're appropriately dark and creepy, and they work quite nicely. The backgrounds are well designed, and the areas are interesting. Exceptions along the end of the game, where the levels just look plain ridiculous, and it seems that the developers completely ran out of creative juices for a game that lasts a maximum of a few hours. Otherwise, there isn't much to say about the graphics, what you see is what you get.
Sound is annoying, although the moans of the zombies and undead can be creepy at times, it just gets repetitive and bothersome. About the twelfth time you insert a bullet into a zombie's skull, it just doesn't seem as scary anymore, sound simply works as a confirmational que. The same goes for the rest of the game, you may occasional jump, but enemies get old after you've seen them several times. In HOTD's defense, it isn't really focusing on the "creepy" factor, but it could've been much better if the enemies just managed to captivate just a bit longer.
HOTD is split into different sections and chapters. A boss fight usually concludes all these. Most of these are just hunt and seek, looking for the enemy's weak spot and blasting at it and preventing their attacks from connecting. Admittedly they are interesting though, and they do have character, being as well designed as they are.

Hand in hand, HOTD is an experience that will captivate you for a few hours. Don’t expect too much, and you will receive.

	Title / Type	Submitter	Date
	Review	Nanaki_Xii	Mar 20 2006

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