Sega’s 1998 lightgun shooter horror classic The House of the Dead 2 just got a new remake from developer MegaPixel Studio and publishers Forever Entertainment — and reviewers are tearing it apart. Released on August 7th on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and GOG platforms, its flaws unfortunately outweigh its classic horror charm for many gamers who have played it.
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The game currently has a 38% “Mostly Negative” review score on Steam, with many reviewers expressing a desire to give the remake a chance due to their nostalgic feelings. However, specific changes in this new version, particularly to the characters’ voices, felt unwelcome to some long-time fans despite the gameplay being enjoyable.
“Gameplay is fun and faithful to the og for the most part, but the voice acting is either AI or for some reason trying to sound like it’s AI,” wrote Steam user Towelie. “Either way, it’s horrible. I’ll say mixed for now until the voices change.”
YouTube content creator GmanLives described the game as a “soulless mess” and felt it deserved its low review score on Steam.
“This thing sucks,” said GmanLives in a YouTube video. “Again, it’s one of those instances where something is so bad that it really ends up looking like one of those fake games you see people playing in the background of a TV show or a movie.”
The House of the Dead 2: Remake comes with updated graphics, remastered music, and a local 2-player co-op mode. However, it also disappointed fans when it launched without full support for a light gun, which somewhat detracts from the nostalgic factor that many remember from playing the game in arcade cabinets.
Forever Entertainment, following the launch, has promised that light gun support is now being developed, but has not provided a definitive release date.
“We’re happy to let you know that we’re working on full support for the RS3 Reaper Lightgun in THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake,” wrote the Forever Entertainment account in a recent Steam post. “It’s something many of you have asked for, and we’re excited to bring it to the game. More details will be coming soon, so stay tuned!”
While full support for light guns is currently out of reach for some players, those playing on Switch or the Steam Deck get access to gyro controls that can emulate the feel of a light gun well enough to feel authentic, albeit with a bit of tweaking.
The House of the Dead 2: Remake follows a 2022 remake of the first game released by the same studio and developer. The first House of the Dead: Remake received better reviews than the sequel has so far, but overall still had a mixed score on Steam. It pleased long-time fans with its nostalgic gameplay, but reviewers reported crashing issues and a lack of updates to address them.
It’s unclear if promised features and subsequent fixes to the game post-launch can turn the negative tide of fan sentiments toward The House of the Dead 2: Remake around. After reaching a launch peak of 240 concurrent players, the game has consistently remained in the double digits, making it unlikely that those players would return without significant changes.
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Image courtesy of HBO
