Embedded Files
So, The House Of The Dead 3 was a bit of a flawed beast, but ultimately still an enjoyable experience overall. Though it didn’t quite make the same splash the second game had, it was still a successful enough endeavour for Sega that another title was more or less a dead cert. It helped, of course, that Oda seemed to be forming a grand vision for the universe the games were set in. From the timeskip between 2 and 3, the significant raising of the stakes, and little things like that damn Mystery Man that showed up in one of 3‘s endings, the man and his team at WOW! were clearly building up to something. And as it turns out, The House Of The Dead 4 was a major step towards realising his grand vision.
Debuting on December 30th in Japan (and 2006 worldwide), The House Of The Dead 4 brings the timeline back to 2003. James Taylor- clearly still haunted by the events that took place in Venice three years prior- has ventured to the AMS European Branch Office in London to see if he can unearth more information about Caleb Goldman, and maybe learn more about his plans for the world. Joining up with Kate Green, an up-and-coming go-getter who’s only too happy to work closely with one of the organisations heroes, the pair start their investigation by visiting the Archive Room located on the building’s lowest basement level. Things seem pretty standard initially, but they take a sudden turn for the dramatic when the room begins to violently shake, knocking the two agents off their feet. The resulting security measures engaged by said shaking leave the two trapped in the room for several days, leaving Kate time to muse on when their backup would arrive, and for a sickening feeling to fester in James’ stomach. A sickening feeling that turns out not to be misplaced, as another violent shake a few days later (and an alert from his trust PDA) prompts James to reactivate some of the security cameras, revealing a horde of reanimated monsters trying their damndest to break into the room. Scavenging what few weapons they can find in their immediate area, the pair are forced to fight for their lives and they desperately race back to the surface, hoping to find out just what the hell happened to the world above.
Before I get into talking about the game’s makeup and aesthetics, I’d just like to show you it’s attract mode sequence:
All of the games in the series have a significant amount of style and flair, but The House Of The Dead 4 is the first one I’d call truly “stylish”. I mean, shit, in that intro alone we’ve got copious amounts of Cool Typeface™ (from a series that already has an awful lot of Cool Typeface™, mind), big cryptic phrases like “soon, the true end shall begin” and “must we simply sit and wait for it all to end?”, loud industrial-techno-noise-metal that pumps you up, the possible revelation that the villain of a prior game- who plummeted from the top of a 50-floor high skyscraper, I remind you- is STILL ALIVE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?, before ending on a shitload of bloody handprints splattering against the screen as the games’ logo forms in front of them- the blood smear resolving to form a stylised 4, even. It’s... quite an introduction, to say the least.
And I fucking love it.
Folks, here’s another gush warning: The House Of The Dead 4 is easily my second favourite game in the series. I love it so much I’m actually struggling a little to decide what to cover first (much like I did with THOTD 1), but in the interest of consistency I’ll go with the latter.
First things first; there’s been another change in weaponry. This go around, you weld an Uzi with a maximum bullet capacity of 30 (and yes, I counted, because of course I did), and also have the ability to lob grenades at your foes. The reason for both becomes immediate upon playing it, although the attract mode ought’ve given it away already; there are SHIT TONS of Deads this time around. Like, actual hordes. James even notes that “there weren’t nearly as many during the Goldman incident" in some of Chapter 1‘s in level nattering. The six-stock handguns of past were clearly not going to cut it this time around, and at times you are going to need to rely on grenades to clear the especially large crowds you come across. Whether the total enemy number lead to the choice of weaponry or vice versa, it immediately makes for a game that feels VERY different to any of the titles that came before it. Whilst the changes 3 made to the formula informed the design decisions of this one, they’ve all been played with to some extent. The ranking system has been rejigged slightly, so that instead of tracking the players’ speed, it tracks the number of headshots the player makes in succession. Ratings include Good, Excellent, Amazing, and Perfect, and the chain is broken either by being hit, or by killing an enemy without going for a headshot. The “save your partner” mechanic, or anything even vaguely resembling the hostage mechanics of the first two games, has gone completely out the window; this time, you will be grabbed, pushed over, or otherwise accosted by the Dead directly, either at scripted points or even by random. If you fail to shove them back, break free of their grasp, or stop them from kicking you whilst you’re down, you’ll lose a life point for your troubles. Essentially, the only person you’re saving this time is yourself. It’s a near twist on the mechanic, to say the least.Oh, speaking of; the Uzi peripherals on the machine contain rudimentary motion sensors of a sort, that react when the player shakes the gun. Primarily, it’s used to reload your Uzi, but pushing Deads back or shaking free of their grasp is also done by shaking the gun, and there are several instances where you’ll be prompted to shake the gun to open a door or turn a handle ; succeeding or failing these prompts will lead to slightly different outcomes, making it somewhat reminiscent of the multipath system used by games 1 & 2 (although there are still a number of binary path choices ala House Of The Dead 3). Whilst not the most intuitive feeling feature to actually use, it’s a clever way of using a single input as a multi-context command, which I commend WOW! Entertainment for.
