"Nobody Shall Suffer Like G Did, For Sir Gold has Given Them a Second Chance"

After many, many months of playing this game with the Dreamcast controller, I finally broke down and purchased a light-gun... to bad it was a JP light-gun and I could not use it. After purchasing a 3rd party NA light-gun, I finally experienced House of the Dead 2 the way it was supposed to be played. Not only is this the most fun light-gun game I have ever played, it is also one of the best, as game play will show.

Game play: 10/10

Point your gun and shoot, hit more favorable areas and you will gain more points. This simplicity helps make House of the Dead an easy choice for a pick up and play game. The game play also really ramps up when you start using the light-gun, as the game can get quite tedious when you use the controller. All in all though, there are 6 levels, and none are really too difficult, if you know what you're doing. The civilians and other mini tasks help add some charm and difficulty to the game, which is good. The training modes and extra modes also make the game a lot of fun to play, and are a welcome break from the constant shooting and such in the regular game. So the game play is good, how about the story?

Story: 8/10

After G defeated the Magician in the first House of the Dead, Goldman has come back and released more zombies a la the Curien Case. With the magician gone though, what new terror does Goldman have in mind? Once you play the game and beat it, you will surely find out! Graphics will be covered next.

Graphics: 9/10

Just below perfection is this game. Brilliant graphics, bright vivid, and fairly detailed. The backgrounds look detailed, yet bland (yes I know this is a paradox), they could have been better, but they do not take away from the atmosphere of the game. Luckily, sounds also do not take away from the game either.

Sounds: 9/10

Great sounds and music are abundant in this game. The sounds, of course, fit the game perfectly, but so does the music. The music really sets the mood, and gets you into the game. The voice acting though, is what prevents this area from getting a perfect tne, as this game is classic when it comes to shoddy voice acting, having been made fun of, and being spoofed quite a bit. Well, does the game have lasting ability?

Replay ability: 7/10

After the game is beaten once, and all of the extra stuff is completed (which does not take long at all), there is not much else to play in this game, unless you want to improve your high score.

Buy or rent?

This is a must own Dreamcast game, as it is a Dreamcast classic. So buy it!

Between the cheesy voice acting, the brilliant game play, and the fun times, there is not much that I can say negatively about the House of the Dead 2. Now all I gotta do is get the first on Saturn... "What? You again?!" "Sir Gold has given me a second chance." (after being killed) "Remember, nobody gets a second chance!"

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/09

Game Release: The House of the Dead 2 (US, 09/09/99)