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The House of the Dead (series)
Encyclopedia
The House of the Dead is a video game franchise published by Sega
and created by in-house designer Atsushi Seimiya of AM1.
As of 2009, there are five House of the Dead games originating in a first person rail shooter format available. The main series all have common elements of a pair of agents teaming up to take on hordes of biologically engineered undead
(referred to as 'mutants' in Overkill). The games are divided into chapters, each of which culminates in a boss battle against usually massive, terrifying creatures. The bosses in games 1-4 are all named after the Major Arcana
of occult tarot
. The games are all controlled with a light gun
in the arcades, but can be played with controllers or a mouse on consoles or the computer.
Gameplay elements differ among the different games in the series, with each having different characters, firearms, and types of enemies. In many of the games, there are branching paths (determined by one's actions) and unlockable bonuses, along with different endings based on one's performance.
Several spin-offs
to the mainstream storyline have also been produced (including a virtual pinball game, an English tutorial and a typing tutorial), as well as two films. In addition, select enemy characters appearing in the first two games were adapted into fully articulated action figure
s by Palisade Toys, which canceled the second toy line before street release due to limited returns from the first series.
and III
for the Nintendo
Wii
. It is largely the same as the originals, except for some minor changes. A new melee attack can be used to defend oneself and the game is Wii Zapper compatible.
. Unfortunately, they encounter hordes of mutants in Bayou City. Overkill is also the first and only game to use bosses that are not named after Major Arcana
cards.
game, Sega Superstars
, in which players move their body to attack zombies.
, where the mansion is a playable court and there is also a minigame in which players must aim their shots to fend off a horde of oncoming zombies. In this game, instead of The House of the Dead the series is referred to as "Curien Mansion" because the series is banned in Germany.
with three race tracks, and the rider's duo Zobio and Zobiko (only Zobio on the Nintendo DS
) from The House of the Dead: EX. During their All-Star move, Zobio drinks a magic potion which makes him grow in size and he then slams his opponents with his strength while Zobiko rides him.
and produced by Brightlight Pictures
, was released. Given limited theatrical release with the intent of becoming a cult film
, it served as a loose prequel to the game, but received very poor reviews and little box office return
.
In 2004, a sequel to the first film was greenlit. The previous director was unable to direct the sequel due to commitments to his other films, and Michael Hurst was chosen to take his place. This movie is the closest to its source, featuring AMS agents going to a school to stop a zombie outbreak from spreading.
Another sequel was announced. Mindfire Entertainment co-founder Mark Altman has stated in discussions that "It's a completely different approach to the material than the first two films." It was also stated that it may not be called House of the Dead 3 as Sega wasn't releasing the latest installment on home consoles." Eventually Mindfire Entertainment released Dead & Deader starring Dean Cain
and the House Of the Dead name was not attached.
is the most effective way to kill zombies.
Successful clearing will result in boss
battles. Before most battles, the game will show what the bosses' weak point is. Final bosses have no identifiable weak point. If the boss is shot enough times, it will recoil; otherwise, it will take one of the player's lives. All of the bosses in the first four House of the Dead games are named after Major Arcana
cards. They are also classified by 'types', which are shown as either a number or Greek letter.
There are also some different branching paths in the games, that are usually accessed by shooting a door or an object and sometimes when a civilian is killed.
The first two The House of the Dead games featured civilian
s. If the player successfully rescued civilians from the zombies, the civilian would sometimes reward the player with an extra life. The last two games did not feature civilians. In the third game, occasionally the player's partner would get in trouble and the player would be rewarded if he or she saved the partner's life. Players can also obtain extra lives by shooting boxes, crates, vases and destructible scenery.
The first four arcade games have multiple endings
, depending on how well the player did in terms of civilians rescued, shooting percentage, score, and lives left. Every game has one "bad" ending, usually involving one of the characters transforming into a zombie. The ending will also change depending on if one or two players are playing.
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
and created by in-house designer Atsushi Seimiya of AM1.
As of 2009, there are five House of the Dead games originating in a first person rail shooter format available. The main series all have common elements of a pair of agents teaming up to take on hordes of biologically engineered undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
(referred to as 'mutants' in Overkill). The games are divided into chapters, each of which culminates in a boss battle against usually massive, terrifying creatures. The bosses in games 1-4 are all named after the Major Arcana
Major Arcana
The Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
of occult tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
. The games are all controlled with a light gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
in the arcades, but can be played with controllers or a mouse on consoles or the computer.
