GENRE
	Rail Shooter
	DEVELOPER
	Sega
	PUBLISHER
	Sega
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Remember the golden age of light-gun games? Neither do I, but that is not important. People used to point plastic guns at screens and shoot bad guys, a novel concept that turned out to be ridiculously fun. One such light-gun game was House of the Dead, a zombie blasting festival of pixilated mayhem that spawned two sequels full of B-movie camp.

A decade later, Wii has emerged and its revolutionary remote has proven to be just as fun as the fake guns that used to populate arcades of yore. Sega has been kind enough to take advantage of this new technology by releasing House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, a compilation of the two arcade classics and a valiant effort to remind the world just how awesome shooting stuff can be.

visuals

House of the Dead 2 looks quite good... for a ten year old game. House of the Dead 3 looks significantly better... seeing how it's half the age of House of the Dead 2.

Okay, enough beating around the bush; Return looks really, really ugly. HotD 3 does look much better than HotD 2 but shows no improvement from the Xbox version released many moons ago. Sega didn’t even bother adding a 16:9 mode for all the widescreen users out there. Return definitely looks like a quick and easy port of a Dreamcast and Xbox game.

audio

Return offers a delightful aural mix of a cheesy techno/rock soundtrack and some of the worst voice acting ever recorded. Seriously, no game, not even the original Resident Evil, can compete with the sublimely atrocious dialogue and delivery found in HotD 2. But that’s not all bad.

HotD has become famous for its poor voice acting, updating the audio would most likely anger long-time fans of the series and rob the game of its cheap, bad horror movie vibe. The terrible audio ultimately proves to be entertaining.

gameplay

HotD works a lot like Windows -- point and click. Simply use the Wii Remote to guide your aiming reticule around the screen until you have a zombie’s head in your crosshairs and then fire; now just do this with every zombie that shows up. Just like the core gameplay mechanics, everything in HotD comes straight from Light-Gun Shooters 101; shoot objects to uncover health and ammo powerups and save innocent civilians from attacking baddies to earn bonus points.

The boss fights in Return do deviate from the general "shoot it until it stops moving" philosophy by varying the thing it is you have to shoot. The first boss from HotD 2, for example, is a giant suit of armor controlled by imp that constantly flies around, and even though the armor is what’s attacking you, the imp is the real target. These battles won’t challenge your cerebellum like a nice game of Tetris, but they do offer an iota of variation that is much appreciated.

The most entertaining part of the whole Return package is Original Mode, a newer take on HotD 2 that features equipable items that do everything from power up your weapons to give you infinite continues. While this mode can become significantly easier than the original arcade version, it is a nice way to spice up the experience and make it a bit more approachable for newbies who can’t overcome the game’s considerable difficulty without a little bit of help. Unfortunately this feature was not added to HotD 3.

Ultimately, HotD 2 comes out feeling like the superior title; Original Mode goes a long way in making up for the inferior sound and visuals. While HotD 3 is a solid shooter, the excitement level isn’t quite as high and the story takes itself way too seriously, as is evidenced by the fact they actually try to explain it. Shooting zombies needs no justification!

multiplayer

This is where Return earns its keep. Every mode in the game fully supports two player co-op and having a friend by your side makes everything a million times more enjoyable. Not only is killing the undead a great bonding experience, but having a buddy by your side can make the dialogue all the more sufferable as the two of you mercilessly lampoon it. Bring this game out at a party and good times will be had by all.

overall

Playing HotD 2 and 3 is a bit like watching a bad movie, good for a quick laugh but all the more enjoyable with friends. But try not to get us wrong here -- as campy as the veneer is, both HotD 2 and HotD 3 are solid shooters and the Wii Remote is a very admirable substitute for a light gun.

Overall, the whole package will provide hours of entertainment to gamers who know what they are getting. However, considering the lower price, folks who aren’t too sure about these arcade classics should seriously consider checking them out as well.

7.0/10