Introduction

As someone who loved arcades as a kid, one of my favorite cabinets to play was The House of the Dead 2. The cheesy story, the light gun feel, and the many… many coins wasted made every play better than the last. I had always hoped that like The House of the Dead 1, the sequel would also get a remake treatment — and now I kind of wish I didn’t make that wish. Yeah, that old saying “be careful what you wish for” applies here. Here’s my review of The House of the Dead 2: Remake for the PS5!

Gameplay

Akin to any on-rail shooter, the premise is simple: players shoot enemies on screen — in this case, zombies and other evil baddies — while movement is on autopilot. Along the way, you’ll have to save humans from various threats and choose specific paths when the event arises. Then you’ll face a final stage boss — or more than one on the final chapter — and pray your shooting skills are ready. What I will always love about The House of the Dead 2 is every playthrough can feel a bit different. Notice, however, I didn’t say The House of the Dead 2: Remake. I beat the remake several times and honestly… booted up the original to play the superior version. The remake isn’t a bad game, but compared to the original — which came out 26 years ago — it just feels lackluster. Gameplay-wise, aiming — which can only be done with a controller since light guns don’t work on modern TVs — feels slow and super imprecise. Even The House of the Dead: Remake felt tighter aiming-wise. Both were done by MegaPixel Studios S.A., yet they feel worlds apart. At the very least, there’s plenty to do once you roll the credits: different weapons, score-based modes, and couch co-op. But even playing with my dad — who loved the original — didn’t make the remake a great time. The gameplay just feels lacking, and that’s only the beginning of my complaints.

Graphics

The House of the Dead 2: Remake at first glance looks 100x better than the old blocky 1998 version. But when you analyze the environments, enemy designs, and even bosses, the new shine doesn’t improve things. The gothic settings are too modern, and enemy designs don’t carry the creepiness of the originals. The boss designs are overly shiny, and the character models lost their charming, quirky looks. A simple update would have been better than what we got here.

Sound

Even the music and sound feel off. Thankfully, the original music can be turned on, which I vastly prefer. The new soundtrack just doesn’t hit the same. As for the voice acting… it’s genuinely bad. The original was campy and cheesy, and that worked. The new performances feel like they’re trying to be bad — and fail. Goldman sounds like a racist southern villain, which makes no sense. The rest of the cast sounds uninterested or overly theatrical. I would have preferred compressed OG voice work over this.

Story

To its credit, The House of the Dead 2: Remake doesn’t mess with the story too much. That’s a good thing. Set in 1998 following the Curien Mansion Incident, AMS once again battles a zombie outbreak — this time in Italy. They’re searching for G, a returning character, but instead uncover a new threat in Goldman, who wants to revive The Magician. It’s campy, chaotic, and fun in concept, with multiple endings adding replay value. But the new dialogue and voice acting drag it down.

Overall Impression

Maybe I love the original too much, but The House of the Dead 2: Remake doesn’t appeal to me. Yes, it has content and co-op, but none of it feels as good as the original. Not every game needs a remake, and this one proves why. If you’re new to the series or can’t play the original, it’s serviceable. But longtime fans should probably avoid it.

Conclusion

The House of the Dead 2: Remake is just bad on so many levels. I heard the PC version was even worse, which is why I waited for the console version. Unfortunately, even on PS5, the game plays terribly. The visuals are underwhelming, the voice acting is cringe-worthy, and the music doesn’t compare. Ultimately, this remake just reminds me why I love the original — and why I’ll keep playing it instead.

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—Aaron