house of the dead 4 feels like a mix of the last two games in one, with 2's multiple paths and campier writing with 3's darker tone and post apocalyptic vibes and it works really well, and though i don't think it's quite as good as either of these games i still think it's a great mix! the darker tone makes for some genuinely scary levels and it makes the game a lot more tense and it even makes the story a little more interesting, though i still think 3's just better in that regard, it just doesn't hit as hard although the characters are all still really fun and it has a few cool cameos too for some really cool fanservice. it's a story mostly doing what 3 did for the 1 cast, this is doing for the two cast, goldman shows up and you even do a recreation of 2's final two levels with an egier version of the magician fight (i love him god he looks so edgy :) ) it's a farther passing of a different torch, though being a game set before 3 it also does a lot to set that game up, especially in 4SP which very directly references things to come. 4 has much more of a sense of style than any of the previous games, it looks very cool with all of the cutscene effects, a more experimental OST almost reminiciant of something from armoured core rather than a sega game and some really nice voice synthesis samples similar to something from lain or a grasshopper game. the sense of style feels very much, not necessarily experimental but more like games that are, it has a real ps360 sophistifuture vibe that's far more reminiciant of something like mindjack or vampire rain than it is a more traditional sega game, at least with how the game looks, it's like a sophistifuture world that's been destroyed and dirtied up, the remnants of that future and i love it, it's a good vibe and the later levels even show what it might have looked like before with shiny fancy areas that show off all the effects they crammed into it, it has a lot of shine to it, from the clothes with kate's skirt and the levels having that ps3 sheen to them, very mindjack like i said, it feels ahead of its time in that regard since this was a 2005 game originally and a lot of those trends in my eyes really only started in 06/07.

the levels housing this style are also very cool, where 3 was more focused on the labs and the offices 4 is much more of an urban game like 2 was, with places like a subway, an underground mall and several street level levels and i love all of them, the mall and the subway especially, despite being shorter segments both look amazing, i love all the little detailed storefronts and the escalator area in the subway has a really cool look to it with the shiny textures and the lighting. the levels take more influence from 2 than 3 with how they work too, you have multiple points, sometimes multiple in a level where you can choose your direction, sometimes its a clear choice between two and sometimes its based on weather you can succeed in a QTE shaking your controller or shooting something in the environment, it gives it a TON of replayability because it has far more variables than 3 does, you'll need to do at least 3 playthroughs to see everything here, even the 2 levels in SP have some variety, with the first SP level having at least one branch to it. the music accompanying the levels is great too, it's a fantastic electronic OST that like i said feels almost like an armored core OST at times, it's very different to how the earlier games sounded, but some old themes do return too and they sound good! the remix of the 5th level theme from 2 especially felt like a welcome one, it's so jazzy and works as a change of pace from the rest of the ost, bullet of death and decomposition of dance are my personal favourites, you can even hear the cool voice sampling in bullet of death! it's probably the most interesting ost in the series, though i think it's less iconic to me than the first three because of how different it feels, super listenable though. it was done primarily by makito nomiya, who's worked on a lot of the project diva series and a personal favourite of mine, fighting vipers!

the gameplay has changed a lot too this time around, you have a new gun in the form of a submachinegun which actually has a motion sensor in it in the arcade version, which the ps move and the sixaxis in the ps3 version replicates, though not very well for the sixaxis (you'll want a ps move for this one). the motion sense plays into it in a big way too, zombies will grab you, you'll need to do some environmental interactions and you use it to reload your gun, where 3 let you do it by pushing a button, it can be a little tiring on your hand though and i do wish the reload button was kept. the change of weapon really changes up how its played though, headshots are much easier to get and much more deadly which leads to the game's other gimmick that helps make up for how much easier the shooting is, hordes, the enemy count here is far larger than the first three, it's less than scarlet dawn but much more than any of the other games, you'll be swarmed and overwhelmed frequently in solo play. i think this works really well though and it's super satisfying to mow down like 20 on your own! does make the game a lot easier overall too, even some bosses here are a cakewalk, i'm not sure ive ever been hit by the spider or the first form of the (very cool looking, the crystal effects on that thing are amazing) final boss. you also get given granades to deal with them and they even have a few unique interactions with some of the bosses, they're useful but i do always forget to use them up until i hit the bosses.

it's still nice and short too, an hour or so, a little longer than 3 and you have even more replayability, plus they also throw the epilogue acting game, house of the dead 4 SP in as a bonus after you beat the campaign, this was originally a whole new machine with cool effects like a moving cabinet and air blowers and it's fully canon too, it's not very long, maybe 15 mins at most and only has 2 levels with one route variation, it even reuses a boss, but it's a nice bonus and that final boss is really fun, but the final QTE shot is very difficult, i've only ever hit it once. port-wise this is also your only real option, it never came to anything else, but it's cheap and easy to download, no physical copy sadly. 4 was eventually followed up by overkill and it's directors cut and the very similar playing scarlet dawn, which has sadly never been ported out of arcades. this specific game was actually not done by wow, or at least not credited to them, who had did the previous three games but instead by a different team of people headed by takashi oda, the series director, though it did share many staff members from those earlier games, 10 people from 3 to be exact and it's most of those people who would also go on to make the later scarlet dawn and blood will tell, as well as sharing a lot of talent with ps2 altered beast!