NomanFun: The House of the Dead

Friday 12 September 2014

The House of the Dead

The House of the Dead is a rail shooter light gun game. Players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching enemies. The characters' pistols use magazines which hold 6 rounds; players reload by shooting away from the screen. A set of torches next to the magazine of each player represents remaining health. When a player sustains damage or shoots a civilian, one of their torches is removed. The player dies when all torches are lost. First-aid packs are available throughout the game which restore one torch. These are found either in the possession of civilians whom the player has rescued or inside breakable objects. Similarly, there are also special items located in breakable objects that will grant a bonus to whoever shoots it.

Throughout the course of the game, players are faced with numerous situations in which their action (or inaction) will have an effect on the direction of gameplay. This is exemplified in the opening stage of the game when a civilian is about to be thrown from the bridge to his death. If the player saves the civilian, they will enter the house directly through the front door; however, if the player fails to rescue the civilian, the character is redirected to an underground route through the sewers. If the player rescues all civilians, a secret room full of lives and bonuses is revealed toward the end of the game.

On December 18, 1998, Agent Thomas Rogan receives a distressing, short phone-call from his fiancé, Sophie Richards at the Curien Mansion, the home and laboratory of Dr. Roy Curien, a renowned biochemist and geneticist. Together with his partner Agent G, they arrive on the scene at the Curien Mansion, amidst a series of ominous occurrences and disappearances at the mansion, to immediately discover the estate overrun with hellish creations. A mortally wounded man gives them a small field journal showing information of all of Curien's deadly creations and their weak points. It is used every time the player(s) are confronted by a boss.

Curien was obsessed with discovering the nature of life and death, supported by the DBR Corporation and its own team of scientists. However, Curien's relentless pursuit of this goal led him to grow insane, with his behavior growing more erratic and the nature of his experiments beginning to take a gruesome turn. Curien's plan for his research ultimately resulted in the release of his experimental subjects into the world. Wasting no time, they storm inside the mansion in order to find and save Sophie, where they witness first-hand the terror unleashed by Curien's zombies and abominations.

When Rogan and "G" arrive at the mansion, they find Sophie, but is just as soon captured by a gargoyle-bat like abomination called the Hangedman, who steals away to the mansion. They find her again in an empty room, but she is knocked against a wall by Chariot, a gray armored supersoldier carrying a blood stained halberd. Rogan and "G" defeat Chariot, then they tend to Sophie, who seemingly dies. Rogan, in a fit of rage, goes off to avenge his fiancé by seeking out Hangedman. They find him, where he intends to stop them at an old balcony. He proves himself formidable, but after enough wounds, he succumbs to his wounds and falls to his death. After Hangedman is defeated, Rogan and "G" meet Curien who escapes and releases a spider-crab like thing named Hermit. They defeat the creature and continue on.

Upon confronting Curien a second time, the AMS agents are to encounter his masterpiece, The Magician, a humanoid demon-esque creature, which possesses a mastery of fire. After Curien releases muhammadasadmughal.blogspot.com the creature from its incubation chamber, the Magician reveals itself to be self-aware, refusing to serve any master and Dr. Curien is killed by his creation. To prevent the Magician from escaping the mansion and destroying the world, Rogan and 'G' confront the creature in one final battle. They succeed in destroying Curien's monster and are then given one last, chilling warning from the Magician.

The Magician explodes. Rogan and 'G' leave the mansion, taking one last look at it from the outside.

There are, however, alternate endings that the player can achieve upon completing the game. One ending, in which the camera pans to the foyer one last time; the doors open, revealing Sophie to be alive, running towards the camera saying "Thank you!", another shows Sophie has now become one of the undead—the last corpse remaining, all depending on the player's final score and the number of continues used.