Experienced FPS gamers will be disappointed in the restrictions placed on movement.

Sound: Awful voice acting ruins the effect and offsets the decent music.Įnjoyment: Gameplay consists of fairly enjoyable fast-paced action with plenty of different monsters. Graphics: The individual graphical elements look dated, with blocky zombie and monster 3D models, but graphical elements combine to create a fairly compelling atmosphere. Conversely, veteran first-person shooter fans will regard the game as not much more than a poor man's FPS without the ability to move your own character. The House of the Dead 2's gameplay is fundamentally enjoyable, especially for PC gamers without much experience in fast and furious point-and-click first-person shooters. The game's absolutely horrible voice acting, easily some of the worst in the genre, compounds the problem, as every line of dialogue is somehow mangled, whether by deadpan voice acting, incorrect inflections that give phrases different meanings than intended, or overemphasis of every single syllable. The House of the Dead 2 obviously has Japanese origins, and the English phrases used in the game, while technically correct in terms of syntax, often sound strange to native English speakers. Localization is tolerated to a higher degree by console gamers, but is a real problem that will annoy most PC gamers.

Nothing else in the game replaces the loss of control, so gameplay becomes tedious. In this ported version, the mouse is used to aim, but all movement is done by the game - most FPS fans will bemoan the loss of control that ignores the PC's capability. Normally, first-person shooters on the PC are designed to aim with the mouse, while simultaneously moving the character using the keyboard, allowing for the ability to shoot on the run. Unfortunately, the same gameplay that makes The House of the Dead 2 fun in the arcade falls flat on the PC. Although the beginning and end of each stage is always the same, the paths change depending on your success in saving certain civilians.

The boss designs are varied, with more than the standard 'big guy' throwing lots of things. Within the context of its arcade origins, The House of the Dead 2 is a decent shooter, offering many types of enemy designs, ranging from slow lumbering zombies to speedy zigzagging creatures intent on ripping your head off.

There's no denying that gun shooters in the arcade and even home consoles can be fun, if played with the gun, but transferring control to the mouse for aiming often makes for second rate first-person shooters with restricted movement. Based on past industry history, the port of arcade gun shooters to the PC is often an 'iffy' process, resulting in the loss of gameplay and flavor in the transition.

The house of the dead 2 mediafire