The House of the Dead 2

The House of the Dead 2
Production information
Developer(s)	WOW Entertainment (SEGA AM1)
Publisher(s)	SEGA
Release information
Release date	November 1998 (Arcade)
Platform(s)	Arcade, SEGA Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows
Arcade system	SEGA NAOMI

The portal to carnage is about to open again...

Tagline

The House of the Dead 2 (ザ・ハウス・オブ・ザ・デッド 2, Za Hausu obu za Deddo 2) is a horror-themed rail shooting game developed by SEGA AM1 (now WOW Entertainment) and released by SEGA to arcades in 1998. It is the sequel to The House of the Dead, and the second game overall in the House of the Dead series.

Set almost two years after the 1998 Curien Mansion incident, the game follows AMS agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart as they investigate an unnamed, Venetian-inspired city overrun with biologically-engineered creatures.

Upon release, The House of the Dead 2 was praised for various improvements over its predecessor, but has often been derided for its voice acting. The game has been ported to several consoles and has received numerous spin-offs.

A sequel, The House of the Dead III, was released in 2002. A remake of the game was confirmed by Polish-based video game distributor Forever Entertainment in 2019, with MegaPixel Studios involved as the developers.

Plot

Characters

James Taylor

Gary Stewart

Amy Crystal

Harry Harris

Caleb Goldman

Synopsis

On February 26th, 2000, AMS agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart investigate an outbreak of vicious creatures in an unnamed city. James and Gary meet their injured partner "G", who provides them his field journal of creature weak points.

James and Gary rescue civilians and defeat Judgment, consisting of the armored giant Kuarl and the imp-like Zeal, and the aquatic Hierophant. During a rendezvous with partners Amy Crystal and Harry Harris, the latter reveals that Caleb Goldman, the mastermind of the 1998 Curien Mansion incident; funded the late Dr. Curien's research, which he then used to engineer the citywide outbreak.

In a phone message, Goldman invites the agents to meet him at the Roman Colosseum; they hesitantly accept and split up. James and Gary enter through the sewers, battling the Hydra-like Tower, while Amy and Harry directly enter the Colosseum. After losing contact with them, James and Gary fight into the Colosseum to rescue Amy and an injured Harry from the chainsaw-wielding Strength.

James and Gary drive Harry's car to Goldman's headquarters, in the process fighting a revived Judgement, Hierophant, Magician, and Tower. The agents confront Goldman, who claims that he wants to protect the life cycle from mankind. He awakens Emperor, a creature intended to be humanity's ruler. After the Emperor's defeat, Goldman warns that "a successor will come". He then commits suicide by throwing himself off the roof of his building.

While unsure if their actions were correct, James and Gary vow to keep fighting.

Endings

One of three endings plays at the end of the credits. This is determined by the following:

• If a solo game was finished as either player 1 or 2
• If both players defeated the last boss
• Number of continues
• Points earned

Normal ending: Amy, Harry, "G", and a group of civilians appear outside of Goldman's headquarters. thanking the player(s).

Bad ending: An undead Goldman appears outside; James and Gary exclaim his name. The screen fades to white as a gunshot is heard.

Good ending: AMS agent Thomas Rogan appears at the entrance to Goldman's headquarters. He reveals that ''G'' and Harry are alright, and says "On we go, to our next battle". This prompts replies from either James ("As long as we have the will to live") or Gary ("As long as there is an answer").

Modes

Depending on the version of the game (Arcade, Xbox, PC, Dreamcast, or Wii), there are a variety of gameplay modes available.

Arcade Mode

Arcade mode is the standard mode of play. It features one or two players playing through the game normally without any bonuses. Each player's gun holds only 6 bullets per round. However, unlike the arcade game, the player is able to set the number of lives and continues on the options screen. This varies from the arcade, where each player's life value depends on what the operator set it to.

Original Mode

Original mode is similar to Arcade mode, except that it allows a player to use 2 bonus items prior to starting the game. These items have a wide variety of uses, including ones which make the game easier in some way (more continues, more lives), score enhancements (double points), or other random bonuses (costumes, alternate weapons). These bonuses can be collected throughout gameplay in Original Mode by shooting hidden items.

Training Mode

Training mode consists of 10 training stages which feature various situations that must be cleared in order to pass. Each training stage has different levels of difficulty.

Boss Mode

Boss mode allows the player to play a time attack on the game's various boss fights. Each boss must have appeared during normal gameplay (either Arcade or Original mode) before it appears in this mode. For bosses which have 2 forms (Hierophant, Tower, Strength), both are unlocked upon meeting either through normal gameplay. Once all the bosses have been unlocked, there is also a full time attack which allows the player to fight through the succession of all the bosses at once. For each choice, the time is recorded and stored on the records screen. You need to beat each boss 6 times by getting 5 gold stars next to each boss icon to face the Emperor.

Options

The options screen gives the player various controls over game settings such as lives, continues, blood color, volume control, etc.

Errors

• In The House of the Dead 2, in the final corridor to Goldman's office, as you exit the corridor you move to the left. In The House of the Dead 4, you turn RIGHT to get to Goldman's office.
• In The House of the Dead 2, the elevator stops at the 50th floor which is the DBR's incubation laboratory and Goldman's office is accessed through a set of stairs still on the same floor. In The House of the Dead 4, the elevator stops at the 49th floor which is the Japanese corridor and Goldman's office is accessed through a set of stairs going up one floor.

Release

File:27880058 167646924024736 5160379046952960000 n.jpg

A deluxe House of the Dead 2 arcade cabinet.

Home ports

The House of the Dead 2 was ported to the Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, the Microsoft Xbox (as an unlockable in the port of The House of the Dead III), and the Nintendo Wii (in the compilation release The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return).

Remake

In late September 2019, Polish website Grampospolita.pl reported that Forever Entertainment, the developer responsible for remaking the first two games in Sega's Panzer Dragoon series, will remake the original The House of the Dead 2, as well as the original House of the Dead. Forever Entertainment confirmed via Twitter on October 3, 2019 that they had signed an agreement to produce said remakes. No further details were provided.

Chapters

• Chapter 1: A Prelude

• Chapter 2: Muddy

• Chapter 3: Darkness

• Chapter 4: Despair

• Chapter 5: Dawn

• Chapter 6: Original Sin

Bosses

Judgment (Type 28)

Hierophant (Type B 05)

Tower (Type 8000)

Strength (Type 205)

Magician (Type 0)

Emperor (Type α)

Gallery

Data

Texture for the route map shown upon game over.