The House of the Dead 2

1998 · Light Gun Shooter · Arcade

About The House of the Dead 2

The House of the Dead 2 (1998) is Sega's light gun rail shooter in which AMS agents battle a zombie outbreak in Venice, with branching routes and multiple endings.

The House of the Dead 2 in Depth

Investigating the 1998 Curien Mansion incident, AMS agent G disappears after finding the remains of Dr. Curien's work in Venice, where zombies break out. On 26 February 2000 the agency sends James Taylor, Gary Stewart, Harry Harris and British agent Amy Crystal to find him and evacuate civilians. James and Gary find an injured G, who gives them a journal on the enemies, and battle Judgment, the imp Zeal with his headless axe-wielding puppet Kuarl, the amphibious Hierophant, the serpents of the Tower and the chainsaw-wielding Strength. The culprit is Caleb Goldman, the businessman who financed Curien, who revives the bosses and the Magician to oversee the birth of the Emperor, a shapeshifting being meant to protect nature by destroying humanity.

Players shoot through hordes of zombies and monsters on rails while rescuing civilians, reloading by pointing the gun off-screen. Health is shown as torches, lost when hit or when shooting a civilian, and regained by rescuing civilians or finding first aid kits in crates and barrels. The first game's branching paths return with even more alternate layouts and locations, though they do not change the plot. Endings depend on whether one or both players beat the last boss, the number of continues and points: the good ending sees Thomas Rogan from the first game send the heroes to their next battle, while in the bad ending a zombified Goldman waits outside.

Making The House of the Dead 2

Sega AM1 developed it as a direct sequel to the first House of the Dead. A very successful arcade release, it was Japan's third most successful dedicated arcade game of December 1998, and it was ported to the Dreamcast in 1999, Windows in 2001, Xbox as a bonus in The House of the Dead III, and Wii in The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return. The Dreamcast version received favourable reviews and sold an estimated 234,756 copies in Japan; in Spain, its light gun bundle was the platform's best-selling game through December 1999. Famitsu praised its graphics and the replay value of its paths, IGN its level and enemy design but not its voice acting, and Game Informer its expanded gore and intensity.

The House of the Dead 2 Trivia

It ran on Sega's NAOMI arcade board.
Its intro's flashbacks to the first game were recorded in the game's own engine.
The Dreamcast version was a launch title and sold 339,721 copies in North America.
It became the basis for spin-offs, most notably The Typing of the Dead.
Game Informer ranked it 99th in its best games of all time in 2001.