THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 3 (XBOX)


Sega busts a gut - literally...

By WILLIAM BARKER

Who loves good old fashioned blood and gore? You know, the stuff where limbs go flying amidst gobbets of blood, holes appear in torsos - that sort of thing.

Well, I sure enjoy the odd stint, but methinks that perhaps I have overdosed after time spent with Sega's latest RSI-inducing splatterfest...

Sequel to the Dreamcast cult hit House of the Dead 2 and forerunner for the "Bloodiest and not ashamed to admit it" prize in electronic entertainment for 2003, House of the Dead 3 (HotD3) has a fairly basic premise.

You play an agent of good, bound by cosmic forces to confront the swelling Satan-spawn in the only way you know how - with your military-grade, rapid-fire assault shotgun.

Simply put, there is an abundance of zombies, biogenetically engineered freaks and even the odd killer shrub to deal with, and beyond shooting the bejesus out of anything that moves (and some things that don't) there really isn't too much more to think about.

Some levels you can choose multiple paths, both during and between missions, but for those who are not aware, the game essentially runs on 'rails' and the player need only align his crosshairs with the head of slow-moving zombified scientists.

There's no pesky "Time Crisis" dodge/reload move here folks; this is frenetic, old school action of the highest (and hardest) calibre.

Gameplay is simple, and in theory should become tiresome rather quickly, but there are a number of features in there that help keep proceedings fresh.

For starters, there's the ultra gore: Always a winner with young 'uns. Then there are a number of game modes on offer, some of which need to be unlocked before you can access them.

Survival Mode and Time Attack are both selectable from the moment you lob the DVD ROM into your Xbox, the former best described as the 'normal' game mode, while Time Attack is a race against the clock.

It's also a one player-only affair where each zombie felled results in time added to the clock, and after repeated Survival Mode sojourns, it makes for quite a tasty diversion.

'Movie' mode is basically an hour-long preview and behind the scenes look at the upcoming House of the Dead movie, which stars zombies galore and many-a-scantily clad babe. Sadly, the director comes across as a complete dick-head and the movie looks really lame.

But back to the game, and perhaps the biggest bonus to help keep things interesting is the inclusion of House of the Dead 2, though to unlock it you'll need to first beat HotD3 survival mode - no easy feat.

In retrospect, it's a damn shame HotD3 doesn't come packed with the same sort of features as its precursor and, in a cruel twist of fate, the addition of HotD2 kinda makes the extras for numero tre look pretty limp.

That said, the extras in HotD2 always did go above and beyond the call of duty - with the ability to unlock new weapons/items and use them in the original mode, plus there's the fast-paced training levels, boss mode and all the D-grade voice acting - so trying to live up to these was never going to be a cake walk.

Graphically, however, HotD3 is streets ahead of its sibling, and this counts for a lot when you consider the games arcade pretensions.

The graphics are full of life (chortle) and it's particularly cool how you can not only blow holes in the undead hordes, but also prevent them from attacking or even moving by blowing arms and legs clean off -- the attention to detail is sickeningly impressive.

There is a story to HotD3, but it will really only appeal to fans of the series, as it makes absolutely no sense, and together with the method in which the plot is delivered - in extreme B-grade fashion - the game comes across as very -ahem- unusual. At the same time, this adds a weird sort of otaku style, and will appeal to the fan-boys out there.

Gameplay is fairly simple - point and shoot. There are two ways to do this - via a generic controller or with Thrustmaster's Beretta 92FS, sometimes called a 'light gun' (despite it's relatively heavy weight - especially after three hours of demon killing…).

While the gun is more fun, making the game more authentic and involving, the control pad does a rather good job too. During gameplay, you can shoot certain objects, such as switches, doors, boxes and barrels, which may reveal bonus powerups or perhaps alternate paths.

And let's not forget the boss monsters either, of which only one is poorly conceived. If you think the plethora of human-sized ghouls are scary, wait 'till you get a load of the building-sized bosses, many of which take longer than the proceeding levels themselves to complete, and involve the spilling of much slime, blood and ichor. There's plenty of putridity, make no mistake…

At the end of a long hard nights blasting, I came away from House of the Dead 3 pretty happy, though it wasn't the "be-all and end-all" shooter from Sega that I was hoping for.

Some parts of the game feel a little rushed - it's tough, but not ultra long - yet with a captivating audio-visual aspect, the end result is still pleasing.

The game won't win awards for voice acting, or scripting, or variety, or longevity, but it is a brilliant game to just wind down with after a long day at school or work (or both if you're a teacher - ha!) and simply blow away hundreds of zombies in an over-the-top kind of way.

Sure, it won't be for everyone, but fans of shooters-on-rails and the previous House of the Dead titles will revel in its cornball cut-scenes and über-gory, fast-paced action. Kudos to Sega for putting the "splatter" back in splatterhouse.

ORIGINALITY 60%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 85%
PLAYABILITY 70%
ENJOYMENT 75%
OVERALL 70%