The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

Subject: The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:05 am

Metachronos overall score = 7.0 / 10

Positive The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return Good_brutal_s

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return Good_sharp_control_s

- Sega finally nailed IR shooting on the Wii
- The terrible but awesome voice acting is intact

Negative The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return Bad_value_s

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return Bad_short_s

- House of the Dead 3 suffers from an inconsistent frame rate
- Doesn't really include enough to justify its price
- Having to earn extra health and continue options by failing is frustrating

House of the Dead 2 picks up two years after the mysterious mansion incident from the first game, in which the mad Dr. Curien released an army of the undead. Once again you take the role of an agent of the AMS, a secret international agency that investigates paranormal activity, and you are dispatched to Venice, Italy, where fellow agent G has gone missing. Naturally, the undead are to blame, and you must shoot your way through wave after wave of zombies and the occasional boss to save the city, all while trying not to harm the innocent civilians. As with its predecessor, your actions will determine the path that you travel to your destination, and it will take multiple play-throughs to see everything.

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return 341858071104

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return 341858071104

House of the Dead 3 takes place a full 19 years later, in a postapocalyptic world infested with the undead. This time, you'll play as G and Lisa Rogan as they battle their way through the research facility that served as ground zero for the outbreak that overwhelmed the planet. You're armed a bit more heavily (combat shotguns), and thankfully there are no civilians to rescue. Instead, you occasionally have to save your partner for the chance to earn bonus health. Other changes include the ability to select your next level, which alters the path that you travel, and a scoring system that awards you a letter grade based on your performance.

More than a decade later, House of the Dead 2 and 3 continue to be fun and entertaining games, especially when played with a friend. However, their brevity (a skilled player can easily beat either game in significantly less than an hour), a lack of compelling additional content, and the strange frame-rate issues make House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return a difficult purchase to justify, even at its $30 asking price.

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return House-of-the-dead-2-3-return-screens-20071116113545142