Confirming a recent report by Polish games publication Graczpospolita, developer Forever Entertainment has confirmed that it has entered a partnership with Sega to produce remakes of classic arcade shooters The House of the Dead and The House of the Dead 2.
Released in 1996 and 1998 respectively, The two-player light-gun titles hugely overhauled the gameplay of Sega’ previous rail shooter series, Virtua Cop, adding a wealth of gore, secret rooms, more branching paths and a gothic horror aesthetic (though this would eventually give way to a Resident Evil-style “bad science” theme). HotD and HotD 2 are best remembered for their great soundtracks, weird boss characters and hilariously bad dialogue.
The series has since seen several sequels, spin-off titles such as The House of the Dead: Overkill, educational typing and English-teaching variants, a digital pinball game, a weird “zombie lovers” mini-game collection, and two not very good movie adaptations. Hell, even its classic dual-axe-wielding zombie cameos in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph. Quite a varied resume for a simple rail shooter series.
Forever Entertainment are no strangers to classic Sega remakes, with the studio already hard at work on snazzy-looking remakes for Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon: Zwei, first revealed at E3 earlier this year. No platforms or dates have been released for the new House of the Dead titles, with Forever Entertainment asking fans to stay tuned to their social media channels for now.
Forever Entertainment announces House of the Dead remakes [Gematsu]
Source: Destructoid House of the Dead 1 & 2 remakes officially confirmed by Forever Entertainment