THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD Remake Recensie (Xbox Series X|S & PlayStation 5 & PC)

It used to be that a faithful remake of an arcade game could fly under the sails of nostalgia alone, and that it wouldn’t need innovation to guide it. The House of the Dead, being one of the few haymakers of arcade cult hits, was one of the select few that could navigate a turbulent storm in a steamboat. Nostalgia could drive it, and fans would still wade through a tsunami to find an opportunity to relive old memories. It didn’t need to reinvent the wheel; it just needed to add a little extra elbow grease to the infrastructure to give it that spring in its step.

Given that we’ve traveled just shy of three decades to reach The House of the Dead, it feels like the perfect homecoming gift for fans of the 1997 original. In the shadow of modern-day on-rails shooters, it looks frail, old, and fickle to the touch. But in the eyes of those who grew up with the franchise, it feels like home. Or at least, like an old house at the end of the “wrong part of town” that you just can’t help but love to visit. That is House of the Dead, in a nutshell: an old friend that you know is severely lacking in attributes, but is still one who you can rely on to get your quick fix.

Equipped with two game modes, The House of the Dead offers you the chance to soak up its Story—a brief thirty minute adventure that, frankly, remains as pulpy as ever—as well as Horde, which essentially acts as a similar experience, but with more undead waves to carve through. But other than that, the remake keeps to a similar baseline, with light gun-like action, automatic movement, and god-awful one liners that fit the time and theme perfectly.

The addition of Horde feels like a solid compliment for the base game I’ll admit. Sadly, it doesn’t add a lot more than a plethora of zombies to the game, though. Oh, it gives you a new challenge to sink your teeth into, but it also fails to add a hunk of meat to the bone, so to speak. With that said, it makes for a nice addition, as does the local co-op mode that Remake brings to the table. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t offer the option to play online. A small gripe, but one that is likely to detract the die-hard multiplayer fan, nonetheless.

Of course, there is a storyline here, but to be honest, it comes across as more of an afterthought. Think good-versus-evil, agent-versus-mad scientist who wants to eradicate all of mankind, and you should have a vague idea of what it’s all about. It has lore somewhere, but unfortunately, it never takes the time to fill you in on the details. Rather, it drops you in at the deep end, and it tells you to unleash hell on waves of undead monsters. There are three endings to unlock, but to be honest, these don’t make much of a difference to the overall gameplay. Plus, I can’t think of any reason one would want to play The House of the Dead for its plot.

If you’re familiar with arcade on-rails shooters, then you’ll be pleased to know that The House of the Dead is still in possession of its original heart. With added gameplay features that allow you to operate with a controller or a light gun, the remake mostly keeps to the same routine, but also adds a little extra variety in the combat experience itself. And that’s great, as it proves that some things don’t require a drastic change to work on modern hardware. Granted, it’s still a little finicky, but it does feel like a love letter to the source, and not a shameless imitation that lacks the original bone structure of a cult classic.

The gameplay loop, too, remains the same as before. Like most on-rails shooters of its kind, it involves traipsing around claustrophobic corridors, peppering bullets in undead bodies, impulsively reloading, and attempting to quell a grand scheme that looks to destroy humanity. And for the most part, that’s all that you’re doing here: spraying bullets at enemies, and slowly working through clustered environments en route to an action-packed climax. It’s a simple, old-school bullet hell that, although without a proper plot or any major character development, gets the blood flowing and the itchy trigger finger pulsating. Frankly, you don’t need much more than that.

True to the core principles of an on-rails shooter, The House of the Dead Remake has a variety of weapons to choose from, as well as in-game lives that act as a crutch for whenever you fall. There are also points that you can earn with each passing kill, which can be used to purchase additional lives once the tenth has been depleted. Again, textbook arcade bits and pieces. In a modern world, these might seem trivial. Though, The House of the Dead isn’t an ode to evolution; it’s a window to the past that keeps every piece of the pie intact, warts and all.

Suffice it to say, from a technical standpoint, you can expect to unveil your fair share of broken teeth here. From general lagging to graphical glitches, irritating freeze frames to janky animations — The House of the Dead does, unfortunately, have a lot of unsavory bits and pieces to spare. And that’s a shame, really, as it clearly makes for a much better experience than the original. Even with a fresh lick of paint, though, it still struggles to meet the modern standard.

Verdict

The House of the Dead Remake is an ideal substitute for the average die-hard fan of the arcade classic, but not so much for the innovation-seeking hardcore FPS gamer, given that it lacks the technical polish and graphical complexity of a well-rounded successor. With some irritating performance issues, awkward combat mechanics, and a general lack of flair, it works as a love letter to the shoddiness of old-school arcade shooters, but falls short as a full-fledged remake.

Let it be said that, if you have been waiting decades for a chance to bring The House of the Dead to your own front room, then you’ll be delighted to know that the remake has the potential to scratch that itch of yours. If you’re hoping for a big-budget shooter that minces tradition with modern innovation, however, then you might be sorely  disappointed with the offerings on display here. Don’t get me wrong, there is something to fall in love with here. You just need to be firmly aware of what you’re getting into before picking up the light gun.