You’ll forgive us for breezing over the laughable plots, though its horrific voice acting, famous for its charming awfulness, is pleasantly intact. The legendary Zombie executions you’ll be graded on are what’s of the highest importance. Lucky for Sega, it’s fairly superb here, visible Wii crosshairs and all. But wait, there’s more. House of the Dead 2 packs in some additional modes, like a power-up heavy Original mode, the self explanatory boss mode, and the minigame-laden Training mode.
House of the Dead 3 looks a whole lot better by comparison, even if it’s practically the same game Xbox owners played three years ago. But better graphics are just the beginning. This time you’ve got shotguns, capable of taking out more than one member of the undead infantry in a single shot. We had a blast with the two player mode, flicking our remotes and reloading with all the simultaneous gusto of Tango and Cash. HotD 3 even has an “Extreme Mode” Sega wouldn’t even tell us about. Oooo.
All in all, our hands-on was a blissful headshot of nostalgia from arcades’ past. Even if you still own previous versions, this compilation is worth a look for the controls alone. It’s also a perfect fit, since these “casual gamers” we keep hearing about should have no trouble jumping in and ending the re-animated with the best of ‘em. After all, House of the Dead’s classic formula is so mighty, even cinema shit-peddler, Uwe Boll, could only just barely tarnish its reputation.
Feb 14, 2008
