| House Of The Dead 4 |
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| 2005 video games | |
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''The House of the Dead 4'' is a Light Gun Arcade Game with a horror theme and the third sequel to the House Of The Dead series of arcade games developed by Sega . It continues the story of the first two games and introduces some new gameplay concepts. In the game, the player controls either James Taylor, from House Of The Dead 2 , or Kate Green, a new character to the series. GAMEPLAY The gameplay of House of the Dead 4 is somewhat different from the previous games, in that a submachine gun is used instead of the handguns of the first two, and the shotgun of the third. The game also features the use of a limited number of grenades that can be thrown to destroy large numbers of enemies. In some points in the game, the player is required to actually shake his (or her) machine gun vigorously in order to escape certain situations such as being grabbed by a zombie. Unlike House Of The Dead III , it has a wide variety of branching paths that is much more like the path system in House of the Dead 2, in that the player can take different paths that eventually lead to the same point in the game's story. STORY The story begins in 2003, three years after the events of House Of The Dead 2 . AMS agents James Taylor and Kate Green are gathering intelligence from the fifth basement floor of the AMS European branch office in Venice. For some reason, James suspects that the Goldman incident of 2000 had not yet ended. The room suddenly shakes violently, which partially collapses the basement, leaving the two agents trapped. Several days later, as they wait for a rescue team, they see a group of undead on the security cameras. Realizing that they are in danger, James and Kate gather all the weapons they can find and wait for the zombies. The zombies eventually break into the room, and the nightmare begins... CHARACTERS
One of the main protagonists from the story of '' House Of The Dead 2 '', James is now a recognized veteran agent in the AMS. Three years after fighting undead for the first time, he must once again take up arms against the legacy of his nemesis, Goldman. In the end, James sacrifices himself to bring hope to the world.
A relatively new recruit into the AMS, Kate has an almost casual attitude in the face of terrible danger. She is also slightly in awe of her current partner, James Taylor, who was one of the participants of the Goldman Incident in 2000. From James, Kate gradually learns to hold onto hope no matter what.
Although dead as of three years before the game, the one-time CEO of the DBR Corporation continues to haunt the AMS to this day. Having anticipated his own death, Goldman has left behind a legacy in the form of rampaging zombies, monstrous mutants and possibly, the end of the world. Goldman believed that the greed and selfishness of humans was destroying the world, but in reality, he never intended to destroy humans or the world. Rather, he wished to "revert humans to their natural state" so that they could no longer endanger the world. On his personal computer in his office in the Goldman Building, Goldman left one final recorded message: "''Ah, yes. There is one thing I forgot. The human race has not been eliminated. Travel north - hope is such a splendid thing.''" What this means, no one but Goldman himself knows.
One of the main protagonists from the stories of House of the Dead 1 and House of the Dead 3. G makes a cameo appearance in one of this game's endings. Following James' sacrifice to destroy the World, G recognizes the fact that the battle is not over yet and promises to take the fight back to the source. With a final wave of his hand, he tells James to rest and leaves the burning remnants of "Pandora's Box" behind. G's future exploits are covered in the story of House of the Dead 3.
In one of the game's endings, a businessman limps on his right leg towards and sits at a desk in the corner of an office. He claims that Goldman was soft and that the wretched humans have no need of hope. This mysterious man also declares that the true end will soon begin and that there is more than one "Pandora's Box". As of now, no one knows this man's identity, but he certainly intends to cause trouble at some point in the future. Note: In one of the endings of House of the Dead III, a mysterious man picks up a vial from the floor of the chamber where the final battle took place. According to Dr. Curien, the vial contains the genes necessary for the animation of the undead. The mystery man says, "It would seem that he failed to understand its true purpose." Although his back is towards the game screen, it can be seen that he is limping on his right leg. It is possible that this mysterious man is the same as the one shown in this game. Monsters
A massive zombie with four arms, wearing only manacles and a loincloth. This behemoth sported a circular balance tattoo on one of its shoulders and its weak point was its mouth, which concealed an elongated thrashing tongue. This creature chased down James and Kate in the sewers near the AMS office basement, repetitively smashing through walls and attempting to step on its prey until it was killed.
What at first glance appears to be a single, giant, mutant spider actually consists of two spiders - one giant spider and a much smaller spider with oversized, giant forelimbs that sits atop the larger one. The weak point of these creatures was the smaller spider itself. The former of the two arachnids had the ability to expel baby spiders and webbing from its maw, while the latter utilized its forelimbs to deflect machine gun fire. These creatures attacked James and Kate within a utility lift shaft but were exterminated.
A dark-blue, sleek-looking humanoid, The Empress wears pieces of armor, including a face-plate, which concealed its weak point. It carries a large, double-ended chainsaw, which could be split into two separate chainsaws. As James and Kate attempt to escape by subway, the Empress pursued them. Using its chainsaws to destroy the train piece by piece, The Empress tried to kill James and Kate as they ran towards the front of the train. However, it was defeated, falling from the train and being crushed on the tracks.
As James and Kate emerge onto the zombie-infested streets of London from an underground shopping district, an obese, green-skinned humanoid almost fell on top of them. This creature has swirling red tattoos on its back and wears a black, fingerless glove on its right hand as well as black sweatpants and sneakers. Although the weak point of this creature was its featureless head, not even that was enough to harm it beyond stopping its rolling attacks and fierce punches. Temperance was finally killed when James and Kate rigged a crane to drop a giant clock face on top of it.
As James and Kate enter the entrance foyer of the abandoned DBR office building, The Star flew down to challenge them to a test of strength, as a parting wish from Goldman. Created by Goldman through the incorporation of The Magician's DNA into its body, The Star is a stark-white humanoid wearing a hooded blood-red trench coat, black trousers and black boots. It carries two short curved swords and bears a huge, diagonal scar across the front of its bare torso (its weak point(. It also had the ability to surround itself in a powerful aura, manifesting energy bolts either to shield itself from harm, or to direct as focused blasts. In the end, The Star was defeated, and exploded in a burst of bright, purple energy.
The final legacy of Goldman and the last evil of "Pandora's Box," The World was meant to hold the key to the hope of the world. If humanity could defeat it, then there was still hope. If not, then humanity was truly lost. Goldman was aware of the possibility that his Emperor project in 2000 could fail due to its premature state. As a result, The World was hidden away underground and allowed to develop for three years following his death, before finally being released in the opening of "Pandora's Box" to fulfill its role as The Emperor's successor. This creature, when it first appeared in the courtyard in front of the DBR office building, was visible only from the waist up. The World resembled a giant, crystalline, humanoid torso with an insectoid head, and had wing-like tendrils sprouting from its back. Although its weak point was unanalyzable, it was found to be a red, vertical slit housed in the center of its chest. The World had the ability to manipulate ice, shaping it into weapons, creating freezing shockwaves and flowers, and calling forth spiraling dragons. As James and Kate dealt away with it, The World continually altered its form, each time growing larger and stronger. Following its second defeat, The World evolved into a full humanoid, which prompted James to set his PDA to self-destruct, enabling him to sacrifice himself to destroy it. James' heroic sacrifice gave hope to humanity and Kate the resolve to never give up hope. HOUSE OF THE DEAD V The mysterious man, who appears in both '' The House Of The Dead III '' and 4 and knows much about Goldman and Curien, implies the storyline of a ''The House of the Dead V'' in the future. All of the bosses in ''The House of the Dead'' have all been named after Major Arcana tarot cards. As of ''The House of the Dead 4'', only three cards remain unused ( The Devil , The Moon , and The High Priestess ), leading to speculation that a ''The House of the Dead 5'' would be the last installment. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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