The House of the Dead (video game)

The House of the Dead is a first-person light gun arcade game, released by Sega in Japan on September 13, 1996, and later internationally on March 4, 1997. It is the first game in The House of the Dead series.

Players assume the role of agents Thomas Rogan and "G" in their efforts to combat the products of the dangerous, inhumane experiments of Dr. Curien, a mad scientist.

Gameplay
The House of the Dead is a rail shooter light gun game. Players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching zombies. The characters' pistols use magazines which hold 6 rounds; players reload by shooting away from the screen. A set of torches next to the magazine of each player represents remaining health. When a player sustains damage or shoots a hostage, one of their torches is removed. The player dies when all torches are lost. First-aid packs are available throughout the game which restore one torch; some can be obtained from rescued hostages, while others are hidden inside certain breakable objects. Special items can be found within other breakables, granting a bonus to the player who shoots them.

Throughout the course of the game, players are faced with numerous situations in which their action (or inaction) will have an effect on the direction of gameplay. This is exemplified in the opening stage of the game when a hostage is about to be thrown from the bridge to his death. If the player saves the hostage, they will enter the house directly through the front door; however, if the player fails to rescue the hostage, the character is redirected to an underground route through the sewers. If the player rescues all hostages, a secret room full of lives and bonuses is revealed toward the end of the game.

Plot
The renowned biochemist and geneticist Roy Curien becomes obsessed with discovering the nature of life and death. While supported by the DBR Corporation and its own team of scientists, Curien's relentless pursuit of this goal slowly drove him insane. His behavior became more erratic and his experiments took a gruesome turn. The Curien Mansion in Europe, which serves as his home and laboratory, experiences an outbreak.

Later in 1998, AMS Agent Thomas Rogan receives a distress call from his fiancée Sophie Richards from the Curien Mansion. Rogan and his partner "G" fly to Europe and arrive at the estate, finding it overrun with undead creatures, which Curien unleashed. A mortally wounded man gives them a journal containing information about Curien's creations and their weaknesses. Rogan and "G" reach Sophie, only to witness her being carried away by a gargoyle-like creature called the Hangedman. They later find Sophie being attacked by the Chariot, a heavily armored mutant armed with a bardiche. After defeating Chariot, the two attend to Sophie, who seemingly succumbs to her injuries. A furious Rogan goes after the Hangedman. Their pursuit leads Rogan and "G" to the rooftops surrounding the courtyard. After a lengthy battle, they managed to shoot it down.

The two fight their way to find Dr. Curien. The doctor releases the Hermit, a giant spider crab monster, and flees. They manage to kill it, and continue the chase, fighting Chariot and the Hangedman once more. Upon being confronted a second time, Curien unleashes his masterpiece, The Magician, a humanoid creature with pyrokinetic abilities. However, immediately after being released, the Magician reveals himself to be self-aware, refusing to serve any master and kills his creator. Rogan and "G" confront the Magician in one final battle. Before dying, the Magician gives a chilling warning, and explodes. After they give their last remarks, they walk back the entire trail and upon leaving the mansion, they take a final look at it, wherein the view zooms to the entrance doors, which open to reveal Sophie, who survived her injuries. The three then leave the mansion.

Alternate Endings
In one alternate ending, Sophie is reanimated and becomes an undead. In another alternate ending, a far view of the mansion is shown and Sophie is absent (leaving it unknown if she survived or not).

Development
House of the Dead was built on the Virtua Cop game engine.

Release
The House of the Dead came in two cabinet formats, both upright: one with a 50 inch monitor and one with a 29 inch monitor.

Reception
The House of the Dead garnered generally positive reviews, the arcade version being held in the highest regard with AllGame awarding it 4.5 out of 5 stars. However, the Saturn and PC versions gained slightly less praise due to their lack of polish, getting "mixed" or "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.

When Indianapolis attempted to ban violent video games it argued that The House of the Dead was obscene and so unprotected by the First Amendment. This required U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner to review the game at length, ultimately finding Indianapolis’ ban was unconstitutional. Unimpressed by the graphics, Judge Posner wrote “The most violent game in the record, "The House of the Dead," depicts zombies being killed flamboyantly, with much severing of limbs and effusion of blood; but so stylized and patently fictitious is the cartoon-like depiction that no one would suppose it "obscene" in the sense in which a photograph of a person being decapitated might be described as "obscene." It will not turn anyone's stomach.”

Ports
The game was ported in 1998 to Sega Saturn by Tantalus Interactive, and to Windows (PC-CD) by Sega. The conversion suffered from somewhat rushed development. Official Sega Saturn Magazine criticized the graphics and frame-rate of the game, which ran at 20 frames per second. Extra game modes were added to the port which include selectable characters and a boss rush mode.

The Sega Saturn version has a slightly remixed soundtrack, compared to the arcade version of the game. On stage 2, there is a reference to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, as the words Challenger, go at throttle up, spoken by Richard O. Covey from the mission control room only seconds before the explosion, can be heard three times before the music loops. These words do not appear in the arcade version; a snickering laugh is heard instead.