The House of the Dead
Sega's The House of the Dead is a simple yet devilishly fun game of violence, gore and slaying. One or two players can take on the role of special agents investigating reports of mass murder at the DBR research laboratory. Upon arrival at the lab they discover a few dead research workers and a horde of zombies, and here the splatterfest begins.
| The House of the Dead |
by Sega
|
As a special agent, you are required to shoot all
manner of undead horrors before they can get close enough to chop, headbutt, bite, stab
and claw you. A direct hit is rewarded with a spray of gore, but be warned: although most
monsters are slow moving, they take more than one shot to kill, so scream, gibber and hit
the trigger frequently. Ammunition is unlimited but must be reloaded after six shots. Head
shots are particularly effective in dropping monsters quickly, and you won’t know
whether to laugh or retch at the sight of the bloodied polygonal stump that remains. After
all enemies in an area are killed, you are moved to a new area and the slaying begins
anew. Although there is no direct control over movement, it is possible to take different
paths through the game depending on whether certain civilians are saved from the undead or
allowed to perish. Saving civilians is worth doing because they will reward you with a
bonus life. However, if you shoot a civilian by mistake you will lose a life.
The controls are simple – left mouse button to shoot, right mouse button to reload. The mouse allows easy and accurate positioning of the crosshair, but keyboards, gamepads and joysticks are also supported. Using a keyboard is not recommended, as it is rather slow in positioning the crosshair. A light gun would be the ideal input device but unfortunately there is no support for one yet. Sega says it is still keen to find one that will work, and will release a patch if it does.
The great thing about
playing The House of the Dead on PC is that it is faithful to the arcade version
("dangling intestine for dangling intestine" according to Sega) but it doesn't
cost you two bucks for a measly three lives! If you are House of the Dead addict then this
game will probably pay for itself in no time.
by Richard Lovett
