7.2 /10 1 Votes7.2
Composer(s) Tetsuya Kawauchi Arcade system Sega Model 2 Series The House of the Dead Genre Shoot 'em up | 7.3/10 Director(s) Takashi Oda Cabinet Upright Initial release date 13 September 1996 Designer Atsushi Seimiya Developers Sega Wow, Tantalus Media | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer Similar The House of the Dead games, Sega games, Light gun games |
The House of the Dead is a first-person light gun arcade game, first released by Sega in Japan in September 13, 1996, with the international released following in March 4, 1997.
Contents
Players assume the role of agents Thomas Rogan and "G" in their efforts to combat the products of the dangerous, inhumane experiments of Dr. Curien, a mad scientist.
Gameplay
The House of the Dead is a rail shooter light gun game. Players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching zombies. The characters' pistols use magazines which hold 6 rounds; players reload by shooting away from the screen. A set of torches next to the magazine of each player represents remaining health. When a player sustains damage or shoots a hostage, one of their torches is removed. The player dies when all torches are lost. First-aid packs are available throughout the game which restore one torch. These are found either in the possession of hostage whom the player has rescued or inside breakable objects. Similarly, there are also special items located in breakable objects that will grant a bonus to whoever shoots it.
Throughout the course of the game, players are faced with numerous situations in which their action (or inaction) will have an effect on the direction of gameplay. This is exemplified in the opening stage of the game when a hostage is about to be thrown from the bridge to his death. If the player saves the hostage, they will enter the house directly through the front door; however, if the player fails to rescue the hostage, the character is redirected to an underground route through the sewers. If the player rescues all hostages, a secret room full of lives and bonuses is revealed toward the end of the game.
Story
AMS Agent Thomas Rogan receives a distressing phone-call from his fiancée Sophie Richards. She is at the Curien Mansion, home and laboratory of Roy Curien, a renowned biochemist and geneticist. Rogan and his partner 'G.' arrives at the scene to find the estate overrun with hellish creations. A mortally wounded man gives them a journal containing information about Curien's deadly creations and their weaknesses.
It is revealed that Curien was obsessed with discovering the nature of life and death. While supported by the DBR Corporation and its own team of scientists, Curien's relentless pursuit of this goal slowly drove him insane. His behavior becomes more erratic and his experiments beginning to take a gruesome turn. Curien ultimately decided to unleash his experimental subjects into his mansion. Rogan and 'G.' storms the mansion to save Sophie as well as any other survivors, while battling Curien's zombies and other abominations.
Rogan and 'G.' reach Sophie, only to witness her being carried away by a gargoyle-like creature called the Hangedman. They later find Sophie being attacked by the Chariot, a supersoldier wearing armor and armed with a halberd. After defeating Chariot, the two attend to Sophie, who seemingly succumbs to her injuries. A furious Rogan goes after the Hangedman. Their pursuit lead Rogan and 'G.' to the rooftops surrounding the courtyard. After a lengthy battle, they managed to shoot it down.
Fighting through the zombies, the two push on to find Dr. Curien. The doctor releases the Hermit, a giant spider crab monster, and flees. They manage to kill it, and continue the chase.
Upon being confronted a second time, Curien unleashes his masterpiece, The Magician, a demon-like creature with pyrokinetic abilities. However, immediately after being released, the Magician reveals himself to be self-aware, refuses to serve any master and kills his creator. Rogan and 'G.' confront the Magician in one final battle. Before dying, the Magician gives a chilling warning, and explodes. When they reach the entrance, they find Sophie, who survived her injuries. The three leave the mansion.
Alternate Endings
In an alternate ending, Sophie is reanimated and becomes an undead.
Characters
Reception
The House of the Dead garnered generally positive reviews, the arcade version being held in the highest regard with AllGame awarding it 4.5 out of 5 stars. However, the Saturn and PC versions gained slightly less praise due to their lack of polish, getting "mixed" or "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.
When Indianapolis attempted to ban violent video games it argued that The House of the Dead was obscene and so unprotected by the First Amendment. This required U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner to review the game at length, ultimately finding Indianapolis’ ban was unconstitutional. Unimpressed by the graphics, Judge Posner wrote “The most violent game in the record, "The House of the Dead," depicts zombies being killed flamboyantly, with much severing of limbs and effusion of blood; but so stylized and patently fictitious is the cartoon-like depiction that no one would suppose it "obscene" in the sense in which a photograph of a person being decapitated might be described as "obscene." It will not turn anyone's stomach.”
Ports
The game was ported in 1998 to Sega Saturn by Tantalus, and to Windows (PC-CD) by Sega. The conversion suffered from somewhat rushed development. Official Sega Saturn Magazine criticized the graphics and frame-rate of the game, which ran at 20 frames per second. However, extra game modes were added to the port which include a home specific mode that allows the player to select a character; and also a boss battle mode, which pits the player against the game bosses back to back.
The Sega Saturn version had a slightly remixed soundtrack, compared to the arcade version of the game. On stage 2, there is a reference to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, as the words the words Challenger, go at throttle up, spoken by Richard O. Covey from the mission control room only seconds before the explosion, can be heard three times before the music loops. While these words do not appear in the arcade version, a snickering laugh can be heard instead.