The House of The Dead is a beloved Sega arcade light gun shooting game released in 1996 developed by Sega AM1. The House of the Dead is the successor to Sega’s first arcade light gun shooting game Virtua Cop that blew players away from its innovative gameplay to stunning visuals. The House of The Dead follows AMS agents Rogen Thomas and G as they stop a zombie infestation started by Dr. Curien and they must save the civilians before it’s too late.

Sega announced that Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead would be getting remade by developer Forever Entertainment S.A. exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. The House of The Dead: Remake would mark the second time The House of The Dead would be ported to home consoles as The House of The Dead has only been on the Sega Saturn. But, does The House of The Dead: Remake live up to the hype or is it simple nostalgia bait for one of the best arcade light gun shooting games of all time? 

The House of The Dead: Remake is a fun light gun shooting game with simple, yet effective gameplay and good visuals. The House of The Dead: Remake sticks true to the original game with locations and routes, zombies and civilians; and bosses being updated and remade with better graphical fidelity. The riveting new horde mode adds a level of intensity with bigger zombie waves to fight through and unlockable weapons that add variety to the gameplay. But unfortunately, The House of The Dead: Remake suffers from poorly functionable controls and frame rate inconsistency that ruin the pace and overall flow of the game.

Gameplay is an important part of light gun shooting games and The House of The Dead: Remake delivers well. The gun play is impactful when shooting zombies and you really see that as zombie ligaments and pieces of their bodies are being dismembered by gun shots. The raw impact and damage makes it satisfying to shoot zombies and Forever Entertainment nailed it beautifully. Horde mode is a new game mode that adds a new level of intensity with bigger zombie waves to fight through that’s riveting and just as fun as the main mode. 

Unfortunately, one of the glaring flaws of The House of The Dead: Remake is the inconsistent frame rate. The frame rate is all over the place and it’s unfortunate because it truly ruins the overall pace and flow of the game. I experienced tons of frame drops and hiccups throughout my playthrough, not unbearable to the point where I’d want to stop playing but rather concerning. Oftentimes it felt like the game was running 30 frames per second or lower, but luckily performance mode does a solid job at reducing and mitigating the consistent frame drops, keeping the game consistent and running close to 60 frames per second. The controls are another glaring flaw that was also a problem in Panzer Dragoon: Remake. The controls are poor and janky, sometimes even making it hard to move the game cursor in the direction of zombies which can become frustrating. The music is also not great, not a glaring flaw just a minor one. The music just doesn’t have that catchy, high energy rhythm like in the original. 

Though The House of The Dead: Remake has some glaring flaws that can be frustrating and concerning, the overall game is still a blast! The House of The Dead: Remake is a fun remake that clearly shows Forever Entertainment understands what made The House of The Dead so great back in 1996. A long awaited remake that Sega fans will find enjoyment in with impactful gameplay and good visuals, and a fun new mode that holds great replay value.