Wheel of Fate

Wheel of Fate
Basic information
Featured in	The House of the Dead III
Encounters	THoTD III - Chapter 0 (seen only) & 5
Weapon	Electrokinesis
Protection	Metallic-like substance Giant wheel

"I shall destroy everything, and resurrect everything." - The Wheel of Fate's first words

"The world is overpopulating. Even you must realize that! Daniel, you need me." - The Wheel of Fate's last words

The entity known as the Wheel of Fate (Type 0000/Tarot No.X) is the fourth of the Four Heavenly Kings, actually a resurrected form of Dr. Roy Curien, the antagonist of the original House of the Dead. In this form, Curien wields the fearsome power of electrokinesis, attempting to zap the players at every opportunity. He spins his wheel of fate to determine his next attack, and the spinning wheel has a knack for deflecting gunfire intended for the (mutated) scientist's weak spot - his chest. Like all bosses of the House of the Dead series (prior to Overkill), Type 0000 is named for one of the Major Arcana; although, in this instance, the name has been modified (the original Tarot card being called "The Wheel of Fortune"). Also, since the Wheel of Fate is one of the series' final bosses, his power of choice - in this case, electrokinesis - has a symbolic connection with the rest of the series. Combined with the pyrokinesis of the Magician, the metamorphosis of the Emperor, and the cryokinesis of the World, the Wheel of Fate's power appears to represent the forces of nature and life. The Wheel of Fate is also the final boss in the series (due to The House of the Dead 4 happening before House of the Dead 3). The Wheel of Fate (also the Magician) is often considered to be the most difficult boss of the series. Just like the Magician, the Wheel of Fate is very fast, difficult to attack and deals a massive amount of damage.

Combat

Combat-wise, the Wheel of Fate is one of the longer bosses in the House of the Dead series. He has a massive amount of health, and avoiding his attacks can be difficult. The Wheel of Fate's first attack is when he shoots volts of lightning at you, similar to the Magician's attacks. Simply shoot the ones heading closest to you, and be sure not to waste shots, as unlike other HoTD games, reloading takes time.

His second attack is when he charges at you in an electrical shield orb; when this attack happens shoot his chest as rapidly as possible, reload and repeat, or else he will reach you. It is crucial you shoot as soon as he starts the charge, fire all 6 shots, reload and continue for another 6 and you should just manage to halt his charge.

His third attack is when he charges up and starts flying around the area. This makes it difficult to shoot at as he moves fast. If you don't damage him enough, he will fly towards you and hit you with his wheel in a melee attack. The key to this is to shoot him as much as possible at any opportunity, when he is weakened he stops, and will restart the running. Repeat while he does.

His fourth attack is when he starts firing electro-balls at you from his wheel. Similar to the first attack, shoot the ones closest and be make sure you give yourself time to reload, as 6 shots won't deal with them all given more than 6 will be launched.

His fifth, final and deadliest attack is when he does a massive explosion that has many, many electric volts appear behind and go to attack you. These volts are very slow, though there are dozens of them. These volts can be very confusing as they are very bright and disorienting, though it seems the more bright they get, the closer they are. Shoot them whenever you have the chance. Use all 6 shots before reload.

Damaging Type 0000 is simple; shoot his chest whenever you have the chance, though when he is attacking, focus on avoiding his attacks. Usually he just moves about in between his attacks, shoot his exposed chest at these times. A different impact sound plays when his weak spot of the chest is hit.

The Wheel of Fate can be a somewhat long boss to fight, similar to The World. Though once you understand the Wheel of Fate's attacks he should not be too difficult. The main frustration coming from The Wheel of Fate comes from his high amount of health. His high amount of health can give him many chances to hit you, and even leave some players frustrated. Difficulty-wise, the Wheel of Fate is a very difficult boss since he has a high amount of health and confusing attacks. Some players may find him easy, while others may find it extremely difficult. Also given that there is no Boss-Mode in HoTD 3, combatting him is limited to the end of the game, so most players have very little training against him.

If you play the game on an arcade machine, some of his attacks are faster than on the consoles. But, the shotgun reloads extremely fast and is accurate so it won't be much more of a bigger hassle.

Trivia

• Just like the previous final bosses (except Overkill), his weak point was registered as UNKNOWN, although in this instance, modified (the game states that "Analysis is impossible").

• The Wheel of Fate may have been the project that Goldman first started on. It is quite possible that Goldman began work on the Wheel of Fate before anything else, (explaining the 0000 type number) but that production was not completed until 2019. However, it is not very likely that the Wheel of Fate was intended to be a true successor to the World or the Emperor, but simply served as a slightly weaker backup plan in the event that the World was destroyed.

• After the boss fight, the Wheel of Fate gives a warning about the world's current crisis, i.e. overpopulation. This is similar to Goldman's lecture/warning in the final chapter of House of the Dead 2 regarding man's original sin as well as a successor will come.

• The Wheel of Fate is briefly mentioned during the "good" ending of The House of the Dead 4: Special by the Mystery Man saying, "That is if there is any hope yet, the Wheel of Fate cannot be stopped."

• There is strong evidence that Goldman is the one who resurrected Curien as the Wheel of Fate, as he is seen visiting Curien's corpse in a flashback in The House of the Dead 2 (Maybe beginning development of the Wheel of Fate is why he had come), as well as all of Goldman's final creations (Emperor, the World and the Wheel of Fate) share the same overall color (silver), all have the same weak spot (the chest) and all have a similar, electronic echoed voice.

• Ironically, The Wheel of Fate can actually be easier to defeat in "Extreme-Mode" and on Arcade machines of the game due to the reload speed being increased to instant. In the Wii version's normal mode (and PC), many of the times the Wheel of Fate hits you is while you are reloading.

Gallery

An early draft of the Wheel of Fate during the early stage development of The House of the Dead III

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Wheel Of Fate ps3 Trophy