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Review: House of the Dead 2
I remember playing HotD2 in the arcade for hours on end, so, naturally, I was ecstatic to hear that we would be receiving a Dreamcast version during launch. I'm pleased to announce that the game is arcade-perfect, but after playing the game, I came upon a simple fact: to enjoy HotD2, you must own a light gun.

The story in HotD2 begins two years after the original HotD. It seems as a bad guy named Goldman was behind the whole thing from the start, and unleashes another army of zombies onto a quaint European village. It is up to you to stop his fiendish plan, and save the day. The story is as lame as it gets, but as soon as you're dropped into the middle of the action, you just won't care, as you'll be too busy blasting zombies.

As you might expect, HotD2's gameplay is rail-based, but certain actions (usually either saving hostages or letting them die) cause your path to branch. You're not likely to go through the same game twice, and this level of variety is pure bliss in a light gun game. Add to that the brand new Original Mode, which allows you to collect various items (such as machine guns, extra health, more continues, etc.). Also included is a Training Mode that has you performing tasks in extremely difficult situations that help you brush up on your shooting skills. While you won't play HotD2 as much as other games, it's perfect between those nerve-racking NFL 2K sessions.

The game's graphics aren't the best you've seen, but are certainly not bad. Like I've said earlier, HotD2 is arcade-perfect, meaning that every texture, polygon, and sound is exactly like the one found in the arcade. Since the bad guys are rotting zombies, you're free to blow off their limbs indiscriminately and watch the blood splatter. Speaking of blood, Sega has made the 'red blood' option unaccessible, at least until you beat the game under a certain skill level, which is, quite frankly, a pain in the ass.

Sound has not been given the same amount of detail, however. The music is pumping, but barely noticeable in the background, while the voice-overs are just plain horrible. The good guys sputter lame-ass one liners, while Goldman's voice and character have about the same level of emotion as a run-over squirrel left on the highway for a week.

Because of recent school shootings, Sega chose not to release their light gun in North America. Had Sega packaged their light gun with HotD2, you'd be left with some of the most fun to be had on your DC. As is stands, however, you have spend another $30 to get at least a bit of fun out of this game, because using the DC controller with this game is about as fun as watching paint dry.

If HotD2 came with a light gun, it would deserve at least another star, but my job is to judge what you get out of the box, and with HotD2, it's not much. If you feel comfortable plopping down $80 to get the full experience, more power to ya, but for a lot of people, this will be a difficult decision. Proceed at your own risk.

--- ElDuderino