The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (Wii)
AMS never said anything about zombies. Not on the application, not during the interview, not even when I was training with some joker who called himself “G,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. But here I am, on my first assignment in a gun battle with the living dead and what do I have to show for it? Claw marks across my back that “G” says look infected, the smell of death all over my clothes, which I know won’t come out in the wash, and nightmarish creatures out for blood. They said I was just going to be investigating the 1998 Curien Mansion Case. They never said anything about this!
At least that’s what I would’ve said if The House of the Dead 2 &3 Return had been real. Harkening back to the days when kids spent way too much time in dark, smoke filled arcades with pizza grease smeared all over the controls, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return brings the past smack dab into the present with all the pixelated, low resolution brilliance that it had back then. Perhaps it was the “D” grade voice acting, the tongue in cheek storyline that couldn’t take itself seriously if it tried, or the responsive “light gun”-esque controls, but Sega’s The House of the Dead 2& 3 Return is a return to form that hasn’t been seen in quite a long time, pun intended.
The gory story begins at the Curien residence in the original HotD, which is referred to as the 1998 Curien Mansion Case. Dr. Curien, esteemed biochemist and geneticist, not to mention crazed beyond all reason, wiles away his time trying to discover the nature of life and death. Backed by the DBR Corporation, Dr. Curien unleashes hellish forces that plan to sweep across the earth. They would’ve managed it, in record time I might add, if not for “G” and Thomas Rogan.
That was then, but this is now. The House of the Dead 2 picks up two years after the Curien Mansion Case, with AMS agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart investigating Venice, Italy after “G” has gone missing and strange occurrences have been reported all across the city. Of course, the DBR Corporation is involved, undead are everywhere, and light guns are prepped at the ready.
It was The House of the Dead 2 that made me fall in love with the series, and everything I liked is back in vivid 1998 detail, from the grainy textures to the low polygon counts and horrid voice acting, which makes the original Resident Evil look like high art by comparison. A number of fantastically entertaining modes are in the package, including two different ways to play through the game (Original and Arcade), a Boss mode, where the player tries to take out the game’s bosses using only one life, a Training mode, where players complete various objectives to unlock more mini-games, and a brief Tutorial video that introduces basic and advanced concepts about the two packaged games.
Everything is here, from the great “Sir Gooooooold…” scream the first boss’s imp companion utters upon death to the amalgamation of faithful game design concepts present in almost all games from 1998. It’s a trip to the past that deserves its day in the sun.
All of this pales in comparison to the real treat in this package: The House of the Dead 3. With the story picking up in 2019, 19 years after The House of the Dead 2 ended, players jump into the shoes of Lisa Rogan, the daughter of Thomas Rogan, one of the two agents from the first game, and “G,” who makes his triumphant return. AMS no longer exists, the world is in shambles, and Thomas has disappeared inside the EFI research facility, a facility linked to the world’s current state. Regardless of what one might think of the storyline, it gets the player moving from point to point well enough, the voice acting is substantially better, though no one will confuse it for quality by any stretch of the imagination, and the game oozes fun out of of its cancerous pores.
The House of the Dead 3 also offers something that its predecessors didn’t: selectable pathing. Players can choose their route through the infested research facility, picking which order to execute bosses, and which way the story unfolds. Lisa and “G” also get in on the act with a little pre- and post-stage banter. Dr. Curien and his son, Daniel, return with a bit of sepia bonding time as well.
For how much better the game looks than The House of the Dead 2, Three suffers from a bit of graphical slowdown in some instances, which is virtually inexcusable considering the engine isn’t that taxing. This was a game that was released in 2002 and appeared on the PC and Xbox, the Wii should have no problem handling it. But it’s a sharp, graphically grotesque game that’s not for the faint of heart or stomach.
All of this while traipsing through the game’s different modes including Arcade, Time Attack, and Extreme. Arcade needs no introduction but Time Attack is a little bit different. Instead of life, players are given time, which replenishes via hidden items that look like little analog clocks and timely headshots delivered on the zombies. You lose extra time when you’re hit. It’s harder than normal Arcade mode and takes a good bit of stamina to make it through but is fun all the same.
Extreme Mode, however, is for those folks who think they know everything there is to know about the game. With less ammo, more enemies, less lives, and less chances to make mistakes, you better have the cajones for this one or leave your shotgun at the door.
Why were both of these games included in the same package if they’re both light gun-centric and from the same series? Because they play so differently that they really are two different games. The House of the Dead 2, which, as a I mentioned, I cut my teeth on, as a completely nostalgic throwback to the times my friends and I went up to the arcades after school. It also featured some of the fastest light gun action this side of a Wiimote and handled itself admirably with its myriad of options and advancement potential. Reloading, shooting, and aiming were a breeze and it was because of this that I spent a lot of time with The House of the Dead 2 over The House of the Dead 3.
That’s not to say that The House of the Dead 3 wasn’t a good game. Quite the contrary, the game delivered endless amounts of fun into my zombie killing household. The slow loading shotgun might have turned off a few but its range and power more than made up for it. The House of the Dead 3 was more of a thinkers game, as far as games of this variety allow, since one had to consider their options before pulling the trigger, since a slow reload could kill you before you knew what happened. It was also the gorier of the two and was the catalyst for many an uttered “Ew.”
But it was The House of the Dead 2&3 Return’s unabashed, unapologetic refusal to modernize that coated it with the type of charm that only fans of the series would truly understand. Whether it was “G” or my entry into AMS way back when, The House of the Dead 2&3 Return was a trip down memory lane that still holds up in a world of HD consoles and killer surround sound. Perhaps zombies are considered a bit passe these days, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need a good blasting every now and again, and with a package this great coming in at such a low price point, there’s no excuse not to jump all over it. The apocalypse is only one viral strain away. Don’t you want to be ready?
Primotech Rating: 
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