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The House of the Dead 2
Developer	AM1
Publisher	Sega
Released	September 9th, 1999 (Dreamcast)
Genre	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Platform(s)	Arcade, PC, Dreamcast, Xbox
Input methods	Light gun, 1 button
Arcade cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Sega NAOMI
Arcade display	Raster horizontal orientation

The House of the Dead 2 is a light gun arcade game with a horror theme and the first sequel to the House of the Dead series of video games, developed by Sega for video arcades in 1998 and later ported to the Dreamcast, PC, and Xbox as an unlockable bonus in The House of the Dead III, and will appear in the upcoming compilation House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return for Wii. The Dreamcast version became one of the few Sega All Stars titles.

The House of the Dead 2 is a rail shooter light gun game. It includes an auto-reload feature that allows players to point their guns off-screen to reload their weapons without pulling the trigger. It also incorporates a branching path system that allows players to take a variety of different routes leading to the same point in the game's story.

The game would serve as the springboard for the arcade, Sega Dreamcast, and PC release The Typing of the Dead, as well as the inspiration for the Game Boy Advance game, The Pinball of the Dead.

The flashbacks to the first The House of the Dead in the game's introductory sequence were recorded using the game's engine. Until shortly before the game's release, the first The House of the Dead 1 game was to be offered as a digitally remastered extra after completing the game; however, due to bugs that would have delayed the game beyond the launch of the Dreamcast system, it was removed entirely.

James and Gary as seen in a flashback to the events of The House of the Dead 2

The game follows the fictional events of February 26, 2000, two years after the Curien Mansion incident taking place in The House of the Dead. The secret international agency, AMS, has launched an investigation concerning the cause of the Curien case, in order to prevent the world from experiencing a similar outbreak. Strange occurrences, however, are reported to be taking place in the city of Venice, Italy, the last known location of AMS agent "G," who has gone missing. Agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart are dispatched along with Amy Crystal and Harry Harris to investigate and evacuate the populace. Upon finding "G", alive but wounded, James and Gary are met with an undead horde developed by Caleb Goldman, the president of the eminent DBR Corporation and an expert on the genome theory who funded the late Dr. Curien's experiments.

While converging on Goldman's headquarters, James and Gary face many formidable foes, including Judgment (Type 28) consisting of an imp-like monster Zeal and his headless, axe-wielding puppet Kuarl, an aquatic beast which heads an assault on Venice's waterways and Central Plaza, The Hierophant (Type B 05), segmented serpent-like beasts stalking the sewer system known as The Tower (Type 8000), and Strength (Type 205), a chainsaw-wielding zombie which wounds Harry and chases James and Gary throughout a labyrinth. Curien's masterpiece, The Magician (Type 0), is also resurrected by Goldman to oversee the birth of The Emperor (Type α), designed to "rule, destroy, and hate mankind". Being in its prototype stage, the Emperor was not as strong as Goldman would have hoped, and fell to the AMS agents, leading Goldman to commit suicide by throwing himself off the roof of his building, but not before threatening that "..in time, a successor shall come".

Players are given different endings based on the following conditions:

• If a solo game was finished as either player 1 or 2
• If both players defeated the last boss
• Number of continues
• Points earned

The players will be able to see an "audience", or a zombified Goldman, or even Thomas Rogan, contingent on the conditions aforementioned.

• The House of the Dead 2 at the Killer List of Videogames
• The House of the Dead 2 Dreamcast review at GameSpot