The House of the Dead III

This game is pretty addicting, but eventually the same kills do get a little less fun, and DO NOT do co-op unless you have unlocked the unlimited credits bonus by beating the game on normal (Or hard), cuz me and my best friend have tried to beat it so we could unlock house of the dead 2 as a playable, and we got lucky cuz on the final boss we were out of credits, my friend was dead, and i had 1 HP left, and right before he delivered an attack that that would make me want to smash my console, I took a blind shot and finished him. The graphics are cool though, and the bonus missions are really cool in the 2nd house of the dead you can unlock by beating the game. 8/10

I base this upon the version of both this and the game immediately preceding it, released for the Wii. For those considering getting this for that console, one thing you will notice from early on is that the level of how challenging they are get an upgrade from how they already are, since you can't reload without moving the cursor off-screen, and, perhaps related to that, you can't aim at the very sides/corners. With that said, outside of finding this in an actual arcade, this is the sole way you can play this with actual "firearms"; I personally got the Shoot Active Gun(yeah... talk about bland name) and the Overkill Hand Cannon, both from Big Ben Interactive, and while the former is less straining when you use them in excess of ten minutes or so, either is definitely worth the purchase; instantly responsive and really awesome. Obviously, they take Wii-Motes stuck into them(you'll want to take the string out, well, for the smaller of them, the other has a solution to it), and you have to calibrate them(for some reason or another, they tend to drop somewhat in precision slowly, especially if you point it away from the sensor for extended periods during the pauses). Back to this specific title; it ties up the trilogy, or sort of tries to, at least. There is back-story for the 1998 one. The plot is fine, and, hey not a carbon copy of the others. Rogan is captured out on a mission. Normally, the IMF would disavow all knowledge... I mean AMS... oh, right, sorry, wrong second sequel to a recent series. Anyway, his daughter and his former partner team up(regardless of whether you play by yourself or not... huh... yeah, that's awkward, seeing as how he isn't AI-controlled in that situation; I guess that's because you now do not rescue hostages(there are none), you try to save each other; on that, I would suggest that you do not play Co-Op, unless both are ready to pull their own weight; this is the first of them where that is the case), two weeks after he ceases all contact with them. Why a fortnight? ...hell, I don't know. It doesn't take a full fortnight to get devoured, does it? They seem so hungry... anyway, I believe the pace has been kicked up a notch. At points, I was convinced that George Lucas helmed this... you know, "faster, more intense". You'll also realize that, yes, you get shotguns, but they certainly do take longer(if basically by a fraction of a second) to reload, and the amount of enemies... well, "How many of these things are there?" is asked near the beginning of this; a ton. There are six difficulty settings or so, however, it's so tough, you have to practice and a lot of it still requires near-perfect timing just to get by. This is why I don't think I can legitimately call myself a gamer; I can't get into that idea. If it frustrates you and has you coming back mainly by you refusing to not be able to complete it, I mean... if you make it fun(and to be fair, this *is* entertaining), people will be coming back. This does have unlockables, and several of them make it less near-impossible(apart from that, all you can do is practice until you gradually improve). With that said, a few of the bosses are downright abusive. They feel familiar; I think they hit on all the best fight types in the 2 previous ones, so here they have to copy themselves. "Death", in spite of being called that, is a pale imitation of "Strength", The Bad-ass. They did come up with cool designs for them as well as the main zombies. This doesn't have a lot of modes of play... no training(I guess they figured the Tutorial Movies were enough), no Original... merely the regular one, Time Attack(can't waste a single moment as they tick away... good luck) and Extreme(yup, harder... yes, because that is exactly what this needed). You do get to choose the order of three of the chapters(6 total... or is it 5?), in a very direct, straightforward manner(you can't choose routes, though; in fact, I have to wonder if this was rushed, because so many things in this reek of it). This is short, about the same as the others(since the human wrist and hand can only take so much punishment). I'd say that's the reason for what a trial it is to beat; may I make a suggestion? Power-ups that alter the game-play in various ways. Like an SMG, for one thing. You know, you guys did that with II; did you forget how to, in the 3 years between them? The breaks between the bits where taking out the walking dead are way too big, and you almost get bored before you can blow them away again. It's nice that you can store Life that you don't have "room for", unlike how it is in the others(where it is lost). The voice acting is decent; I get the sense that they could do superior performances if the dialog wasn't so forced. Maybe it's the translation - perhaps it's too literal, and meaning disappears in the process - I don't know. The fortune cookie lines return. With that said, a couple of jokes did make me laugh. This has great gore, and the hits here give the impression of actual, physical impact to an extent not seen in the ones before this. The graphics are marvelous, there is a brand new range to the faces that are now rather articulated, and the movements, that come off pretty natural now. There is bloody, brutal and constant violence in this, plentiful disturbing content, and absolutely nothing else that censors might care about. I recommend this to fans of the franchise, particularly those who enjoy(or tolerate, lest your TV or monitor ends up with a joystick thrown through it) when it is obnoxiously unforgiving. 7/10