Customer Reviews

House of the Dead 2

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

There still aren't that many Dreamcast games out than can be called "must-haves", but "House Of The Dead 2" is definitely one of them. But do you need the gun to play it? YES! Otherwise, it will be nowhere near as much fun and almost impossible to beat it, as the monsters are often zipping all over the screen at great speed. The game is extrememly hard anyway, even set on the "very easy" level (!), and the first few times you play it you will be killed long before the final battle, but the game would be over far too quickly if it were easy. The feel good factor from final victory, however, is always worth waiting for. Every aspect of the graphics is fantastic, the zombies are incredibly detailed, especially in close up, and the backgrounds are beautifully realised. Replay value comes from the many different paths you can take through the zombie-infested town. These paths depend on the speed and accuracy of your shooting, and you will enjoy replaying the game to try and hit those tricky targets, and save the innocent civilians, some of which are extremely difficult to rescue. Also added is "Original Mode" in which you build up a store of power-ups and life-ups, and even some bizarre different weapons and character-modifiers that appear in secret spots in the course of the game. You really need a VMU for this mode, although you can enjoy the arcade game without one (there are no save points during gameplay). Add to this the training exercises, and you have an arcade experience that is not only transported identically into your living room, but also enhanced with many extras! The game is above all fun to play, as it requires no serious investment of time or thought. You can pick it up at any time, and start blasting the undead!

House Of The Dead 2 is a 1-2 player first person shoot em' up packed with lots of blood and gore. The graphics are arcade perfect in this Dreamcast version, and it plays quite well even without a gun controller. The extras included like the Original and Training modes add further replay value. On the down side, the voice acting is horrible and the last two levels just seem thrown in without creative planning. I mean come on, repeating the bosses after the 4th level is really cheap. If you are considering investing in a gun for your Dreamcast, beware...I've heard alot about calibration problems with certain TV monitors. Still, House Of the Dead 2 is a must purchase for arcade fanatics, and the ... price tag gives one even more reason to pick up this classic.

I'm not much for shooters but I really enjoy this game. I must say though, it is a lot more fun if you have the Dream Blaster gun. There's an "Original Mode" where you can collect items that are hidden all over the place. I've seen a couple dozen different items so far and it seems like every time I play, I discover a new one. Once you find the item it goes into your "trunk" and you can opt to use it in your next game. It's a very cool feature. The game would be very redundant without it.

But... on the down side, there aren't a lot of different levels. And you can complete the game in about 20 minutes if you have a good partner.

It's a fun game to play around on if you have a lot of friends over.

I love shooting games and HOD II is the reason that I purchased a Dreamcast rather than waiting for the PSX 2. HOD II continues on from the original as you are part of a team of government agents once again trying to stop a Zombie creating madman. You shift from screen to screen, using the Sega Light Gun to blow away various bad guys as they charge at you. Depending on how and who you shoot, the game branches off through various paths.

The graphics are spectacular, nearly identical to the arcade. The sound is also good, except for the ridiculously silly sounding boss monsters (why do they sound like they have swallowed helium). The DC version also has great additional features: boss mode, puzzle levels and target practice.

The biggest problems with the game (besides the goofy voices) is that the gun calibration seems to be a little off and the game can become almost too hard to be fun is some areas.

Overall, I was really looking forward to this game and I was not disappointed.

HOD2 lives up to its billing as a fast action shooter. It does so, however, by ignoring everything else that a game should offer. Other reviews understate the necessity of the laser gun. The aimer simply moves to slowly to allow for any reasonable chance of success. There is no free will, or choice in this game. The only way gameplay affects storyline is to open doors that lead to diversions from the VERY scripted plot. The acting is a complete joke, leaving this reviewer wondering what was lost in the translation. Most disappointing, however, is the notion of credits. You cannot extend play for longer than nine credits, great in the true-to-the-arcade-game translation except that in the arcade no-one is going to limit you to nine plays. This creates a hopeless expectation of perfection to actually finish the game and dooms players to playing the first screens over and over again. not much fun.

this game has a fun factor of 10 out of 10. its graphics are incredible. and violence and gore is extrordinary. though may not suitible for little kids, i still say the older kids and adults will enjoy this incredible game. and i thought the first one on arcade was great, play this! believe me,I am kind of like a video game critic, i rate games a lot. So if you have the best game console out(the sega dreamcast) this is a must buy.

House of the Dead 2 is a fantastic game!! It is one of the most funnest games I've ever played. With all the different branching paths, it makes me want to play it over and over again. The graphics look exactly like the graphics in the arcades, and with all theses extras, it makes it a great purchase that is really worth the money. The only things that are not that great is: 1) the game is a little on the hard side and 2) the voice acting isn't all that great. But this game is still one of the funnest games of all time!! If you get a Dreamcast, put this game at the top of your list!

Just pick up a copy of House of the Dead 2.

Like most light gun games, the action is fairly repetitive, and the game is certainly not the deepest ever made. But there are plenty of branches you can take--dependent on your skill in saving innocent bystanders--and that helps keep the game interesting.

Let's be honest, though: light gun games are all about repetition. A good light gun game allows you to pick up that bizarre looking play gun (I picked up the Mad Catz Dream Blaster and have found it to serve my needs well) and just blow away bad guys with little or no thought of story or even beating the game. House of the Dead 2 is perfect for this.

So go ahead. It's calming, mindless fun. What more could you want?

I'll keep this short and to the point..after all rare chance anyone is going to be looking for this game at this point in time.

It replicates the arcade experience nearly perfectly...back when it was released it was harder to get the gun but not so much now.

There IS more than one difficulty level...i think the people who said it was to easy played it only on easy and never tried it on the harder or settings..i could be wrong about that.

It does get boring quickly if you're not a fan of the game to begin with...but even if you're NOT a fan of the game it's at least a 3* game worth a play if you have a dreamcast in your posesssion....alot more fun with the gun..more challenging with the controller but all in all as i said near perfect emulation of the arcade original

One thing i almost forgot. The "bad" acting is intentional. It's supposed to resemble a cheesey 50s horror movie...if you don't get that or you don't like that than this game just isn't for you.

on a side note. the typing of the dead just may be more fun than this game unless of course you don't enjoy typing. :)

HOFD2 Is Awesome.
It's very violent and gory which is why I love it.
It was a very popular game when it came to the arcades but
now you can play this blessing game any time you want at your
own home!

The story for this game is pretty good. The bad guy in it is cool.. The bosses are loads of fun. House of the Dead II is one of the best gun games you can find for a system.
The zombies in these are cool. Any part of there body you shoot one part of them gets blown.

This is one of Dream cast strong holds before it lost it's popularity in the US.

This game is excelent for DreamCast owners...

Other games of choice
Sonic Adventure
Sword of Berserk
Spawn:In the demons hand
Soul Calibur

If you have a DC go out and get this game. It rocks!

Later