When it comes to zombies-based games, there's no doubt that Resident Evil is the king of the hill. But the House of the Dead franchise has been offering up sweet zombie busting action for a while now and even though it's just a retread of two classics, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Returns is a sweet package for Wii owners who want to blow off some steam by blasting the undead horde.
This tubby zombie is so hungry he could eat you... literally!
What's Old Is New (But It's Still Old)
You've probably played at least one House of the Dead title before. Whether it's at the arcade or on the vastly underappreciated Dreamcast, chances are you've picked up a virtual gun and picked off a zombie or two. If you haven't, House of the Dead is an on-rail shooter meaning you can't control where you go or even where you look-the camera swings automatically and you just point and shoot. It's a heck of a lot of fun, especially when you consider the game's camp factor-the voice acting, in part 2 especially, is so hilariously bad that it's reached a kind of cult status.
Both of the ports are pretty much near perfect and for Wii games, the graphics are actually pretty impressive, all things considered. Of course, of the two games, House of the Dead 3 is by far superior; part 2 gave me a nice dose of Dreamcast nostalgia as I played that game to death on that system but it's looking really dated here. I also didn't like that there were frequent loading screens, something I never noticed on the Dreamcast version.
The undead in the House of the Dead games are certainly no dummies--they've learned the benefits of using tools destroy their prey.
"No really, there's a funny story behind the flesh missing only from my pecks."
Lather Rinse Repeat
It's best to consider this game as House of the Dead 3 with part 2 thrown in for fun. And really, it's a pretty cool package. It's the perfect game to play with a buddy, as the co-op mode is awesome; you'll also need the extra firepower to get through some of the more difficult sections of the game. The boss fights in HotD 3 are especially tough, requiring you to shoot with both pinpoint accuracy and lightning quick speed.
I also personally recommend you go through the games John Woo style-that's a Wii Remote in each hand, in case you were wondering. Plowing through enemies with two barrels is a heck of a lot of fun; for added realism, I used two Nyko Perfect Shots and pretended I was Chow Yun Fat.
Of course, light-gun games tend to overstay their welcomes eventually. You can only play through the games so many times before it gets stale. The two House of the Dead titles offered here does have a lot of branching paths and secret areas as well as extra modes like Time Attack but that will only extend the fun for so long. Still, while it lasts, House of the Dead is an excellent diversion and one definitely worth playing. It's also yet more proof that the Wii is a great platform for light-gun games and I sincerely hope that other developers are paying close attention.
Graphics: 4.00 out of 5Sound: 3.75 out of 5
Control: 4.25 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Pros: Great zombie-busting action; faithful to the original ports.
Cons: Longevity is an issue; Part 2 is looking awfully dated; voice acting is horrible by normal standards but it's deliciously campy.
Recommendations: Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles (Wii), House of the Dead 4 (Arcade), Resident Evil 4 (PS2, GameCube, and Wii)
Apparently, crossing two axes in front of you makes you invulnerable to bullets...
