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The House of the Dead III (Xbox)
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| Description:
It may seem a rather minor innovation in The House of the Dead III, but the chance to spray huge amounts of buckshot at zombies and their fellow mutated friends does make for a rather different experience than trying to go for pinpoint accuracy via a pistol. Although the fact that the gun automatically reloads seems a rather odd idea because it does slow down the pace of the game a bit. There are some fantastic graphics in The House of the Dead III though, as you move automatically through the various spooky levels shooting zombies and monsters as they appear on the screen. Of course shooting at the zombies is much more fun if you use a lightgun and luckily the MadCatz Blaster has been made with the game specifically in mind. Using the standard controller and an onscreen crosshair still works well enough though, especially if you want a second player to join in with you. The only real problem with the game is a lack of longevity, for although there is a version of The House of the Dead II to unlock there's very little else in terms of extra modes or secrets. Still, if you're a fan of the arcade game, or lightgun games in general, this is top kinetic fun. --David Jenkins
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4/5 |
Lost its touch?
(August 26, 2004) |
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I must say I love the series & zombie killing'n all but it just isn't the same I mean what happened to the good old weapon select eh? and the unlockable house of the dead 2 I love on Dreamcast but on xbox it has the worst graphics and glitches that after staring at the good effects on HOTD 3 you just don't feel like playing this horrible mess. you can't even see the crosshair on no 2. overall It's a good game but too dear if you get me. |
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3/5 |
Good, but not long enough
(July 26, 2004) |
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Good game, good grafix, good sounds...but just not long enough
thats why it only gets 3 stars.. |
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3/5 |
Fun, but short and flawed
(March 25, 2004) |
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I have to admit that I have played this quite a bit since I bought it, which is good, but the reason it is fun is because of playing using the light gun more than the quality of the game. In fact, there are quite a few things about the game that suck. First off, it is really short! Once you've gotten the hang of things you can play from start to end in 25 minutes (and that involves some repeated sections). Which means that its replay value is pretty low - though, as a positive point, it means you can have a quick game while waiting for a meal to cook or something. Another reason that makes the short completion time a good thing is due to the second thing I dislike (almost detest) about the game. It is as much about firing as rapidly a possible as it is about aiming well. Some sections can only be passed if you fire like a maniac, most notably the final boss, though similar situations appear throughout the game. This will leave your trigger finger throbbing by the end of a game and sore for a day afterwards. It shifts the focus away from aiming well to testing how fast you can pound a trigger. Scoring is also based on the time you take to put down an enemy after its appearance. This, of course, means that memorising where an enemy is going to appear and firing like a loon gets a better score than precise aiming. Final bad point. The game is really inconsistent, which is probably a throwback to its arcade machine roots. Sometimes you pass a section without difficulty, another time you will never get through without getting hammered by the enemies. Sometimes one or two shots will kill an enemy, at other times you have to reload twice before the thing dies. At first you question your aim, but after a while it becomes clear that the game has decided that it's time you use another credit and that it is going to make it happen. It also changes the speed of the enemies to this end, accelerating their attacks and movements. On top of the rapid fire issue, this totally throws off the idea of your aim being your primary merit, since even aiming well will not get you anywhere if the game has decided that you are going to get hit. Finally, some other disappointments include the fact that you never get to change weapons, even for short periods. The branching storyline boasted in the blurb just means you get to choose the order in which you play the levels, which have either forwards or backwards routes. The actual story never changes and is really bad. So bad you wish you could play without it. But it is only when you play the House of the Dead 2, which unlocks upon completion of the game, that you realise that the 3rd edition is not really too bad. Part 2 looks really dated, is an even bigger bitch to play and can slow down horrendously. So, in conclusion, the game has faults, but provided you have a light gun it offers a reasonable diversion. It wins in the end because there is no competition on Xbox. Don't even consider buying this without a light gun, you won't have any fun at all. |
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4/5 |
They're not coming for Barbara,- They're coming for you!
(January 08, 2004) |
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The popular aracade game series is finally in videogame form.
Your mission is to get into a house and kill the zombies that has invaded the area. It's not so very difficult when you first know how to play it. Simply just blow the head of the undead as they try to attack you, but it's not just ordinary zombies here but also some with tentacles, some with super strenght and even zombies with buzzsaws(!) The disc also contains a documentary about the upcoming movie version of the game. The only annoying thing is that it's not possible to save the game, so you have to start all over igain from the first level when you want to play igain. Otherwise that, it's an okay and entertaining game. |
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3/5 |
not bad.. only darn gungame on xbox at the mo
(December 05, 2003) |
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Its exactly like the arcade which is great.. except it was built to steal you money.. so is bl**dy hard to complete without giving yourself loads of continues in the options.. which feels like cheating.. instead of pumping the arcade full of quid's.. which feels like earning your way on the board. + unfortunately the only way to get on the board is to complete it.
Its quite simple at the start and my three-year-old nephew can get to the next chapter by himself. The later bosses get a bit harder, and the last one is a continue fest. If you do choose to put lots of continues you notice it's quite a short game. But to complete without you had better be able to click 100 times faster than the auto fire and 10 times faster than I can click.
Short-lived fun that you can come back to again and again. Best fun with a couple of guns and a bunch of friends. When will they bring out time crisis tho!!! You might actually get to use an x or y button then. |
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