It's been a long time since I've played a point-and-shoot on-rails action game, so reviewing The House Of Dead 2 & 3 Return from Sega for the Nintendo Wii was a little like riding a bicycle after several years behind the wheel of a go-kart.  I fell back into old habits quickly just in time for Kombo to publish my review of the game.

While there are two distinct games in this package, they both basically play the same. While the visuals have a distinct last generation motif, zombies and monsters appear crystal clear and vivid in detail. Blood and ichor are colored green by default, but can be flipped to red with a setting in the Options menu. The horrifying faces of the dead will haunt players long after the game is over, and while neither game in the set can rival the thrills and frights of the Resident Evil adventures, House of the Dead surely takes the award in overall good ol' fashioned nightmare fuel. Whether or not this is a good thing is left in the judgment of each individual player, but what's the point of creating a horrifying game if it isn't, well, horrifying?

My favorite moment with House has to be a moment where, while crossing a bridge, my character was ambushed by a swamp zombie.  The monster leaped out of the water and up onto the bridge I was crossing, and out of reflex I randomly aimed and fired my shotgun at the beast.  His angry roar turned into a wimpy yelp as I discovered I'd shot him right in the crotch.  The zombie fell back into the river with an undignified splash as I continued on across the bridge.