Downloadable titles have been receiving a lot of my time lately and I haven't been disappointed yet. After the playing the great House of the Dead: Overkill, I had high hopes for this iteration. I've always wanted to try this 2002 arcade classic, and I have gotten the chance too.
Presentation/Story:
The game is still set in the original 4:3 format, and it looks pretty well. Actually, the presentation in the game, is the strongest aspect of it. HOD sports the same sturdy framerate from the original arcade version, with highly detailed enemy models. Massive amounts of blood splatter across the screen as you mow down enemies, which has always been a cool effect in my opinion, adds to the cool atmosphere the HOD series always achieves. Audio in the game is a bit of a hit and miss, with some spotty gun effects and choppy sounds, it doesn't quite do as much. Although, the music is fits in nicely, you won't here it that often. There isn't much of a story here, just know one thing. The House of the Dead III picks up in 2019 with Agent Thomas Rogan and Captain Dan Taylor as the last people alive while on a mission. You will be blasting your way through hundreds of enemies, with that said, there isn't much else to talk story-wise.
Core Gameplay/Multiplayer:
House of the Dead III is centered around shotgun-based gunplay, instead of the traditional pistols and Uzis. House of the Dead is nothing more than a lightgun shooter, plain and simple. Every aspect of this game is built around its gun, blasting some zombie blob never packed this hard a punch. If you've played any lightgun game, you'll feel right at home. Its a standard on-rails shooter, which gets broken up every now and then with short story elements mix'd in. You can use the DualShock 3 or the Move controller, the game also supports the cool Sharpshooter controller. If you've played any HOD games, you know exactly what to expect with this new release. There isn't any online play in the game, but online leaderboards are included.