Light gun games have always been one of my favorite genres dating all the way back to Duck Hunt on the NES. When the 16-bit era came around this type of gameplay was largely forgotten, but thankfully we saw it return when the next generation came around. From this era the Point Blank, Time Crisis, and Virtua Cop franchises are what people tend to remember the most. By the time Sega got around to releasing a port of their popular Arcade hit The House of the Dead the Sega Saturn already had one foot in the grave. Sega didn’t have a lot of faith in this release, and they did their typical thing when they pushed very few copies on to the market. Because of this House of the Dead is one of the all too common super rare games on the platform which is unfortunate because it’s one of my favorite light gun shooters.
The House of the Dead must be commended on its grindhouse story and execution. You play as one of two (or both if a friend joins in) special agents named Thomas Rogan and “G” who receive information concerning a mad doctor named Curien. It seems as though he has been performing genetic experiments on all manner of animals, but with a focus on human test subjects. They’ve become zombie creatures, and this army of monstrosities stands between our protagonists and Dr. Curien. It’s a basic premise with few plot twists, but that’s all that a game like this needs. House of the Dead is a pretty standard 3D light gun shooter. You move from scene to scene shooting enemies by using either a basic controller by guiding an on-screens cross-hair, or by taking aim at the screen using a peripheral light-gun. You have a life bar indicated by a series of torches, and each player has only a few spare lives. This is a very tough game, and despite its short length will take even seasoned gamers multiple attempts on the standard difficulty setting.
For a light gun shooter this title offers a lot of variety. In other similar games you must defeat all on-screen enemies before progressing, but that’s not always the case here. Because you view the action from a first person view there’s a lot of snapping around as your character looks about each environment, and often times you’re left with a small window of opportunity. There are also several different types of enemies. You’ve got your standard zombies that use either melee weapons or toss projectiles your way, as well as mutant monkeys, leeches, and bats. The variety in enemy types is admirable, and their movement patterns differ wildly. Sega did an excellent job of designing interesting gameplay scenarios, and I especially liked dealing with the corridors crowded with enemies. The boss fights are also very well done and offer quite the challenge. These hulks feature small weak points that you must target, and the only way to halt their attacks is by inflicting enough damage. The monster theme lends itself quite well to the boss characters.
There’s a surprising amount of content tucked inside this disc. You have the standard arcade mode which plays the same as the original coin-op version as well as Saturn mode that mixes things up a bit. The latter allows you to choose your playable character from several different choices, and they differ in terms of attack power, reload speed, and life. It’s actually a pretty decent mode, and definitely makes the game more replayable. You can also switch between several difficulty modes ensuring that even the most seasoned players are in for a challenge. In typical fashion the game also features multiple paths within each of the levels. The cool part is that these aren’t obvious, and some are pretty well hidden. These are unlocked in a variety of ways such as destroying objects within the environment as well as saving specific innocents from their undead assailants. An entertaining and perfectly functional two player co-op mode rounds out this already highly replayable package. By genre standards there’s a lot of content here.
Unfortunately the game is plagued with some rather unsatisfactory visuals. The Sega Saturn was no powerhouse when it came to 3D, but I certainly expected better because graphically this is a mere shadow of the arcade version. The character and enemy models are extremely unsightly due to the low polygon counts, and the environments are jagged and it can be hard to even tell what some of the details are supposed to be. Unfortunately the texture work is extremely sub par, and everything looks extremely pixelated. It makes for a really ugly experience especially when enemies get close to the camera. The framerate also struggles to handle all of the on-screen carnage, and it often stutters when there’s a lot of enemies on-screen. On the plus side some of the game’s effects are actually really cool such as the way body parts blow off of zombies when you’ve hit them. On the other hand I’m a big fan of the soundtrack here. The music is pure cheese, but it perfectly fits the grindhouse atmosphere, and really helps to give House of the Dead an identity all its own. The voice overs are awful, but this legitimizes the style.
The House of the Dead may be one of my favorite light gun shooters, but it runs a pretty hefty price now. Expect to pay a hundred bucks for this limited release, but to be honest I’m not sure it’s worth it. The sequel, released on the Dreamcast, goes for significantly less and is more than worthy so I’d say to go with that one instead. If you’re a die hard collector however you will definitely want this one on your shelf. The House of the Dead is an awesome light gun game that’s sure to keep you (and possibly a friend) busy for a good long while. This serves as a reminder of the time back when Sega was actually a good developer.
