House of the Dead 1 and 2 (Arcade Retrospective)

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Zack Burner
Posts: 1209
Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

House of the Dead 1 and 2 (Arcade Retrospective)

Postby Zack Burner » October 28th, 2020, 1:49 pm

Time for another retrospective, the original arcade zombie shooter that drained the coins, but not the life out of players. Addictive gameplay from the breakneck action of shooting zombies and rescuing hostages, bringing the vibe of Resident Evil at the time, one wonders if Sega itself took a hint while creating it based off Virtua Cop (after all there are many subtle cues to Virtua Cop such as hearing "re-re-reload!" and rescuing white suit hostages). How does this game hold up today? Despite the graphics showing their obvious age, it holds up quite nicely. You won't get any weapon power-ups like in Lethal Enforcers or Crypt Killer (one of my favorite arcade shooters), but that's okay. The blood and gore looks unconvincing today but I'm sure fans won't mind. The bosses are at first generic, but the last 2 Hermit and definitely the Magician are formidable, challenging foes. And of course who could forget the bad acting and dialogue, among my favorite lines are "No no no!" "Let's go inside!" "Sure why not?" "This must be the security card". Overall a good game that despite it's flaws is still a blast to play, until.....

The 2nd one amps up everything, bigger levels, more imaginative (not to mention intense bosses), more breakneck gameplay, and worse acting (which actually helps its charm out). Memorable lines such as "Don't come! Don't Come!" "Thank you for rescuing me" "James go and prevent the confusion in the city" and "You're the only one who's going to be defeated Magician". The graphics hold up far better than the previous games. I love the zombie variety such as the lightsaber zombies in Goldman's headquarters, the zombie fish, and the lizardmen. Overall this one is the king! In fact it's my other favorite arcade shooter.

jon
Posts: 1562
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: House of the Dead 1 and 2 (Arcade Retrospective)

Postby jon » November 1st, 2020, 11:27 am

An arcade review from the 90's nice.


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