The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

Light gun games were very popular back in the day, and every arcade had the House of the Dead as standard. Due to the Wii's controllers it makes perfect sense to port a game like this; however the game hasn't aged well and feels extremely dated which may put people off. There are 2 games here, and the actual length of each game is only 30 mins or so which may sound short but you will end up replaying them again and again; partly because the game forces you to. You start off with 3 lives and 3 continues which is virtually impossible to complete the game, but each time you fail you get rewarded with more lives and continues up to about 5 lives and 9 continues.

The dialogue featured throughout the game is extremely cheesy and poorly acted; with many civilians changing tone far too quickly and sometimes even sound like they have changed gender! Saving the civilians in HotD 2 changes the path you take throughout the game which can add to the replay value. In HotD 3, you have to save your partner rather than civilians and a successful rescue rewards you with an extra life.

In House of the Dead 2 you mainly navigate through the streets (despite the game's name), shooting at different types of zombies and some demonic animals. House of the Dead 2 is full of cheap deaths which is very frustrating, and even if you know they are coming from past experience, they often still get you. The boss fights are particularly frustrating. Judgment moves at a ridiculous pace and you need a bit of luck to hit him. Hierophant jumps up and partially off the screen, then as he falls, his weak point hides behind your health bar. Tower's heads sometimes move at an obscure angle which makes their weak point very hard to hit. Strength is very tall and his weak point is his head. Given that the camera angle is acute and the way he raises his chainsaw, it often blocks his head; he is bound to take a few lives off you.

House of the Dead 3 features much better graphics and a large reduction in the cheap deaths. However, since you don't die as much, you will find that you will complete this game rather quickly as it isn't any longer. The zombies are animated differently and often roll around on the ground, sometimes getting back up if you didn't critically damage them. It also seems more satisfying being armed with a shotgun rather than the pistol like in HotD 2.

Despite HotD 2&3 Return being frustrating at times, it still is a good game to play given that the Wii is perfect for a gun game like this.