Beyond that, the Cancel Bar, background items, and end-of-stage/end-of-game ranking systems introduced in 3 make the transition to 4 more or less unchanged. Likewise, series traditions- like the Mook Chivalry that’s been there since day one- are still running through the makeup of the gameplay. The result is an experience that is fundamentally different then any of the prior games, but with enough similarities to keep it feeling familiar.That design work though, oh boy howdy. It’s fairly public knowledge that The House Of The Dead 4 was the first arcade game to make use of high definition screens (across all the various models of machine, at that), and man, WOW! Entertainment were determined to make the absolute best of the fact. First, the enemies; so far as I know, the official names of the Deads haven’t been made public, and I’d rather not use Fan Names if I don’t have to, so I will be talking about them more generally for the most part. What I do know, however, is that they’re some of the most stylish motherfuckers to come out of the series thus far; there is a very strong edgy, sometime vaguely “punk-y” vibe running through a lot of the deads, by way of tattooing, a shitload of chains, and in one case, a Dead sporting a Mohawk. Even the enemies that don’t quite match that archetype sport slightly trendier clothing then their previous counterparts, by way of leather jackets, hoodies and the like. I’d also argue the Dead’s never looked quite so gruesome, from a purely visceral point of view; the Dead serving as the game’s Mascot Creature this time around not only sports an exposed brain, but a sizeable chunk of the skin on his torso- and all the skin down his right arm- has been torn off, exposing the muscle. One of the other main Deads- the vaguely punk-looking fellow sporting tribal tats- has such an emaciated face it looks borderline skeletal. And if you thought the slashes across the stomach of the previous Fat enemy archetype- Charles- were bad, this game’s fat bastard enemy is absolutely covered in stitches. Your mileage will vary on which is worse then the other, but still, not pleasant. This slightly trendier design philosophy even extends to the player characters to some degree; the jury’s out on whether James’ big-collard coat and pinstripe trousers are all that chic, but Kate looks more prepared for a night out in Soho then quelling an undead uprising (although given that was sort of sprung on her out of nowhere, I’ll give her- and the designers- the benefit of the doubt). The death animation is kind of a mash up of some of the ones seen in the series prior; Deads that have been successfully killed erupt in a brief burst of blame, before burning away into ash and smoke, or sometimes burning away into piles of slag.
The bosses are, as always, fairly
memorable too. The four-armed, slack-jawed Justice makes for an imposing first boss encounter; the “small arachnid riding atop a larger arachnid” beastie of Chapter 2 is an interesting interpretation of the Lovers card; the indescribable shape of the Empress is almost as threatening as her two enormous chainsaws; I’d never have expected an enormous fat frogman in trackies and trainers- Temperance- to be one of two bosses in need of something extra to kill it off; the Star, supposedly a successor to The Magician, was a fairly cool customer for his very limited screen time.It’s easily The World that makes the game as far as boss encounters go, though. Not only is it a nice change of pace for the final boss of a House Of The Dead title to be less humanoid in nature, but that it has two distinct forms is also a breath of fresh air. And hey, speaking of fresh air, how about his use of cryokinesis to produce enormous Ice Axes and Literal Dragons Made Of Ice Holy Shit? A lot of people cite the various battles with The Magician as the “best final boss evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” in the House Of The Dead series, but I really must disagree with the sentiment. For as cool a design as he has (and it is a very cool design), I always thought his fights never quite matched up to his presence. The World, however, managed both an imposing presence and a legitimately breathtaking fight, so, y’know, best final boss evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
I mentioned in the second game’s article that the devs made a lot of effort to give Goldman a real air of menace, and a direct presence that permeated through the whole game. I also mentioned that the absolutely woeful voice work absolutely destroyed any pretense of unease he had. This game absolutely rectifies that; whilst I’d be hard pressed to call the voice work “masterful”, Goldman’s actor does a damn fine job of sounding like a cold, distant, warped individual who’s somewhat benign motivations don’t take away from what a nasty fucker he really is. James and Kate’s voice actors also do a pretty decent job with the material they were given, which (the odd weirdly written line aside) isn’t half bad.
