House of the Dead goes Grindhouse.

Story:

The story follows on two characters, Isaac Washington and Agent G. Set before the events of the first game you are tasked to investigate a mutant outbreak in Louisiana, which might have been masterminded by a criminal mastermind named Papa Ceasar, who also killed Isaac's father, so you're put on a quest of vengeance.

Before we continue, this version comes with both House and Typing versions of the game so I'll use the House of the Dead title. So now that we have that figured out, let's continue with the story. The story is absolutely over the top, crazy and most importantly downright hilarious. The previous House of the Dead games had incredibly serious storylines, where the comedy came from the terrible voice acting, but here the comedy comes from actually great appreciation of the grindhouse genre.

The game is very lowbrow, but it's a part of the charm. I had plenty of times where I laughed out loud at the just over the top situations and the delivery of the lines. Agent G and Isaac are just an incredibly likable pair akin to a buddy cop comedy and them bickering is just a cherry on top of the cake here.

Graphics:

Originally this game was made for the WII and so even with all the upscaling the models still have show their age. I will say that it still looks great somewhat. Character models are all varied and look pretty decent, apart from the faces which look a bit poor. The enemy design however is great, there's some truly great bosses and their designs are top notch and some of them are also quite repulsive and since I love this sort of stuff, I just ate that stuff up.

I will say the biggest negative is that even though you visit many varied and interesting locations, they all look pretty pretty low res and like everything that moves is actually modeled, but anything that's part of the scenery is a cardboard cutout. There's also a grain filter to mimic that grindhouse feel, which I understand why it's there, but I think it actually makes the graphics even uglier.

Audio:

I'll start with voice acting, because it's the staple of the series to have incredibly cheesy and horrible voice acting. I'd like to report that the acting is now both good and cheesy. The material provided for the actors is so over the top that there's no serious way to deliver some of the lines and it's so perfect that it works wonders for the comedy. I especially have to give props to the guy that voices Isaac who does an amazing job.

Music itself is mediocre. a good chunk of it is the type of 70's grindhouse music akin to something like funky porn music. The tracks in both combat and cutscenes varied from decent to annoying, but I highly preferred the music during the gameplay cause it fits the hectic nature of running and gunning, with the cutscene music being mixed in my opinion, but it's still mostly pretty good.

Gameplay:

I'll cover both versions of the game, since I have the least amount to say about Typing, I'll begin with that. If you're not aware of what Typing of the Dead is, instead of shooting you type to kill zombies and do damage to bosses. It's really good to test your typing skills and how fast you can type and I actually found some of the modes which change the sentences you type into some really funny stuff, I think the only negative is that sometimes there's a bit of a delay with inputs if you type super fast.

Now onto House of The Dead side of things. This is the good ole on rails shooter you know and love. Point and shoot nice and simple. There are some new things included like an ability to upgrade your guns to pack a bigger punch and I really enjoyed tinkering around with the different type of firearms at your disposal, like deagles, uzi's, shotguns and one that I don't want to spoil.

There is a few negatives in this side too, though. The action at times moves too fast, it actually sometimes advance so fast the screen has enemies still wandering around ready to be killed, which the game just ignores and moves along. Also while the hit detection is really good, during some boss fights who move fast and hitting their weak spots tends to be slightly harder.

Verdict:

I loved my time with both Typing and House of the Dead Overkill. It's fun, sleazy, hilarious and a downright good time. You have to appreciate it's stupidity and love the grindhouse genre to truly appreciate the craziness Sega allowed to happen with this prequel.

Final Rating:
8.5/10

Pros:
+ Both versions of the game
+ Downright hilarious
+ Tons of play value
+ Great boss design

Cons:
- Graphics haven't aged gracefully
- Some hit detection problems in boss fights

If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews

House of the Dead goes Grindhouse. Story: The story follows on two characters, Isaac Washington and Agent G. Set before the events of the first game you are tasked to investigate a mutant outbreak in Louisiana, which might have been masterminded by a criminal mastermind named Papa Ceasar, who also killed Isaac's father, so you're put on a quest of vengeance. Before we continue, this version comes with both House and Typing versions of the game so I'll use the House of the Dead title. So now that we have that figured out, let's continue with the story. The story is absolutely over the top, crazy and most importantly downright hilarious. The previous House of the Dead games had incredibly serious storylines, where the comedy came from the terrible voice acting, but here the comedy comes from actually great appreciation of the grindhouse genre. The game is very lowbrow, but it's a part of the charm. I had plenty of times where I laughed out loud at the just over the top situations and the delivery of the lines. Agent G and Isaac are just an incredibly likable pair akin to a buddy cop comedy and them bickering is just a cherry on top of the cake here. Graphics: Originally this game was made for the WII and so even with all the upscaling the models still have show their age. I will say that it still looks great somewhat. Character models are all varied and look pretty decent, apart from the faces which look a bit poor. The enemy design however is great, there's some truly great bosses and their designs are top notch and some of them are also quite repulsive and since I love this sort of stuff, I just ate that stuff up. I will say the biggest negative is that even though you visit many varied and interesting locations, they all look pretty pretty low res and like everything that moves is actually modeled, but anything that's part of the scenery is a cardboard cutout. There's also a grain filter to mimic that grindhouse feel, which I understand why it's there, but I think it actually makes the graphics even uglier. Audio: I'll start with voice acting, because it's the staple of the series to have incredibly cheesy and horrible voice acting. I'd like to report that the acting is now both good and cheesy. The material provided for the actors is so over the top that there's no serious way to deliver some of the lines and it's so perfect that it works wonders for the comedy. I especially have to give props to the guy that voices Isaac who does an amazing job. Music itself is mediocre. a good chunk of it is the type of 70's grindhouse music akin to something like funky porn music. The tracks in both combat and cutscenes varied from decent to annoying, but I highly preferred the music during the gameplay cause it fits the hectic nature of running and gunning, with the cutscene music being mixed in my opinion, but it's still mostly pretty good. Gameplay: I'll cover both versions of the game, since I have the least amount to say about Typing, I'll begin with that. If you're not aware of what Typing of the Dead is, instead of shooting you type to kill zombies and do damage to bosses. It's really good to test your typing skills and how fast you can type and I actually found some of the modes which change the sentences you type into some really funny stuff, I think the only negative is that sometimes there's a bit of a delay with inputs if you type super fast. Now onto House of The Dead side of things. This is the good ole on rails shooter you know and love. Point and shoot nice and simple. There are some new things included like an ability to upgrade your guns to pack a bigger punch and I really enjoyed tinkering around with the different type of firearms at your disposal, like deagles, uzi's, shotguns and one that I don't want to spoil. There is a few negatives in this side too, though. The action at times moves too fast, it actually sometimes advance so fast the screen has enemies still wandering around ready to be killed, which the game just ignores and moves along. Also while the hit detection is really good, during some boss fights who move fast and hitting their weak spots tends to be slightly harder. Verdict: I loved my time with both Typing and House of the Dead Overkill. It's fun, sleazy, hilarious and a downright good time. You have to appreciate it's stupidity and love the grindhouse genre to truly appreciate the craziness Sega allowed to happen with this prequel. Final Rating: 8.5/10 Pros: + Both versions of the game + Downright hilarious + Tons of play value + Great boss design Cons: - Graphics haven't aged gracefully - Some hit detection problems in boss fights If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews