The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return

The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return - (Wii)
Developer: in-house
Format: Wii
Genre: Shooter

An undead corker of a bundle

This was inevitable. The classic zombie arcade shooter was crying out for the Wii remote point and shoot set-up and with this collection of the arcade kingpins, a new branching storyline and six new modes of gameplay, it's a grisly fright fest all round. You won't need the gym anymore - there's enough frantic arm waving and racing heartbeats here to get you match fit.

It's basically HOTD 2 from 1998 and HOTD III from 2002, the first largely a direct port from the old Dreamcast version and the latter from the Xbox. No bad thing; both were classic and cemented the series' contributions to our virtual nightmares. No2 features the classic arcade and original mode with a storyline that fleshes out the gunplay, while No3 adds the Extreme mode to its basket - the chance to spar with tougher ghoulies and things that go bump in the dark places.

After a short time on the title you might feel a little cheated - after all apart from the Extreme mode, it feels like a compilation rather then the evolution you'd ideally like from the series. You still get a few awkward frame rate issues (particularly on 3) and the visuals can tend to look dated. There's still the cheesy voice-over and soundtrack (but some might hold a nostalgic candle for those) but overall it does deliver the superb gun and gameplay that fans came to love.

What the tile does demonstrate though is Sega's expertise with the calibration of the remote. This is bar far the best example of the sighting and firing format working in perfect harmony.

The undead just keep coming and as long as you've not totally moved on they'll give you a bloody and pulse-thumping run for your money.

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