Gameplay elements differ among the different games in the series, with each having different characters, firearms, and types of enemies. In many of the games, there are branching paths (determined by one's actions) and unlockable bonuses, along with different endings based on one's performance.
Several spin-offs
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
to the mainstream storyline have also been produced (including a virtual pinball game, an English tutorial and a typing tutorial), as well as two films. In addition, select enemy characters appearing in the first two games were adapted into fully articulated action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s by Palisade Toys, which canceled the second toy line before street release due to limited returns from the first series.
Main series
Every game in the main series is an on-rails light-gun shooter and chronologically runs as follows: 1 - 2 - 4 (& Special) - III.The House of the Dead (1996)
On December 18, 1998, the insane and disillusioned Dr. Curien plans to mobilize his armies of undead unto the unsuspecting populace. AMS agents Thomas Rogan and "G" are dispatched to his mansion to put a stop to the madman and rescue Sophie Richards, Rogan's fiancée.The House of the Dead 2 (1998)
On February 26, 2000, Goldman, the man behind the Curien Mansion case, claims responsibility. Fueled by his detest of humankind's complete lack of responsibility toward its assigned task, Goldman initiates an attack on Venice while his Emperor project develops. Two new agents named James Taylor and Gary Stewart are sent in to tackle this case.The House of the Dead III (2002)
In the post-apocalyptic world of 2019, Thomas Rogan and his team of commandos infiltrate the EFI Research Facility in hopes of finding the source of the planet's collapse. Losing contact with him, his daughter Lisa Rogan and former partner "G" set out on a search and recover mission, unaware that what awaits them has ties to the distant past and the very genesis of the undead horde.The House of the Dead 4 (2005)
This game is set in the year 2003 and fills the gap between the second and third games. It features veteran AMS agent James Taylor (who was one of the protagonists in The House of the Dead 2) and newcomer Kate Green, who are investigating the Goldman Incident of 2000. Following a sudden earthquake, they are shocked to discover that the undead from three years prior have returned, seemingly unharmed, and locked in a lab, but they soon break out and wreak havoc once again. Intent on preventing a nuclear disaster, they must once again cross paths with the seemingly deceased Goldman.Spin-off titles
- The Typing of the DeadThe Typing of the DeadThe Typing of the Dead is an arcade game , released in 1999 based on The House of the Dead 2...
- The Typing of the Dead 2The Typing of the Dead 2The Typing of the Dead 2, the sequel game to The Typing of the Dead, is an arcade game . It was released in arcades in 2007...
- The Pinball of the DeadThe Pinball of the DeadThe Pinball of the Dead is a pinball video game created by Sega, for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. It is based on Sega's The House of the Dead series of light gun games, particularly in The House of the Dead 2 version...
- Zombie RevengeZombie RevengeZombie Revenge is an arcade and Dreamcast video game released in 1999, a beat 'em up game. Armed with their fists, feet, and whatever weapons they should find along the way, players are tasked with ridding an unnamed city of zombies....
- The House of the Dead: OverkillThe House of the Dead: OverkillThe House of the Dead: Overkill is a first-person rail shooter video game developed by Headstrong Games and published by Sega. It is the fifth game developed in the The House of the Dead series, a prequel to the original House of the Dead chronologically and the first in the series to be released...
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (2008)
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return is a re-release of The House of the Dead 2The House of the Dead 2
The House of the Dead 2 is a light gun arcade game with a horror theme and the second game in the The House of the Dead series of video games, developed by Sega for video arcades in 1998 and later ported to the Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows, and also found on the Xbox as an unlockable bonus in...
and III
The House of the Dead III
The House of the Dead III is a 2002 light gun arcade game with a horror zombie-survival theme, and the third installment to the House of the Dead series of video games, developed by Wow Entertainment and Sega. It was later ported to the Xbox in 2003, Microsoft Windows in 2005, and the Wii in 2008,...
for the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. It is largely the same as the originals, except for some minor changes. A new melee attack can be used to defend oneself and the game is Wii Zapper compatible.
