History VideoGame / HouseoftheDead

* NoExportForYou: House of the Dead EX was never released outside of Japan. [[YourMileageMayVary Although whether this being a good thing or not is a big question]], given that this iteration is just a glorified collection of minigames.

None of this stops the series from being fun. [[NarmCharm The sheer ridiculousness of the games]] makes for some amazing boss battles and fight scenes. Better yet, this was the precursor to ''DeadSpace'' - '''you can use precision shots to [[{{Gorn}} dissect the zombies]] in any manner you please.''' Torso wounds become gaping bloody holes, but do limited damage. Shoot a zombie in the arm, the arm will be blown off, and its attacks will be weaker if it gets close enough to do damage. Shoot a zombie in the leg, the leg will be blown off, and it will crawl at you(quickly). Of course, [[BoomHeadshot headshot]]s are [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain the best way to kill zombies]], but only a shot between the eyes is a OneHitKill - zombies running at you with half their head blown off is common. Just don't stop here expecting a gripping story, nuanced characters, or some kind of social message.

If you want to play a shooter game which emphasizes horror and uses traditional zombies, then you are looking at the wrong game.''House of the Dead'' goes in [[OurZombiesAreDifferent the opossite direction]], just because [[RuleOfCool it's cool]]. A great majority of the zombie population in these games either are fast, wield weapons, have supernatural powers, or are just very, very fat. Boss fights are a major example of these deviations, with boss creatures barely resembling "traditional" zombies at all, often taking the form of some freakish abomination.

None of this stops the series from being fun. [[NarmCharm The sheer ridiculousness of the games]] makes for some amazing boss battles and fight scenes. Better yet, this was the precursor to ''DeadSpace'' - '''you can use precision shots to [[{{Gorn}} dissect the zombies]] in any manner you please.''' Torso wounds become gaping bloody holes, but do limited damage. Shoot a zombie in the arm, the arm will be blown off, and its attacks will be weaker if it gets close enough to do damage. Shoot a zombie in the leg, the leg will be blown off and it, it will fall and crawl at you(quickly). Of course, [[BoomHeadshot headshot]]s are [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain the best way to kill zombies]], but only a shot between the eyes is a OneHitKill - zombies running at you with half their head blown off is common. Just don't stop here expecting a gripping story, nuanced characters, or some kind of social message.

None of this stops the series from being fun. [[NarmCharm The sheer ridiculousness of the games]] makes for some amazing boss battles and fight scenes. Just don't stop here expecting a gripping story, nuanced characters, or some kind of social message.

* TheyJustDidntCare: Sega's downloading service has a bit of a [[http://www.sonicretro.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/segaDigital01.jpg typo for HOTD 2]], saying it's rated EC (Early Childhood).

->(However, if you still feel more intricate details are needed, [[UsefulNotes/HouseOfTheDeadPlot we've a page for that]].)

If you want to play a zombie shooter game which emphasizes horror and uses traditional zombies, then you can't go worse than ''House of the Dead''. A great majority of the zombie population in these games either are fast, wield weapons, have supernatural powers, or are just very, very fat. Boss fights are a major example of these deviations, with boss creatures barely resembling "traditional" zombies at all, often taking the form of some freakish abomination.

None of this stops the series from being fun. The sheer ridiculousness of the games makes for some amazing boss battles and fight scenes. Just don't stop here expecting a gripping story, nuanced characters, or some kind of social message.

(However, if you still feel more intricate details are needed, [[UsefulNotes/HouseOfTheDeadPlot we've a page for that]].)

1) Zombies are being untidy and making an administrative burden of themselves.

2) Sharp-dressed agents of the AMS arrive and resolve to stop the crisis.

3) The villain will mention something about the threat of a Malthusian catastrophe (and the first game doesn't even bother with ''that'').

4) But it doesn't matter to the protagonists 'cause they're suffused with the strength to forge on, no matter what! Yeah!

However, if you still feel more intricate details are needed, [[UsefulNotes/HouseOfTheDeadPlot we've a page for that]].

However, if you still feel more intricate details are needed, here's how it goes:

It all begins on December 18th, 1998. [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction AMS agent]] Tom Rogan and his partner [[OneLetterName G]] are sent to deal with a disaster at the converted mansion laboratory of [[MadScientist famed geneticist Dr. Roy Curien]]. Summoned by a distress call from Rogan's fiancee, Sophie, the pair discover the mansion is brimming with droves of undead (and other abominations) created by Curien's research into the unknown. Fighting through the mansion, the agents eventually confront Curien just as he's releasing his final masterpiece: [[HumanoidAbomination The Magician.]] [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters The creature promptly kills Curien]], believing itself to be superior and - after a lengthy battle - is destroyed by the agents. It's all over. TheEndOrIsIt?

On February 26th in the year 2000, the madness begins again. Agent G had tracked remnants of Curien's operation to Venice. When G goes missing, AMS rookies James Taylor and Gary Stewart are sent to investigate and discover that a much larger undead horde has descended upon all of Venice. The pair set off to stop whomever is behind the resurrection of Curien's work. Through G's notes and further investigation, it is discovered that [[TheManBehindTheMan Curien's work was funded by Caleb Goldman,]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the sinister CEO of the DBR Corp.]] [[spoiler:However, Goldman is not interested in monetary gain - rather, he believes that mankind has inflicted too much damage to nature to be allowed to exist at its present capacity, and so [[GaiasVengeance he plans to kill off most of the global population]].]]

