The House of the Dead 2
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Sega AM1
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Takashi Oda
Producer(s)Rikiya Nakagawa
Composer(s)Tetsuya Kawauchi
Haruyoshi Tomita
SeriesThe House of the Dead
Platform(s)Arcade
Dreamcast
Microsoft Windows
Wii
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: November 20, 1998
  • NA: December 1998[1]
Dreamcast
  • JP: March 25, 1999
  • NA: September 9, 1999
  • EU: 1999
Microsoft Windows
  • NA: July 6, 2001
Wii
  • NA: March 11, 2008
  • JP: March 19, 2008
  • AU: March 27, 2008
  • EU: March 28, 2008
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Light gun shooter
Horror game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemSega NAOMI

The House of the Dead 2[lower-alpha 1] is a horror-themed light gun shooter arcade game and the second game in The House of the Dead series of video games. The direct sequel to The House of the Dead, it was developed by Sega for arcades on the Sega NAOMI board in November 1998, then ported to the Dreamcast in 1999 and Microsoft Windows in 2001, and is also found on the Xbox as an unlockable bonus in The House of the Dead III. The game appears in the compilation The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return for Wii. The Dreamcast version became a Sega All Stars title.

The games story picks up slightly over a year after the original game, and follows several AMS agents investigating a zombie outbreak in Italy. The protagonists are tasked find the source of the attack while also locating a missing agent, known as G.

Gameplay

The House of the Dead 2 is a rail shooter light gun game. It includes an auto-reload feature that allows players to point their guns off-screen to reload their weapons without pulling the trigger. Players must shoot their way through hordes of zombies and other monsters while attempting to rescue civilians being attacked. Health is represented by torches at the bottom of the screen and are lost when the play is hit by an enemy or shoots a civilian. Bonus health can be awarded by rescuing civilians and finding first aid kits hidden in crates and barrels. Like the first game, it incorporates a branching path system that allows for a variety of different routes in each stage depending on the players actions. This is expanded upon with far more paths than the original and can even lead to completely different stage layouts/locations, although the general story itself will always remain the same.

The game served as the springboard for the arcade, Sega Dreamcast, and PC release The Typing of the Dead, the Nintendo DS release English of the Dead, as well as the inspiration for the Game Boy Advance game, The Pinball of the Dead.

The flashbacks to the first The House of the Dead in the game's introductory sequence were recorded using the game's engine.

Plot

AMS Agent G's further investigation on the 1998 Curien Mansion incident leads to his mysterious disappearance upon his discovery of the remnants of Dr. Curien's operations in Venice, Italy, where a zombie outbreak takes place.

On February 26, 2000, American AMS agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart are dispatched with their fellow agent, Harry Harris, and his British AMS partner, Amy Crystal, to investigate and evacuate the populace of Venice. They suddenly encounter the impish Zeal, who had recently dealt with G. Upon finding a wounded G alive in a local library, James and Gary converse with him. G gives them a field journal showing the bosses and their weak points. The pair are then met with a massive undead horde, similar to the kind from the Curien Mansion incident. They continue on, trying to save the town's civilians from the zombies.

During the chaos, James and Gary face the Judgment, consisting of Zeal and his giant, headless, axe-wielding armored puppet, Kuarl. After killing it, they meet up with Amy and Harry, who split up and try to meet at Sunset Bridge (or the wharf, depending on the player's actions). Upon getting there, the group faces off with the Hierophant, an amphibious humanoid which heads an assault on Venice's waterways and Central Plaza, leaving behind several dead bodies near Sunset Bridge. Upon defeating it, James, Gary, Amy and Harry get on a boat and continue through the rivers.

It is revealed that the zombies were created by Caleb Goldman, the man who financed Dr. Curien's creations during the Curien Mansion incident. It is also revealed that Goldman created the new zombies and released them into the city. Goldman leaves a message on Amy's phone, inviting them to meet him at the Colosseum, which Harry fears to be a trap. James and Gary split up again, and face off with a group of five fiery serpents known as the Tower, with four of them being orange and the leading serpent being blue. After killing the blue serpent, they receive a phone call for help from Amy, before getting cut off. The two quickly race to the Colosseum, only to discover Amy and a wounded Harry, injured by the Strength, a giant, chainsaw-wielding zombie which chases James and Gary throughout the arena. After they kill it, James and Gary push on, while Amy tends to Harry's wounds. They drive over to Goldman's tower, fighting a revived Judgment, the Hierophant and, upon reaching the headquarters, Curien's masterpiece, the Magician, who was also revived by Goldman to oversee the birth of the Emperor, a shapeshifting crystalline entity with mastery over magnetism designed to protect nature from humanity. After defeating the Magician, they head inside Goldman's Headquarters, killing all the zombies in their way, along with a revived Tower, fighting their way to the top of the tower to confront the Emperor. AMS agents James and Gary eventually defeat and kill the Emperor, ending the city's chaos, which causes Goldman to commit suicide by throwing himself off the roof of his building.

