The House of the Dead 2

"A must have for any Dreamcast owner"

The House of the Dead 2 is the sequel to the popular House of the Dead where you shot your way through a mansion chock full of zombies. The title to the sequel is a bit misleading, as House 2 does not take place in a house, but rather a city now over run by zombies.

The story behind the House of the Dead 2 is simple. You arrive where you were supposed to meet special agent G of the original House of the Dead to find the town over run by zombies and G near death. As you play through special agents Amy and Harry will join you as well, and you will discover what has happened. As you play through various twists and turns in the plot will be revealed through conversations with Amy and Harry and cut scenes featuring Goldman.

House of the Dead 2 is the epitome of the great arcade port. At first, it looks like House 2 plays like pretty much any other shooter. Zombies appear on the screen, you shoot at them and attempt to take them out as quickly as possible, and then it's on to the next screen. However, your every decision changes where you go. Accidentally shot that hostage? Now you're going down a much harder path and you'll be facing the more difficult variation of the boss. Save a hostage? You'll more than likely be rewarded with either an extra life or an easier path which leads to the easier form of the boss. You see, pretty much every boss has 2 forms with the exception of the first and the last two, which adds greatly to the replay.

But House 2 is more than just a straight-up arcade to console port. It takes all the great features of the arcade and adds more. First of all, there are two modes of play - Arcade and Original. In Arcade mode you play just like in the arcade, with a maximum of 9 credits. In the Original mode you can play with only up to 5 credits , however you can also use items, such as more credits to add to your original 5, double damage, or you can even change your gun into a grenade launcher, with devastating results.

On top of that there is a training mode and a Boss Mode. Training Mode lets you work on things like speed and accuracy. It has missions like ''Shoot the Golden Frog'' where you have to shoot the elusive golden frog (a hidden item worth tons of points) using only one bullet. Boss Mode lets you face any of the bosses you've beaten so far with a difficulty ranging from one to five stars (one being the easiest and five being the hardest). This is much appreciated as most boss battles are very difficult. You see, every boss has one weak point you must focus on, and if you miss it then you're more than likely going to take some damage.

Also, just like in the arcade version of the game you can play with up to two players at once. While two guns might not be in everyone's budget, if it is and you've got a friend to play with by all means take advantage of this option.

There are an amazing range of enemies in House 2. You'll face everything from Mickey, the tiny and quick double knife wielding zombie, to piranha's, to Peter who will attack you even after he dies by shooting worms from his chest. And the bosses are a marvel to be seen. Whether it's the hydra-like boss known only as Tower or the chainsaw swinging, knife throwing goliath known simply as Strength, all the bosses are sure to make you drop your jaw in wonder.

The only real drawback to the game play is some may find House 2 to be a bit short - six levels, each lasting at an average of 5 - 10 minutes. I however, think that considering the high challenge level, House is the perfect length.

As far as challenge goes, House of the Dead 2 will have you ripping your hair out. Even on very easy mode with the auto-reload and auto-fire options at your disposal (see more on those below) House is one of the most challenging games I've played yet on the Dreamcast. Enemies are resilient, quick, and deadly. Many will attack from a distance using weapons such as blades and others will just run up and bite, punch, or kick you. They're intelligent, too. Some will do things like use hostages to as human shields. Misfire and hit the hostage and you just lost yourself a life and a possible reward. So as you can see, House takes a lot of practice to master.

Controls are usually not a very big deal in a shooting game. As long as you can pull the trigger and get an immediate reaction you're all set. However, House of the Dead 2 offers to let you use the DC controller to play. I highly recommend you avoid this option and simply buy the Mad Catz gun designed for this game. This gun is reasonably priced and offers an auto-reload and an auto-fire option, which definitely comes in handy when you're swamped by a screen full of zombies.

Graphically House of the Dead 2 is amazing. All the zombies are very smooth and realistic, and so are the humans. When you shoot a zombie, bullet holes can clearly be seen, and the wounds look ultra-realistic. Non-zombie enemies such as the owls and bats look great too. The owls even shed feathers when shot. Little details like bits of blood on the ground are placed to add to the horror feel of the game. Axe wielding zombies have blood and gore on their blades. Water is displaced by boats and zombies swimming in it. No detail is forgotten.

The sound is a mixed bag. A lot of the music is very well done. I especially like the Magician's theme. It mixes standard video game techno with organs and other instruments. The rest of the music gets the job done, but is quite forgettable.

The sound effects such as the squirming of the worm-like Murrers is amazing. It sounds so realistic. Or the roar of the double chainsaws of Max (all the human-like zombies have human names). Also the gun shots and ricochets of your bullets are dead on. Overall the sound affects are excellent.

The voice work, however, leaves much to be desired. Goldman sounds as if he is reading straight from a cue card, and the average hostage puts him to shame. Considering the fact that he's the main villain, this is not a good thing. I've seen more personality and acting skill out of Jerec's sock puppets. He also seems to have trouble enunciating. He sounds like he has a mouth full of cotton. Your characters and your fellow AMS agents, Amy and Harry, do a decent job, but it's certainly nothing to write home about. The zombies and their blood-curdling moans and groans are incredibly well done, and add to the terror of the game quite nicely.

Overall House of the Dead 2 has great replay, graphics, challenge, tons of great and interestingly designed enemies. The only real let-down is the voice acting, and that can easily be looked past.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/02, Updated 03/10/02