Goldman saw great promise in Curien's work, and so he has fused Curien's experiments in genetic manipulation with his own work on the human genome. [[KillEmAll The resulting army of undead threatens not only Venice, but the entire globe.]] The AMS agents fight their way through the older sections of Venice - losing comrades along the way - before making it to Goldman's private skyscraper. James and Gary are then pitted against a resurrected Magician before confronting Goldman himself; Goldman unveils [[PhysicalGod The Emperor, a supremely powerful creature]] designed to rule over nature and "destroy and hate mankind". Upon the demise of The Emperor, [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Goldman commits suicide]]... but not before pledging that a successor would come. Just the ravings of a madman, right...?

Three years later, James Taylor and AMS newcomer Kate Green are gathering information at the fifth basement of the AMS's European branch; James still has the events of the "Goldman Case" on his mind. Suddenly, the building is shattered by an earthquake and infiltrated by undead creatures that look an ''awful lot'' like the monsters Dr. Curien's work loosed on the world; they've already turned the surrounding area into a ruined wasteland. It gets worse when Taylor and Green discover that a nuclear launch is imminent; mutually-assured-destruction is about to glass the globe. Who is responsible for all this? [[MagnificentBastard It turns out that Goldman is responsible]] - ''[[ThanatosGambit from beyond the grave]]'' - [[BigBad for everything]]. James and Kate rush to Goldman's old headquarters to avert the nuclear launch, but Goldman has one last trick up his sleeve: a project codenamed [[MeaningfulName Pandora's Box]]. The project is opened, revealing The World. Even though James and Kate square off against the monstrosity in an epic battle, weakening it greatly, [[{{Determinator}} The World refuses to die]], [[spoiler:forcing James to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice his life]] to destroy The World [[StuffBlowingUp in a massive explosion]]]]. The human race manages to survive yet again...

[[ItGotWorse Fast-forward to 2019]]. Things have gotten much worse since the turn of the millennium; the massive zombie hordes that Goldman posthumously unleashed have brought about worldwide collapse. Tom Rogan managed to track down the source of the endless zombies to an abandoned, monolithic facility. He takes an experienced strike team with him... and doesn't return. Cue his daughter, [[ActionGirl Lisa]], teaming up with Agent G to storm the place and bring her father home safely. Flashbacks reveal the [[StartOfDarkness original catalyst]] that drove Dr. Curien into his dark research: [[LoveMakesYouEvil he sought to save the life of his terminally ill son]], Daniel. Lisa and G reunite with Rogan and then team up with the now-adult Daniel to destroy Curien's final undead legacy: The Wheel of Fate.

The story is far from over, though; who knows what will happen next...

* '''MUTHAFUCKA! IF I HATE ANYTHING MORE THAN MUTANTS, IT'S FLYING MUTANTS! SHOOT TA MAIM!'''

* RecurringBossTemplate

The latest game in the series, the Wii-exclusive ''House of the Dead: Overkill'', is a prequel that takes the unintentionally bad voice acting and runs with it, resulting in a B-movie grindhouse-style presentation. The game's mere existence could qualify as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the series as a whole. Recently, an UpdatedRerelease, ''House of the Dead: Overkill - Extended Cut'' was recently announced for the Playstation3 with Move support.

*** It did. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1M5jU5SprU Someone personally counted]] [[spoiler: 370 of them. ''[[BeyondTheImpossible And that's not everything yet!]]'']]

* [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Gun]]: In ''Overkill'', it's Isaac's favorite guns, the [[spoiler: Gwendolyn]]. It has the power of the automatic shotgun, the range of the handgun, and it has ''[[BeyondTheImpossible INFINITE AMMO]]''. Slightly mitigated by the fact that it doesn't have the crowd control of the shotgun, but why would you need it anyway? To get it, one must clear the "Classic Mode" where you're only allowed to use the default AMS Magnum.

* ForMassiveDamage: Weak points and headshots.

* TragicMonster: Jasper and the Screamer.

* ActionGirl: Varla Guns in ''Overkill'', heavily lampshaded in her introduction voiceover. She slowly turns out to be a FauxActionGirl, though, which is itself lampshaded too, but the ''Extended Cut'', in turn, defies that status by putting her and [[GirlNextDoor Candi Stryper]] in spotlight. Of course, via the all-new exclusive ''Naked Terror'' stage.

* ActionGirl: Varla Guns in ''Overkill'', heavily lampshaded in her introduction voiceover, though she becomes a FauxActionGirl, which is itself lampshaded. Lisa Garland in the third movie.

*** And Kate in 4.
* AlwaysNight: While the first game seems quite dark, all the sequels are closer to "always overcast". Overkill eventually makes it to sunset.

** '''Isaac''': I will rip your balls off!

*** It did. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1M5jU5SprU This troper personally counted]] [[spoiler: 370 of them. ''[[BeyondTheImpossible And that's not everything yet!]]'']]

* FailOSuckyname: Stick Brightling in ''Zombie Revenge''. Just '''look''' at it!

** ''[[PaintingTheFourthWall Overkill]]'' [[IncrediblyLamePun is one long one to]] {{Grindhouse}} films (specifically PlanetTerror).

* NintendoHard: By far one of the most difficult {{Light Gun Game}}s around. Many a player have witnessed the second game's continue screen no less than 10 times in a single run.