Players are given different endings based on the following conditions:

  • If a solo game was finished as either player 1 or 2
  • If both players defeated the last boss
  • Number of continues
  • Points earned

In the good ending, James and Gary run into Thomas Rogan, the other main character from the first game, who tells them that G and Harry are all right, and that they should head off to their next battle "as long as they have the will to live" (in the case of James) or "as long as there is an answer" (in the case of Gary). In the normal ending, as James and Gary leave the building, they are greeted by G, Amy and Harry, as well as a large group of civilians, who thank them for their help. In the bad ending, James and Gary run into a zombified Goldman outside the building. As the screen goes white, a gunshot is heard.

Development

Ports

The House of the Dead 2 was later ported to the Dreamcast, as a launch title for the system, Xbox, as an unlockable on the Xbox port of The House of the Dead 3, PC, and Wii, in a double release with The House of the Dead 3. It was also the second, and final game in The House of the Dead series to appear on a Sega console, with the original The House of the Dead for the Sega Saturn being the first.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed The House of the Dead 2 on their January 1, 1999 issue as being the third most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month.[17]

The Dreamcast version received "favorable" reviews, while the PC version received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[2][3]

AllGame gave the arcade version a score of four-and-a-half stars out of five.[18] In Japan, Famitsu gave the Dreamcast version 33 out of 40.[8] IGN praised the same console version's detailed level design and varied enemy designs but criticized poor voice acting.[14] GameSpot said of the same console version, "Just a gun that lines up with the sights doesn't seem too much to ask for."[12] Game Informer ranked it at number 99 in its best games of all-time list in 2001. The staff praised it for its expansion of its predecessor's gore and intensity, but noted that the lack of a light gun accessory for the Dreamcast version was slightly disappointing.[16]

Blake Fischer reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for Next Generation, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "Without the light gun, this game is a complete loss. With a gun, it's better, but not for very long."[15]

A consensus among reviewers was that the quality of the English voice acting was very poor, with one calling it "easily some of the worst in the genre".[5] Others found it to be so bad that it became amusing.[19][20] In 2020, The House of the Dead 2 was ranked as the best game in the series by Screen Rant.[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ザ・ハウス・オブ・ザ・デッド2, Hepburn: Za Hausu obu za Deddo Tsū

References

  1. ↑ "Domestic and Overseas Arcade Game List (1971-2005)". Internet Archive. 2005.
  2. 1 2 "The House of the Dead 2 for Dreamcast". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  3. 1 2 "The House of the Dead 2 for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  4. ↑ House, Matthew. "The House of the Dead 2 (DC) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  5. 1 2 Knight, Kyle. "The House of the Dead 2 (PC) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  6. ↑ Edge staff (May 1999). "The House of the Dead 2 (DC)". Edge. No. 71.
  7. ↑ "House of the Dead 2 (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1999.
  8. 1 2 "ドリームキャスト - HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2". Famitsu. Vol. 915. 30 June 2006. p. 35.
  9. ↑ "The House of the Dead 2 (DC)". Game Informer. October 28, 1999. Archived from the original on 2000-06-05. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  10. ↑ Scary Larry (1999). "House of the Dead 2 for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2005-02-14. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  11. ↑ Baldric (November 1999). "House of the Dead 2 Review (DC)". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on 2000-01-24. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  12. 1 2 Fielder, Joe (1999-03-30). "The House of the Dead 2 Review (DC)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  13. ↑ Fragmaster (1999-10-18). "House of the Dead 2". PlanetDreamcast. Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  14. 1 2 Gantayat, Anoop (1999-09-08). "House of the Dead 2 (DC)". IGN.
  15. 1 2 Fischer, Blake (September 1999). "Finals". Next Generation. Vol. 2, no. 1. Imagine Media. p. 84.
  16. 1 2 "Game Informer's Top 100 Games Of All Time (Circa Issue 100)". Game Informer. 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  17. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - 完成品夕イプのTVゲーム機 (Dedicated Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 579. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 January 1999. p. 29.
  18. ↑ Williamson, Colin. "The House of the Dead 2 (ARC) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15.
  19. ↑ This Game Has Such Bad Voice Acting It Used To Make Me Cry, Ebaumsworld
  20. ↑ A new House of the Dead is heading to arcades Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine, Eurogamer
  21. ↑ "Ranking the House of the Dead Arcade Games, Worst to Best". Screen Rant. 22 April 2020.
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