The House of the Dead 4

Main series
(Sega AM1's universe)

The House of the Dead 4
Production information
Producer(s)	Yasuhiro Nishiyama
Director(s)	Takashi Oda
Planner(s)	Haruyuki Hashimoto Kazuya Takahashi
Developer(s)	Sega AM1
Programmer(s)	Koji Ooto Takayuki Yokoyama Ryuzi Tsujita Katsu Oshida Hiroaki Kawamura Seiji Iwakura Hiroyuki Uchida Takeshi Yamaya Toshiyuki Shimizu Kenji Hoshimoto
Designer(s)	Norihito Omoda Takuya Ohashi Shunichi Urushibara Shien Kato Ryodo Tanaka Shizuyo Kanda Yoshihiro Yamakawa Yohsuke Harada Akihiro Suzuki Chihiro Yoshida Nobuto Iwao Yoshihiro Nakamura Herbert Sutejo Sachiko Kanemitsu Hisashi Tohyama Takeshi Inaba Yuriko Ohata Yasuko Ito
Publisher(s)	Sega
Release information
Release date	December 30, 2005 (Arcade) April 17, 2012 (PlayStation Network)
Platform(s)	Arcade PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network)
Arcade system	Sega Lindbergh

Face your worst fears.

Tagline

The House of the Dead 4 (ザ・ハウス・オブ・ザ・デッド 4, Za Hausu obu za Deddo 4) is a horror-themed rail shooting game developed by Sega AM1 and released by Sega to arcades in 2005. It is the sequel to The House of the Dead III and the fourth installment in the main House of the Dead series.

Set three years after the events of The House of the Dead 2, the game follows veteran AMS agent James Taylor and newcomer Kate Green as they are haunted by genetic engineer Caleb Goldman's legacy.

A launch title for the Sega Lindbergh arcade hardware, 4 introduced machine guns and hordes of enemies to the House of the Dead series. It was the first light gun arcade game with a high-definition widescreen display.

Critics praised 4's detailed visuals and intense gameplay. The House of the Dead 4 Special, an arcade attraction that continues the original game's story, was released in 2006. Both games were ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2012.

A sequel under the working title The House of the Dead 5 was developed in 2012, only to be shelved. House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, a redeveloped sequel, was later released in 2018.

Plot

Characters

James Taylor

Kate Green

Caleb Goldman

Thornheart

G

Synopsis

In 2003, veteran AMS agent James Taylor and rookie Kate Green gather intelligence at the fifth basement floor of the AMS European branch office. James suspects that the events of the 2000 Goldman case have not ended. A sudden earthquake rocks the room, collapsing the basement walls and trapping the agents.

Several days later, while awaiting backup, James' PDA goes off; hordes of creatures appear on the security cameras. James and Kate arm themselves and escape. In a classified information room, they uncover a plot to fire nuclear missiles worldwide within 24 hours' time.

Navigating through the sewers, James and Kate battle the four-armed Justice and the Lovers, a pair of giant tarantulas. Evading the Empress, a double-ended chainsaw-wielding creature, the agents take the subway to an underground shopping district. Reaching the creature-infested streets, they defeat the obese, nearly impervious Temperance. They find the city obliterated.

James and Kate confronting the World.

James receives a PDA message from the late Caleb Goldman, the mastermind of the 2000 incident. Goldman, whose messages and current plans were set into motion before his death, begins the nuclear missile launch countdown. James and Kate head to Goldman's abandoned headquarters, defeating the Star, a levitating creature who wounds James after exploding.

In flashbacks to the 2000 incident, Goldman rants about how mankind's greed and self-destruction have broken "the natural harmony of the world". As James and Gary Stewart confront him, he cryptically declares that "Pandora's Box is opening".

James and Kate stop the missile launch, but Goldman states in a pre-recorded message that he only wanted to revert self-destructing humans to their "natural state". His final legacy, the World, is released from beneath the building courtyard in the opening of "Pandora's Box", fulfilling its role as Emperor's successor. Seeing that the World continues to grow and revive itself, James sets his PDA to self-destruct. Telling Kate not to give up hope, he sacrifices himself, alongside the World, in the following explosion. A shaken and distraught Kate leaves Goldman's premises.