Also, full disclosure for those that didn’t know; I’m English. Specifically, I’m English, and I live only a bus and a train ride away from London. Baring those facts in mind, I have to give serious props to WOW! Entertainment for the environment design in The House Of The Dead 4. It is still, to this day, one of the most accurate portrayals of London I’ve ever seen in a video game- y’know, walking cadavers and utterly decimated skylines notwithstanding. Little
details like the way the level set in the Underground (albeit it calls it the “Subway”) is structured and designed, the architectural design of the buildings when the pair reach the surface, and most importantly of all, the various bits of set dressing like the signage and waste bins are all spot on. I’ve no idea if the city is supposed to BE London (despite what I said the intro, there’s a lot of waffle about it only being London in the Japanese dub and Venice elsewhere, but I’ll get on to that mess in a moment), but y’know, A+ for the recreation lads. If the team DIDN'T’ go location scouting in the country’s capital, I’d be very, very surprised. The accuracy isn’t all the visual design has going for it, mind; though I’d still argue it doesn’t quite have “setpieces” per say, the world of The House Of The Dead 4 feels- ironically- more alive then the world of it’s immediate successor does. The jump in graphical technology may go a long way towards that, but similarly to the recreation accuracy, the devils in the details; the game is practically caked in blood splatters and smears everywhere you turn, and when combined with the utter decimation of absolutely everything goes a hell of a long way towards selling the fact that this is, indeed, the end of the world.And oh boy oh boy, that soundtrack. I’m gonna get this out the way first and foremost; The House Of The Dead 4 boasts my favourite soundtrack in the series. Though it once again draws on Electronica styles for inspiration, it (mostly) rejects a lot of the more traditional elements of the other soundtracks. You won’t find any pipe organs here, and choral work can only be found on track. Primarily composed by Susumu Tsukagoshi and Nomiya Makito, The House Of The Dead 4 draws a lot of inspiration from Industrial music, harder styles of Techno, and even a little bit of Harsh Noise. A lot of the synth work is very raw, rough, and hard hitting, and in more then a few cases it’s hard to discern whether the sounds are being produced on syntheziers, or whether they’re heavily modified guitars. A really good example of this is the attract mode tune, He's Still Alive? ~Advertise~, specifically how what starts off sounding like an acid-y bassline at 37 seconds morphs into what sounds like a chaotic guitar solo around 42 seconds, and just runs from there. The massively compressed and filtered drums really add to that sheer “wall of sound” feel the track has going on. Endless Battle, the song that plays during the fight with The Star, is another song that plays with that “is it synth or is it guitar?” sound design, arguably to an even greater extent. The music that plays over the first half Chapter 1, Bullet Of Death, is spectacularly moody and despairing, combining a melancholy, slightly trance-y melody with squelchy bass synths and a shuffled backing beat. I particularly like how the introduction of the backing brass during the latter half adds a bit of additional intensity, without completely contrasting the fir
st half with a too sudden a tonal shift. Chapter 2‘s theme, Katharsis is among my favourite pieces from the score- although given it matches acid basslines with intricate drum work, that’s probably not too surprising. Bullet Of Death ~Gauge~ wins cool points pretty much entirely for throwing a theramin-like synth line into the mix and totally making it work (although that dreamy arpeggiated sequences that goes up and down the scale certainly helps). What a song that opens with drumming that evokes traditional Japanese folk music is doing in a game set in London and/or Venice I don’t know, but hey, Hope With Doubt has it, and it’s cool, so who cares! Haruyoshi Tomita makes a return to the series as well, providing remixes of Dawn and Original Sin that throw screaming freeform saxophone solos on top of Industrial, and that’s just mental. Also, remember earlier when I was gushing about The World, and how great his boss battle is? Give It All You Got!, the music that plays over the fight, goes a long way towards that. This song is some of the rawest use of controlled chaos and pure noise I’ve heard outside a Silent Hill title, and rates as one of the most atmospheric and unsettling pieces of music in the entire House Of The Dead series as a result. Oh, and here’s A Decomposition Dance . Because it only plays on the How To Play demonstration, and that’s a huge waste of such a lovely little Techno-ish number.In an unusual turn for the series, there are actually several pieces of music that play over the cutscenes. These are typically also the pieces the deviate from the styles set by the rest of the in-game music. Determined Girl Targeted By Karma is one of a couple of pieces that brings some ambient flavour to the table, Chaotic Order introduces a bit of light electric piano waffling, and Requiem is... well, between the piano and the mournful synthesizer lead, it’s just nice innit?
