Quick Review: House of the Dead 4

House of the Dead 4 PS3 Quick Review

To be honest, House of the Dead 4 is a pretty simple game. At its heart it’s a rail shooter, and it wears its heart on its sleeve. This game is a direct port of the 2005 House of the Dead 4 which broke into arcades as one of the first high-definition arcade games of the era. 

Developed By: Wow Entertainment

Published By: Sega

Released: April 18th 2012

This game is the fourth installment in the series (behind House of the Dead EX and Overkill) and is the fourth game chronologically in the story line (before House of the Dead 3 but after 2) and it eventually hit consoles seven years after release on the PlayStation 3, with fully integrated Move controls.

As for an arcade port of the game, the PS3 version is near-flawless in its gameplay: everything is where it should be, nothing has been left out and nothing detrimental to gameplay has been incorporated. Its only real problems are a couple of sound glitches here and there, most noticeably on ‘The Star’ at the end of Chapter 5, but although they appear consistently, they don’t hinder the game at all.

A surprise addition to the PS3 version of the game is the inclusion of House of the Dead 4 Special, which was a special game designed on a super deluxe cabinet – so incredibly rare that most House of the Dead fans probably haven’t even heard of it. It’s a special add-on to the end of House of the Dead 4 which brings Kate Green, the protagonist in House of the Dead 4, together with G, the protagonist from previous House of the Dead games, to battle it out in two action-packed stages which are significantly longer than any of the original six in the standard of House of the Dead 4. While its inclusion does put the finishing touch on an excellent package, it seems that the game isn’t really balanced for single-person play (in the arcade version of House of the Dead 4 Special you only have one health bar for both players, and two players are required) which can at times be frustrating.

Kate Green teaming up with G in HotD 4 Special

The move controls are incredibly accurate for shooting with – no complaints there – and Sega has even left in the traditional method of reloading from the arcade version which requires the player to shake the Move controller to reload. It is also calibrated to work with the Sharpshooter’s pump gauge, unlike the Wii version of House of the Dead 3 where the attachments had no special features. My only gripe with the Move controllers is that the Navigation controller isn’t compatible with the game, so you can’t use it to navigate menus and such. Overall, though, it’s pin-point accurate and if the Move controller is out of range or sight the game will automatically pause to prevent you missing anything.

Shaking is still the same as the arcade with the Move Controller

                                                                                                                                          

All in all, if you are a fan of the House of the Dead games and you enjoy a good rail shooter like Time Crisis, Deadstorm Pirates or Ghost Squad I highly recommend this title, especially if you have a Move Controller. Most of the game’s replay value comes from exploring additional routes and mastering gameplay to achieve higher scores, but the cheap price means it won’t break the bank. It’s definitely a game for the fan, and can be considered one of Sega’s better console releases of 2012.