| Publisher: |
Developer: |
Genre: |
Players: |
ESRB: |
| Sega |
Wow Entertainment |
Horror/Shooter |
1-2 |
Mature |
House of the Dead 3
Reviewed by: Infestator
The popular arcade shooter is back. House of the Dead 3 is the third installment in the House of the Dead trilogy, which Sega was nice enough to make exclusively on the XBOX. Sega was also nice enough to include a preview of the upcoming movie, The House of the Dead, on the game disc. Blasting the undead cannot get any better.
Gameplay: The game takes place in the year 2019, nineteen years after the House of the Dead 2. Play as “G”, a former AMS agent that you may remember from the first and second House of the Dead, or Lisa Rogan, the daughter of another AMS agent, who is also seen in the previous House of the Deads.
When you start the game, there are two types of gameplay available on the menu for House of the Dead 3: “survival mode” and “time attack”. Survival mode is just the standard game, where players play straight throughout the game from the beginning to the end. Time attack is more challenging for players, as time becomes an important factor.
There are many differences between House of the Dead 3 and its prequels. Instead of a pistol, players use a pump shotgun. Instead of manual reloading, the shotgun reloads itself once all of its shells are used up; although players may also manual reload if they choose to. And instead of rescuing hostages, players must rescue their partner (in this case G or Lisa) in order to receive a bonus life. Another difference includes the ability to “choose your own path”. Paths branch out throughout the game and allows players to select their own direction, which lead to one of many alternative endings.
Players are now rated on their quality of play (accuracy, health and continues used, score, etc.) in the following order from highest to lowest: S, A, B, C, D. If you receive an S or A you are rewarded with a bonus life.
Graphics: Graphics in House of the Dead 3 is an impressive improvement to the previous House of the Deads. Everything is well detailed down to every last drop of zombie blood. When a zombie gets blasted, there’s the graphics to show for it (that and a headless zombie limping towards you). You can literally see the guts of a zombie if shot in the abdomen.
Sega has added a neat feature in the game options that allows players to change the color of blood to red or green (default color) without any flaws.
Controls: The controls in the House of the Dead 3 are extremely simple and basic. The game is still surprisingly fun with a controller and does not require a lightgun. On the controller the default buttons use the A button to fire and the B button to reload, or the R trigger to fire and the L trigger to reload. The control pad and the joystick can be used to aim. Custom buttons may be settable in the options if players dislike the default buttons.
The lightgun is quite self-explanatory. Just point, aim and pull the trigger.
Replay: The game is surprisingly short, but addictive, which makes this game very replayable. Once the game is beaten, players can try to go for the different endings, try setting the difficulty harder, or even try working on accuracy and getting a higher score.
A feature that adds a great deal to replay value is the House of the Dead 2. Once players have beaten the House of the Dead 3, House of the Dead 2 becomes unlocked and playable. Many secrets for the House of the Dead 2 can be unlocked by completing special tasks, like finishing House of the Dead 3 over and over again.
Sound: The sound in the House of the Dead 3 is very plain, but what do you expect? It’s a shoot em’ up. All you hear throughout the game is the shots being fired out of your shotgun, the shotguns being reloaded, and the moaning of zombies. On the other hand, the background music in some parts of the game is quite impressive and the acting (voices) is well done with lots of expression and enthusiasm.
Overall Presentation:
Scores:
Gameplay:  8
Graphics:  10
Controls: 10
Replay:  8.5
Sound: 7
Total Score: 8.7
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