The House of the Dead: EX (2009)
The House of the Dead: EX is a more casual spin-off to the main games and adds a more humorous twist to the series. Players play either Zobio or Zobiko, a pair of young zombies in love, who seek to escape from captivity. As opposed to the general gameplay of the series, EX's levels are made up of a series of minigames. Sections are split up into various paths, some of which use the lightgun, such as shooting apples, and others which use a foot pedal on the machine, such as stomping on spiders. The goal of each level is to fulfil a quota within the time limit, indicated by long hands reaching towards each other. It runs on the Lindbergh arcade system and is also the first game in the series to use a pedal. The game was slated for release in December 2008, but was released later in 2009.Zombie Revenge (1999)
Zombie Revenge is a Beat em' up spin off to the first House of the Dead game. The final chapter of the game takes place in The House of the Dead's Curien Mansion. The game was released in the Arcades and the Dreamcast.The House of the Dead: Overkill (2009)
In 1991, Agent G, on his first assignment, teams up with local cop Issac Washington to investigate mysterious disappearances in LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Unfortunately, they encounter hordes of mutants in Bayou City. Overkill is also the first and only game to use bosses that are not named after Major Arcana
Major Arcana
The Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
cards.
Sega Superstars
The House of the Dead appears as one of the mini-games in the EyetoyEyeToy
The EyeToy is a color digital camera device, similar to a webcam, for the PlayStation 2. The technology uses computer vision and Gesture recognition to process images taken by the camera...
game, Sega Superstars
Sega SuperStars
Sega Superstars is a game developed by Sonic Team in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 EyeToy. It features a series of games based on previous Sega titles. It also contains Chao, the virtual pets from the Sonic series....
, in which players move their body to attack zombies.
Sega Superstars Tennis
The series is also represented in Sega Superstars TennisSega Superstars Tennis
Sega Superstars Tennis is a tennis video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. The game was released on March 17, 2008 in Europe, on March 18, 2008 in North America, and on March 27, 2008 in Australia. The game includes 16 playable characters and 10 courts from Sega franchises...
, where the mansion is a playable court and there is also a minigame in which players must aim their shots to fend off a horde of oncoming zombies. In this game, instead of The House of the Dead the series is referred to as "Curien Mansion" because the series is banned in Germany.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Again represented as Curien Mansion, the series is represented in Sonic & Sega All-Stars RacingSonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a racing game in the Sega Superstars series produced for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows, featuring characters from many Sega franchises. It is being published by Sega and developed by Sumo Digital...
with three race tracks, and the rider's duo Zobio and Zobiko (only Zobio on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
) from The House of the Dead: EX. During their All-Star move, Zobio drinks a magic potion which makes him grow in size and he then slams his opponents with his strength while Zobiko rides him.
Film adaptations
In 2003, the first film, directed by Uwe BollUwe Boll
Uwe Boll is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.-Early life:...
and produced by Brightlight Pictures
Brightlight Pictures
Brightlight Pictures Inc. is a Canadian film production and television production company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company was founded in 2001....
, was released. Given limited theatrical release with the intent of becoming a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
, it served as a loose prequel to the game, but received very poor reviews and little box office return
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
.
In 2004, a sequel to the first film was greenlit. The previous director was unable to direct the sequel due to commitments to his other films, and Michael Hurst was chosen to take his place. This movie is the closest to its source, featuring AMS agents going to a school to stop a zombie outbreak from spreading.
Another sequel was announced. Mindfire Entertainment co-founder Mark Altman has stated in discussions that "It's a completely different approach to the material than the first two films." It was also stated that it may not be called House of the Dead 3 as Sega wasn't releasing the latest installment on home consoles." Eventually Mindfire Entertainment released Dead & Deader starring Dean Cain
Dean Cain
Dean Cain is an American actor. He is most widely known for his role as Clark Kent/Superman in the popular American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
and the House Of the Dead name was not attached.
Recurring characters
- Thomas Rogan: One of the main protagonists in the first The House of the Dead video game. He reappears in the third game, leading a strike force to investigate a zombie-infested facility with his commanding troops. He also makes a cameo appearance in House of the Dead 2 in the "good" ending, where he tells the player that they will go onto their next battle.
- Dan Taylor: One of the minor protagonists in the third The House of the Dead video game. He was the only AMS commando and serves its captain that wasn't infected by the zombies in the game, due to his strong immune systems to the other AMS agents, also immuned to the infections of the zombie enemies throughout the game. He reveals that his surname matches the Taylor family, who was the separated cousin of James.
- Agent "G": Agent G is one of the main protagonists who appears throughout the series. He is among the main playable characters in the first and third arcade games, as well as House of the Dead 4 Special and Overkill. He also makes cameo appearances in the second game and in one of the endings in House of the Dead 4. He is the only character to appear in every main game. Plotwise, he appeared in The House of the Dead series for about 28 years from Overkill to the third game.
- James Taylor: The main protagonist in House of the Dead 2 and 4. In the fourth game he sacrifices himself to kill the World, the final boss. He was revealled as one of the Taylor family, he's the older cousin of Dan.