Alas, once more, it’d be dishonest of me to imply The House Of The Dead 4 was wholly perfect. This time, the most glaring error the game brings to the table is that of it’s own internal consistency. I mentioned above that sources kinda differ on where exactly the game takes place- London or Venice- and though I can’t really confirm or deny which one is empirically true, there’s evidence to suggest either. I’ve already covered the accuracy of the details it seems to crib from London, but it’s absolutely vital to point out that the end point of the game is the Goldman Building. As in, the one that was, last time we checked, in Venice. Not helping matters is that if the game does indeed take place in Venice, it’s worth pointing out that Venice did not yet have a subway system in 2005 (although in an odd twist of fate, it does now). This is also not touching the fact that the actual inside portions of the Goldman Building- which is implied to be the same route James and Gary took through it three years prior- is only half accurate. Certainly the game implies Goldman got an awful lot of shit in before he went out, but when exactly he found the time to deck portions of the uppermost floor out in Japanese decor... fuck, your guess is as good as mine. You can argue it’s nitpicking- and really, it is- but it’s still incredibly frustrating that events, locations and whatnot are muddled like that. Secondly, whilst the change in weaponry is felt a little more then it was in 3, it’s still a little
hamstrung in how much visual feedback the player is given for their efforts; though Deads still do show damage when shot, it’s by way of blemishes and smatterings of ruined flesh that, honestly, are subtle enough I didn’t even notice the first few times I played the game. I suspect this may be down to something outlined by Oda during the unlockable video interview in The House Of The Dead 3- that the higher graphical quality put limitations on exactly how explicit the dismemberment could be- but it does feel a little lacking at first, and takes a bit of getting used to. It also creates a bit of a disconnect with how gruesome the enemies look, yet how little your guns seem to phase them. I also suspect that’s why the enemies you’ve killed erupt in a really visible plume of flame; it’s not immediately noticeable you’ve done any damage otherwise. Whilst the addition of the “shake the gun to do a thing in the level” moments move a little bit back towards the multipath system the first two games had going on, they’re still not quite as prominent as they could be, and the existence of moments where the action stops and the player makes a binary choice still feel a little lacking in comparison.Then there’s The House Of The Dead 4 Special. Oh boy, where to start with this one? Essentially, The House Of The Dead 4 Special is an attraction more then it is a game, featuring an enclosed room with two 100-inch screens, a five speaker sound system, air jets, and a chair between the screens that rotates between them. The idea behind the attraction is to give the impression that enemies are attacking from all sides, but having never tried one of the machines in person, I can’t tell you how good a job it does. The actual gameplay consists of two extremely short levels, with the first being a retread of an area reminiscent of the original game’s fifth chapter, and the second being a laboratory area that takes a lot of inspiration from The House Of The Dead 3‘s first and final levels. Both stages feature boss encounters, mind- the first is a rematch against Justice, and the second is a battle against a brand new incarnation of The Magician. Which... yeah, let me explain context behind what's actually going on in Special.
Taking place just after the end of the 4th game proper, Kate is kinda wandering around aimlessly, unsure of what to do. Thankfully, she encounters G, decked out in the shiniest suit imaginable thanks to that Sega Lindbergh hardware. The two team up and potter around fort a bit- G constantly playing the goddamn pronoun game by telling Kate they have to hurry before “he” does this or that- until they stumble upon the aforementioned new incarnation of the Magician. The two do battle with him- backed by a really limp and unimpressive remix of the Magician’s theme song- at the end of which the player is given a prompt to toss a grenade at the ever-suffering endboss before he can do a thing with a cube. If you fail, you find out the thing he does with the cube is summon an army of exact clones, and if you succeed, Kate and G just kinda... wander off.
Ultimately, the experience probably worked a lot better as an attraction. It’s included in the PS3 port as an additional extra, but I’m gonna be honest, it’s not great. The core gameplay of House Of The Dead 4 is still there, so it’s not a disaster, but it doesn’t offer anything the main game doesn’t. The inclusion of two new and not-very-good pieces of music and some utterly woeful voice acting don’t do much to help, either. Kate's VA was clearly phoning it in this time, and the selection of voice actor for G is absolutely baffling. He sounds younger here then he did in The House Of The Dead: Overkill, figure that one out. If there's one positive Special offers, it's the fact that the Magician redesign is quite eye-catching.
All in all, The House Of The Dead 4 is absolutely fantastic title. It lives up to the spirit of the series as a whole, whilst doing things just different enough to make it feel refreshing. Sadly, the story of The House Of The Dead takes a bit of a slump going ahead; I will get to that in tomorrow’s piece. If you'd like to see The House Of The Dead 4 or The House Of The Dead 4 Special in action, I've embeded playthroughs of both below.
~ Decon (21/10/16)
images sourced from homeleisuredirect.com, mundogamers.com, blogs.sega.com, thewebsiteofthedead.com, gamefaqs.com, pushsquare.com, youtube.com/watch?v=4zTujonaRfM, segaworlditalia.com
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