Endings

Depending on the player's performance, one of four endings will play after the credits. The words "The story continues in House of the Dead 3 [sic]" appear afterwards.

Image	Criteria	Description
	Unknown	The view returns to Goldman's office computer, continuing his pre-recorded message. He gives a final statement as he walks away: "Ah yes, there is one thing I forgot. The human race has not been eliminated. Travel north... hope is such a splendid thing."
	Unknown	It is the same as the above ending, except when Goldman mentions hope, he takes off his glasses and the camera zooms on his face. His eyes are glowing red, and his face is pale.
	Unknown	Standing near the site of the World's destruction, AMS agent G vows that the creature threat will be fought back to its source. He tells James to "rest" and leaves. The camera pans up to Goldman's building before cutting to black.
	Unknown	A mysterious man sits at a desk in the corner of an office, stating: "Goldman, you are soft. These wretched humans have no need of hope. Soon, the true end shall begin...There is more than one Pandora's Box."

Gameplay

With larger hordes of creatures than previous games, The House of the Dead 4 introduces Uzi-like machine guns and grenades to dispatch them. The guns hold 30 rounds, allow fully automatic fire when the trigger is held down, and are reloaded by shaking the controller.

Grenades are thrown via a button alongside the gun controller (arcade version) or one of the PlayStation Move controller's action buttons (PlayStation 3 port). Holding down the button before releasing it aims and throws grenades. By default, the player initially has three grenades but can earn a maximum of five by finding more in destructible objects. If the player completes a level with 2 or fewer grenades, they will be restocked at three for the next stage.

In addition to inflicting regular damage, most humanoid creatures will also grab or push the player down. When prompted, the gun controller must be shaken vigorously to push back creatures; failure results in damage or player's character being knocked down and vulnerable. In the latter situation, any surrounding creatures must be killed before they stomp on the player.

Game scoring operates on a "critical shot" mechanic. Consecutive headshots award increasingly higher points and ranks, from GOOD, EXCELLENT, AMAZING, and finally PERFECT. The streak resets to GOOD if the player takes damage or kills any enemy without a headshot. Some exceptions to this rule include non-humanoid creatures like Murrer.

Like The House of the Dead III, 4 has an end-of-level grading system that awards bonus lives for high letter grades. One bonus life is awarded for every B or A rank (unlike III, in which one life is awarded for A ranks only), while two lives are awarded for every S rank. The ranks are calculated based on the player's score, accuracy and critical shot (headshot) count.

Boss fights are also similar to III, with a "Cancel" bar that must be depleted to stop boss attacks and deduct from their main health bar (with the exception of Temperance, the fourth boss). Civilians are absent once again, and the partner rescue mechanic from the previous game does not return.

The first four levels have branching paths based on the player's decisions. Several paths can be chosen via prompts, while others are determined by the player's success or failure in "controller shake" sequences or by destroying certain objects. Each level also has hidden bonus item rooms if the player shoots a nondescript object, throws a grenade in a specific place, or reaches the final stage without dying.

Chapters

1. Escape

2. Lost

3. Emptiness

4. Despair

5. Reunion

6. Hope

Bosses

Justice (Type 0053)

The Lovers (Type 6805)

The Empress (Type 1210)

Temperance (Type 0483)

The Star (Type 0001)

The World (Type β)

The House of the Dead 4 Special

See The House of the Dead 4 Special

Sometime after its release, The House of the Dead 4 received a small follow-up in the form of The House of the Dead 4 Special. The story takes place shortly after the events of 4. Initially released to arcades, 4 Special was later included in the PlayStation 3 port of its predecessor.

Development

Arcade version

The House of the Dead 4 director Takashi Oda (left) and producer Yasuhiro Nishiyama (right).

According to director Takashi Oda and producer Yasuhiro Nishiyama, the Sega Lindbergh arcade hardware brought a great deal of realism to The House of the Dead 4. Its graphical prowess fulfilled Oda's desire for "slimy"-looking creatures, and its high performance allowed for more enemies to appear on-screen at once. Rapid-fire machine guns were introduced so that players felt "comfortable" battling these large hordes.

The bosses were designed by Nobuto Iwao. The development team wanted each boss encounter to be unique. Temperance's fight, for example, "[makes] full use of the game’s unique force feedback system". Its gluttonous appearance was intended to contrast with its namesake cardinal virtue, which is defined as moderation or self-restraint.