- Gary Stewart: The second protagonist in the second game. He also makes a brief cameo appearance in the fourth game in a flashback segment.
- Harry Harris: first unplayable protagonist in the second game. He and his partner, Amy Crystal rescue civilains, he was injured by Strength.
- Amy Crystal: second unplayble protagonist in the second game. She and her partner, Harry Harris, trapped by Goldman's traps and encounter by Strength.
- Roy Curien: The mad scientist responsible for creating the zombies and serves as main antagonist in the first game, unleashing them on his personnel from the laboratory deep within his mansion. Prior to the final battle, he met his demise at the hands of his creation, The Magician. Flashback segments in the third game reveal that he was originally seeking a cure for an illness threatening his son Daniel's life, descending into madness as his findings led him toward power controlling life and death. He would undergo a 19-year resurrection process since his demise, in which he would be reborn as his final creation, the Wheel of Fate. The Wheel was finally destroyed for good by his son Daniel and Lisa Rogan.
- Caleb Goldman: The main antagonist of House of the Dead 2 and 4. A man who detests mankind's role in the world, he helped finance Curien's experiments in the first game before unleashing his own. He commits suicide in the second game's ending, but not before arranging a backup plan which would shape the events of the fourth game, in which he would also reappear in several flashback segments and recordings.
- The Mystery Man is a unidentified figure in a suit who appears at the end of the third and fourth games. Fans of the series have speculated that this could be Harry Harris, a supporting and unplayable AMS agent that is seriously injured by Strength in House of the Dead 2, he confirming as either a supporting character or an antagonist.
- The MagicianThe Magician (Tarot card)The Magician, The Magus, or The Juggler is the first trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination...
: Curien's masterpiece. The most intelligent of his creations, the Magician has the power of pyrokinesis and can dash around quickly. Introduced as the final boss of the first game, this recurring boss has made numerous appearances in the series. Refusing to take orders from an inferior being, he turned on his creator and set out to destroy the world, but met his demise at the hands of Rogan and G. He is resurrected by Goldman in the second game, confronting James and Gary to prevent them from stopping the birth of the Emperor. His weak points are his exposed muscles. He makes a cameo appearance as a bonus item in the third game, before reprising his role as the final boss once again in The House of the Dead 4 Special, with the intent of unleashing his army of clones throughout the world. A variant of this character also appears as the final boss in the spin-off game Zombie RevengeZombie RevengeZombie Revenge is an arcade and Dreamcast video game released in 1999, a beat 'em up game. Armed with their fists, feet, and whatever weapons they should find along the way, players are tasked with ridding an unnamed city of zombies....
under the name Black Magician Type 01.
Gameplay elements
The main gameplay mechanic is the gun. The type of gun varies with the game. The first two installments featured pistols, the third featured a shotgun, and the fourth featured a submachine gun. Overkill features different firearms which can be changed to the players' liking. The player must clear each area of zombies. The instructions on the cabinets note that a head shotHead shot
A head shot is a photographic technique where the focus of the photograph is a person's face. Headshot is essentially the same as portrait. However, headshot is an image that portrays people as they are and is more of a "mug shot", however simple or stylized it might be. Whereas, a portrait will...
is the most effective way to kill zombies.
Successful clearing will result in boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
battles. Before most battles, the game will show what the bosses' weak point is. Final bosses have no identifiable weak point. If the boss is shot enough times, it will recoil; otherwise, it will take one of the player's lives. All of the bosses in the first four House of the Dead games are named after Major Arcana
Major Arcana
The Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
cards. They are also classified by 'types', which are shown as either a number or Greek letter.
There are also some different branching paths in the games, that are usually accessed by shooting a door or an object and sometimes when a civilian is killed.
The first two The House of the Dead games featured civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s. If the player successfully rescued civilians from the zombies, the civilian would sometimes reward the player with an extra life. The last two games did not feature civilians. In the third game, occasionally the player's partner would get in trouble and the player would be rewarded if he or she saved the partner's life. Players can also obtain extra lives by shooting boxes, crates, vases and destructible scenery.
The first four arcade games have multiple endings
Multiple endings
Multiple endings refer to a case in entertainment where the story could end in different ways, described as an alternate ending.-Literature:...
, depending on how well the player did in terms of civilians rescued, shooting percentage, score, and lives left. Every game has one "bad" ending, usually involving one of the characters transforming into a zombie. The ending will also change depending on if one or two players are playing.