The House of The Dead 4 Special

The House of The Dead 4 - Special is an arcade shooter game, and while it isn’t a full-fledged horror game, it does have some scary aspects in it. So you will have to test your shooting skills and reflexes to see if you’re able to survive. The game can be played alone, or with someone else, so if you have a friend to play with, it will be way more fun and entertaining, but the game is also really fun to play by yourself.

Point and Shoot

The House of The Dead 4 - Special is one the most classic light-gun arcade games of all time, so if you have ever been to an arcade before, you for sure have seen it before. Story-wise the game takes place between the events of The House of the Dead 2 and The House of The Dead 3. When starting the game, players can either control James Taylor, who appeared previously on The House of The Dead 2, or a brand new character to the series, Kate Green. There are any significant changes between them. It will only decide what side of the screen you’re on. At the start, you will be equipped with submachine guns, and they will keep on firing for as long as you hold down the trigger. When out of bullets, you can either shake the gun or point it away from the screen in order to reload it. You will also come across grenades that can be found by shooting craters or completing specific tasks. Also, sometimes you are going to need to shake the gun a lot so that you can escape from certain situations.

There are multiple paths that you can take, but most of them will lead you to the same place in the story. You will also come across all types of secrets when playing the game, like hidden treasures that, when collected, will increase your overall score and also give you extra lives. So be sure to interact with everything in the environment so that you don’t miss any of these things.

Solve The Mystery

In The House of The Dead 4 - Special, we follow James and Kate’s story, as they both go and discover that the Goldman case, which was supposedly solved three years ago, wasn’t solved at all, as they find out that Goldman is the one responsible for the undead that appeared. The game has four different endings, and the one you get will depend on how good was your performance throughout the game. So if you’re a completionist, you’re going to have to replay the game a couple of times so that you can see all the endings.

Conclusion

The House of The Dead 4 - Special will always be a classic. Even though the game is more than ten years old, it holds up pretty well, It isn’t the best, but it is worth playing. The gameplay is exciting and engaging, and the story is solid and entertaining.

Pros

• Fun gameplay
• Solid story
• Replayability value

Cons

• Short game

There's nothing quite like grabbing a plastic light gun, aiming at your screen, and blasting down bad guys, and that's what The House of the Dead 4 Special is all about! This port of the iconic arcade game puts you in the center of a zombie outbreak, equipped with a submachine gun and unlimited ammo. With your trigger finger ready to go, you must find a way to escape a collapsed office building, venturing further into chaos. With extra secrets and new content never before seen in arcades, The House of the Dead 4 Special is the best way to experience this unforgettable horror action game.

Main Game Features

• Awesome lightgun action with multiple weapons
• 4 unique endings
• Unlockable bonus campaign

Story

Set three years after the events of The House of the Dead 2, The House of the Dead 4 Special focuses on two AMS agents, James Taylor and Kate Green. Sent to the European HQ of the AMS, James and Kate become trapped inside when an earthquake hits the continent, causing the building to collapse. Days later, the agents wake up to find undead creatures infesting the building, and must find a way to escape and discover the truth. This journey takes them through several interesting locations, like the subway, the sewers, and even the abandoned Goldman building.

Afterwards, you unlock The House of the Dead 4 Special, a bonus campaign that takes place right after the main story. In this tale, James takes a backseat, as Kate teams up with the mysterious Agent G and attempts to find the source of the zombie outbreak. Short but sweet, The House of the Dead 4 Special has two bosses, culminating with a return of the fan-favorite boss, The Magician.

Gameplay

The House of the Dead 4 Special builds on the gameplay seen in the previous games, with an added focus on realistic graphics and enemy visuals. This is definitely the best looking game of the original arcade titles, with a good variety of enemy types and environmental styles. Instead of starting with a pistol like in the past, the default gun is a submachine gun, which you'll need, since The House of the Dead 4 Special features huge waves of enemies. You can expect up to 30 enemies on screen at once as you trek through the game's levels, with limited health to survive. A handy stash of grenades is available for when the action gets too hectic, but these are valuable and hard to find.

With the increase of ammo and firing rate from the faster weapons, The House of the Dead 4 Special asks the player to be more accurate with a new critical hit system. Enemies and bosses have various weak points that, when shot, do extra damage. Damage multipliers can be built by continuing to hit the weak points without taking damage, rewarding accuracy and threat management. There are also branching paths to take, which open up new areas of each level, giving more content for extra playthroughs.

Conclusion

Simple but very fun, The House of the Dead 4 Special is a zombie-filled shooting game that's a blast with a friend, but still entertaining by yourself. The new submachine gun makes each moment explosively action-packed, along with the new enemy types and bosses.

Pros

• Simple but very exciting gameplay
• Awesome bosses
• Excellent lighting and enemy models
• Supports multiple players

Cons

• Only takes a few hours to finish
• Some controller issues
• Not a lot of strategy involved