The House of the Dead III

Added February 20th, 2004 by Matthew Scandrett

Introduction:

Well this is it, the third game of The House of the Dead series. What can you really say about a game with such a following? As per usual is packed with those delightful zombies and those odd little creatures which no one really can tell what they are. Many expected high results from the third instalment and it makes you wonder what House of the Dead gives that so many other shooters didn’t. The game's introduction sums up the story of the games so far. With the first incident in the Curien mansion and the second in the whole world now the story goes returns. You would think nothing new but you cannot help but be intrigued by the new story line and characters. You play as G (former AMS agent) and Amy Rogan (Thomas Rogan’s daughter). Thomas Rogan has now lost many of his comrades in a fierce battle against unknown creatures and contact with Rogan has been lost. It is up to Amy and G to bring him back safe and stop whatever is going on. Even if you have not played House of the Dead before the Arcade style shooter is simple to follow and the story easy to catch up on.

Gameplay:

Most people think of House of the Dead as a huge box with pretty guns attached where you have to pay £1 to play, and since it is an Arcade game that would be mainly true but the conversion from arcade to Xbox wasn’t too bad. When you die it still says, “insert coins to play” but apart from that it’s a perfectly reasonable 1st person shooter. As in the other games all you do is shoot while a hoard of zombies saunter towards you, occasionally taking a bite or scratching you making you lose a life flame, and guess what? Lose all your life flames and that’s a big GAME OVER. Special weapons are not an option, you are armed with a trusty shotgun and unlimited ammo but nothing else weapon wise. But anyway a couple of good shots to the zombies anywhere makes they fall and melt away.

I must say House of the Dead isn’t the most difficult game in the history of shooters but it provides a reliable story to a world filled with chaos. The occasional boss at the end of a level makes a seemingly simple game a lot harder… until you flip out your handy data pad on every monster ever and you immediately know what make these monsters fall, too easy. Steady progress through the level, in a move then shoot fashion allows you a quick second to reload before the next hoard appears. But when you finally may get to stop the zombies the final section is much harder. More new gamers may find it much more challenging but experts would not.

The single and two player is basically the same story with no difference accept one extra gun on the screen. Maybe something a little different would be good, but the extras that are available, which include a House of the Dead movie trailer and the complete House of the Dead II game, give the whole game a chance to shine… why it isn’t a trilogy disk still makes me think.

Graphics:

The gory detail on the many varieties of evil entity is astounding, especially when being shot at holes just don’t appear, flesh and blood flies, hats off to the designers there. You look at this in comparison to the type shown on other zombie shoot games and you see a great difference. The actual people is a different matter thought, the perfectly sculpted people with clothes that don’t stain and faces that don’t dirty is a little unrealistic, almost like the final fantasy series for playstation. Nothing seems to be any shape apart from rounded… what was ever wrong with straight lines?

Scenery can vary from a abandoned desolate car park to the centre of a living breathing plant which you have to fight to stay alive and most of the doors look like you could go through them instead of them just being painted on. The detail for this also is astounding because so many older game types don’t bother with such little details, obviously the designers have gone all the way.

The dark and dank essence of the game is really captured by the graphics, with the mouldy areas and blood splatter. Nothing seems to just disappear for no reason, and there’s no really easy to see glitches.

Audio:

Supporting Dolby Digital surround sound, the audio is good. The weapons are very powerful, and, with the screen flashing effect during heavy fire, you'll definitely find yourself inside the body of the heroes. Soundtrack? If there really is a soundtrack in there somewhere it is almost impossible to hear over the huge bang of a heavy duty gun firing once every second… there is some music when you begin to fight bosses but not really much else.

Controls:

Depending on how you want to play, either with a light gun or Xbox controller, the general controls are simple. One button to shoot, one to pause and of course one to reload… Easy.

Controller:
Left thumbstick: Move crosshair/aim
Start button: Start/pause
Right trigger: Fire
B button: Reload

Light gun:
Trigger: Fire
B button: Reload (The button under handle can also be used)

Replay:

Well once you’ve played the game, what else is there to do? There are no major course changes that will take you to a different corridor. No secret unlockable areas… basically once you’ve finished this you put it on the shelf and leave it. If there was a way to skip to a level you want it may be a replay suspect.

Summary:

With no save option, no live link and with no light gun you will struggle this game is for those who are fans of either the 1st person shooters or the House of the Dead series. On the whole it is an enjoyable game but it had the potential for much more. Completion of the game would take about 1 hour at the most, but with The House of the Dead II as an extra there's a little more incentive to give it a go. A game that is probably worth it but wouldn’t be on the top of my “to buy” list.