To take advantage of the Lindbergh, new arcade cabinets with 62-inch widescreen displays were produced for 4. Nishiyama remarked that this made the game "eye-catching".

PlayStation 3 port

The House of the Dead 4's PlayStation 3 port took almost a year to complete. The challenges for the team responsible included the OpenGL and data format conversion, as well as the PlayStation 3's smaller RAM space compared to the Lindbergh board. Sega upscaled the resolution and game render buffer up to 720p, and remade most of the UI (user interface) in HD.

Release

The PlayStation 3 port was announced by Sega on January 5th, 2012. The game launched on PlayStation Network in the United States on April 17th, 2012, and in Europe the following day. In the weeks before and after the game's release, PlayStation Plus users had limited access to a demo, an exclusive PlayStation 3 dynamic theme and avatars, and a 30% discount on the full game.

The port includes The House of the Dead 4 Special, PlayStation Move support, local co-op multiplayer, online leaderboards, and an interview with series director Takashi Oda and producer Yasuhiro Nishiyama. After five hours of gameplay, a 3D House of the Dead 4 arcade cabinet-themed item is unlocked for use in the now-defunct social gaming platform PlayStation Home.

Due to a restructuring of the PlayStation Store ahead of the PlayStation 5's November 2020 release, as of October 19th and 28th, 2020 The House of the Dead 4 is no longer purchasable on web or mobile-based devices, respectively; players must instead access the store directly from a PlayStation 3.

It was announced in 2021 that PlayStation 3, PSP and Vita games would be discontinued from the PlayStation Store on July 2nd, 2021. This meant that The House of the Dead 4 would be unavailable for purchase, though those who had already bought and downloaded the game could play it. However, Sony reversed this decision on April 19th, 2021, PlayStation 3 and Vita games remaining available while PSP will discontinue as planned.

Trivia

• The House of the Dead 4 is the first game in the series to have lessened violence. The creatures cannot be decapitated; instead, a "skin damage" mechanic is used in which when an enemy is shot anywhere, bullet holes are visible in the enemy, revealing red flesh underneath. This can be clearly seen when an enemy grabs the player.
• The televisions used are Mitsubishi's 2005 62" DLP 16:9 ratio widescreen model for the "Super Deluxe" cabinet; Mitsubishi's 2005 52" DLP 4:3 ratio model for the "Deluxe" cabinet; and a Sanwa 29" 4:3 ratio television for the "upright" cabinet. The game runs in 1080P.
• The final two stages of the game take place in the same locations as the last two stages in The House of the Dead 2: Point A0063 and Goldman's headquarters. The background music for both stages are 2''s original songs that have been remixed by their original composer, Haruyoshi Tomita. They are respectively titled "Dawn (Remix of Year Seventh)" and "Original Sin (Remix of Year Seventh)" on the game's soundtrack, referring to the seven years since the song's debut at the game, as The House of the Dead 2 was released in late 1998 and The House of the Dead 4 at the end of 2005.
• During the game there is a flashback in multiple parts where Goldman spells out his motive; in the final part it is revealed he is speaking directly to James and Gary, thus depicting a scene from The House of the Dead 2. The speech Goldman has been giving throughout the flashback is notably different from the actual speech in the previous game.
• The fourth chapter, Despair, has the same name as The House of the Dead 2''s fourth chapter.

Gallery

Arcade flyers

North American flyer, front

North American flyer, back

Data

Texture for the route map shown upon game over.

Promotional materials

Lindbergh advertisement.

Standup display for the arcade version.

Videos

The House of the Dead 4 Japanese Arcade Commercial

Japanese commercial for The House of the Dead 4's arcade version.

The House of the Dead 4 for PS3 (PSN)

PlayStation 3 port reveal trailer.

House of the Dead 4 Launch Trailer

PlayStation 3 port launch trailer.

House Of The Dead 4 Behind The Scenes

Interview with The House of the Dead series director Takashi Oda and producer Yasuhiro Nishiyama. On the home port, this is unlocked by beating the game.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• The House of the Dead 4 Game on PS3 | Official PlayStation™Store US (archived)