RELEASED: April 7, 2022
DEVELOPER: MegaPixel/Forever Entertainment SA
PLAYED ON: Nintendo Switch
The House of the Dead was an on-rails light gun action game released by SEGA back in 1996-97 in arcades. As AMS agents Rogan and G, players run n’ gun deep into the titular house throughout four chapters, each ending with a boss fight. A year later, the game would get ported to Windows PCs and the Sega Saturn. It also spawned a number of sequels along with their own respective ports.
Fast forward to this year, developers MegaPixel have resurrected the original HOTD for Nintendo Switch. Not their first time remaking a SEGA classic either, having done one for Panzer Dragoon back in 2020. It must’ve done solid business to have SEGA trust them with remaking this game too.
However, after playing for several hours, this game should not have risen from its grave.
One of the first signs something was wrong came after starting a new game. The opening cutscene looks so rough it’s almost UNWATCHABLE.
Every time it cuts to a new shot, you can see the foliage fade-in and the graphics look really rough.
It’s not much better inside the mansion either. I think the zombies and creature models look decent- but everything else around them is muddy looking and low-res. A couple times the game stopped for a second to load up an encounter. The attraction screen that plays when the game boots up had better graphics than what I had to play.
There have been bigger games that have come onto the Switch. Despite some graphical sacrifices, they STILL look better than this. Smaller games looked better than this too. There is NO EXCUSE to why this looks the way it does. In contrast to its attraction screen, it’s borderline false advertising. I noticed the game has a performance mode, but when I turned it on, I didn’t see a damn lick of difference. The way it looked already, this probably WAS the performance mode and the devs forgot to implement the better looking graphics mode seen from the attraction screen.
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| Both an embarrassing spelling mistake and what I'm asking after playing this game. |
Being on the Switch presents this game the opportunity to use gyroscope/motion controls- the way the game was played back in arcades. Unfortunately, it is also the WORST way to play HOTDR! Finicky and frustrating, the reticle de-syncs from where your joy-con is pointing at from the slightest movement and needs to be recalibrated (IN-GAME) like every FIVE SECONDS. I don’t even think the Wii had this issue with their HOTD ports!
And when you cannot play the game the way it was meant to be played? To quote a wise angry man-
“YOU DONE FUCKED IT UP!!!”
This leaves us with regular controls. They’re better, but only with classic controllers. Joy-con analogue sticks always felt weird to use for shooters and this was no exception. Once I connected my Power-A classic controller, I felt more comfortable with how the controls felt. So if you feel you MUST play this game- USE A REGULAR CONTROLLER.
So finally, after dealing with all this bull-freakin-horse shit, I actually managed to find some fun from shooting up zombie brain matter. Digging further through the gory details, I found a couple of things that I was impressed with and even had me wanting to replay the game a few more times.
For starters, choosing alternate paths through the level feels completely natural. Games of its ilk (even future sequels) usually halt the action and present windows to shoot in where to go next with a reasonable time limit. Instead, it involves shooting a monster, a door or object in the scene to head in a different direction, with only a second or so to do it. It kept that fast pace momentum going without slowing down and it keeps where the paths lead you more surprising in those first playthroughs.
Instead of using infinite lives, HOTDR chooses a lives system consisting of arcade tokens. Playing on Normal, you’re given ten tokens/lives. Once those run out, it’ll cost 5000 points from your score to get another go. It gives your lives and score actual weight, not only in going for the best ending, but also in actually trying to preserve your lives. Though why you can’t buy more before losing all your tokens or get more than one at a time is beyond me. Also strangely, there are no online leaderboards to post your best scores against others or your online buddies.
There’s also a “modern” score system which makes it easier to rack up points for the better ending. Consider it an alternate easy mode without bumping the actual difficulty down to easy.
Or for those looking for that tougher challenge, there is Horde mode!...
…which is arcade mode with a bullshit amount of zombies in encounters. You’re guaranteed to die as soon as the game starts. It’s probably easier with the additional weapons (or playing with a buddy) you can unlock by saving all the scientists- which can ALSO be bullshit. Why? It either comes down to shooting them on accident or what seems to be some of my shots not registering on a zombie despite my reticle being right on them. It’s an artificial difficulty hidden in a stupid sort of way.
The House of the Dead Remake on Switch is such an infuriating disappointment. The fun heart of the game- fast paced arcade zombie shooting- is still in there. But that heart has been eaten up by its own decayed and uncontrollable body that has been haphazardly brought back to life.
Since I started writing this review, the game has since been released on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. If it looks or plays better on them, I honestly don’t want to know. I already spent $20 on an apparently inferior version, I’m not giving them more.
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| I know someone in New York that feels the same way. |