The House of the Dead (video game)

The House of the Dead
Developer(s)	Wow Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Atsushi Seimiya
Series	The House of the Dead
Platform(s)	Arcade, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows, Mobile phone
Release date(s)	Arcade INT March 1997
Genre(s)	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Sega Model 2
Display	Raster, medium resolution horizontal orientation

The House of the Dead is a first-person, light gun arcade game developed in 1996 and released in 1997 by Sega.

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 madman.

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 enemies. The characters' pistols use magazines which hold 6 rounds; players are required to reload after using each magazine. A set of torches next to the magazine of each player represents remaining health. When a player sustains damage or shoots a civilian, 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. These are found either in the possession of civilians who the player has rescued or inside breakable objects. Similarly, there are also special items located in breakable objects that will grant a bonus to whoever shoots it.

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 civilian is about to be thrown from the bridge to his death. If the player saves the civilian, they will enter the house directly through the front door; however, if the player fails to rescue the civilian, the character is redirected to an underground route through the sewers. If the player rescues all civilians, a secret room full of lives and bonuses is revealed toward the end of the game.

Story

The Magician

AMS agents Thomas Rogan and 'G' are sent on an assignment on December 18, 1998 to investigate a series of disappearances at the Curien Mansion, home and laboratory of Dr. Roy Curien, a renowned biochemist and geneticist. Curien was obsessed with discovering the very nature of life and death, backed by the DBR Corporation and its own team of scientists. However, Curien's relentless pursuit of this goal led him to grow insane, where the nature of the experiments began taking a gruesome turn, releasing his experimental subjects into the world. When Rogan and 'G' arrive, a mortally wounded man gives them a small field diary showing information of all of Curien's deadly creations and their weak points. It is used every time the player(s) are confonted by a boss.

Amidst the chaos wrought by Curien, Rogan and "G" face many formidable foes, including The Chariot, an undead, armour-clad, neo-warrior wielding a bardiche who mortally wounds Rogan's fiancée Sophie Richards before the player faces him in battle, and The Hanged Man, a winged gargoyle/bat-like creature. The Hanged Man captures Sophie in the game's opening stage before stealing away over the mansion. In the final chapter, the AMS agents confront Curien, he releases The Hermit, an eight-legged spider-like creature that spits balls of web upon them before stealing away to his lab.

Upon confronting Curien a second time, the AMS agents are to encounter his masterpiece, The Magician, a humanoid demon-esque creature, with mastery of fire. After Curien releases the creature from its incubation chamber, the Magician reveals itself to be self-aware, refusing to serve any master and Dr. Curien is killed by his creation. To prevent the Magician from escaping the mansion and destroying the world, Rogan and 'G' confront the creature in one final battle. They succeed in destroying Curien's monster and are then given one last, chilling warning from the Magician.

The Magician explodes. Rogan and 'G' leave the mansion, taking one last look at it from the outside.

There are, however, alternate endings that the player can achieve upon completing the game. One ending, in which the camera pans to the foyer one last time; the doors open, revealing Sophie to be alive, running towards the camera saying "Thank you!", another shows Sophie has now become one of the undead--the last corpse remaining, all depending on the player's final score and the number of continues used.

Characters

• Thomas Rogan: An AMS agent that was sent on an assignment to investigate a series of disappearances at the Curien Mansion. His fiancée is Sophie Richards, who gives him an alarming phone call to come to her rescue. He, along with G, head to the mansion in an attempt to rid the mansion of Curien's creations and deal with Curien himself.

• G: An AMS agent that was sent with Rogan to the Curien Mansion. If players choose him as the first character, the in-game dialogue will differ, for example, Sophie will address him differently upon arrival at the mansion.

• Dr. Roy Curien: An acclaimed biochemist and geneticist that worked for the DBR Corporation and the main antagonist of the game. He was the mastermind behind the Curien Mansion incident. He was obsessed with discovering the very nature of life and death. This led to the creation of hideous monsters which spread from the laboratory to the outside of the mansion. Thanks to the help of Rogan and G, the creatures were repelled from escaping the mansion grounds.

• Sophie Richards: Rogan's fiancée. She tried to call Rogan for help when the zombies started to appear, and managed to get out of the mansion, but was somehow knocked unconscious and is seen lying in front of a fountain. She awakes and runs for Rogan/G but is taken back into the house by the Hanged Man. She can later be found in a room with the Chariot, but is fatally wounded. Her survival depends on the rating the player receives upon completion of the game.

Sentient Mutants

• The Magician (Type 0): Dr. Curien's ultimate creation, a robotic corpse with mastery over fire. He realises that he has more power over Curien and destroys him with a fireball. When you defeat him, he says, "You... haven't seen... anything yet!" before screaming and exploding. He also shows up in House of the Dead II as the penultimate boss and in the House of the Dead IV Special Edition as a boss.

• Hangedman (Type 41): A semi-sentient gargoyle creature who controls the batlike mutants. He is the second boss and his DNA is used to make Zeal from House of the Dead 2; however, he is only sentient to the extent that he can talk and make logical sentences.

Ports

The game was ported to both the Sega Saturn, and PC, in 1998.

Further reading

• "The House of the Dead". EGM². June 1998. 

External links

• The House of the Dead on MobyGames
• The House of the Dead at the Killer List of Videogames
• The House of the Dead at SegaSaturn.co.uk