Title:Typing Of The Dead By: Sega Released by: Sega Released on: 2001 Rating (out of 10): 9 Date: 06/05/2002
Move Over Mavis Beacon
Leave it to Sega to come up with a totally original game. In the case of Typing of the Dead, it's an old game with a new twist. Yes, Sega's original light gun classic has been remade. Typing of the Dead however, ditches the tired light gun gameplay from House of the Dead 2 and trades it in for a keyboard. This may sound somewhat odd—maybe even a little stupid—but once you try it, you'll be hooked.
A keyboard instead of a light gun? But how do you kill the bad guys with a keyboard? Simple—when an enemy appears on the screen, it will have a word next to it. Just type out the word that's displayed, and you kill the bad guy. Although it is fairly easy at first, the gameplay picks up the pace and begins throwing multiple enemies on screen. As the game progresses, the words you must type get longer and longer.
Typing of the Dead gives you the exact same six levels as House of the Dead 2. No new secret routes, no new levels or bad guys. While this may sound a little cheap if you already own House of the Dead 2, in reality this is a different game all together. It's tough to explain unless you've actually played both games. Once you do, you'll see that playing the game with a keyboard is far different from either a light gun or control pad.
The storyline in Typing of the Dead is pure Resident Evil. You assume the role of AMS agents James Taylor (first player) or Gary Stuart (second player). In the first House of the Dead game (in the arcade and on the Sega Saturn) you investigated some sort of incident involving Zombies at the Curien mansion. This time around, it appears the Zombies are back and all over the city attacking people with a man called Goldman behind it all. Cheesy B movie-sounding huh? That doesn't matter; this isn't an RPG, and the story doesn't really matter much for this type of game.
Depending on certain events, your character will take a different path through the level. Save a certain innocent person, and he/she may give you a key that will open a path to a different area. If however, that person is killed by a zombie, you will take a different path. While the game only has six levels (the last being just the last boss), the several branching paths in each level really help to add to the game's replay value, as the player rarely goes the same way through the game twice.
Gamplay modes include an Arcade mode. This is exactly the same game that appeared in arcades and isn't altered in any way. This is best for players who just want to jump in to the action.
Then there's the Original mode, in which you find different items in the levels and use them in your next game. You may find life power-ups, increased continues, or even extra character costumes. You can only use each item once, though; after that it disappears, and you'll have to find it again.
Next up is a Tutorial mode. This is just a practice mode. Go here if your typing skills really suck or you just need help in a certain area like longer words and timing. Drill mode is sort of another practice mode, used mainly to improve your typing speed. Good for typing novices and intermediates.
Finally, there's the Boss mode. In it you can challenge any of the game's bosses. This one's a little useless, but it's there if you're into that sort of thing.
Graphics: 9
Even a couple of years after its release, I'm still impressed by the graphics. Things are exactly the same as the were in House of the Dead 2—No new graphical details have been added. This is a good thing, since House of the Dead 2 was a very impressive-looking game to begin with. Everything is in High resolution and runs at a steady frame rate of around thirty frames per second.
The detail and texture work is incredible. Hordes of highly detailed zombies fill the screen and rush out to attack the player with no slowdown at all, and depending on where you blast the zombie you will have different hit results. You can blast away at limbs until you blow them off or even chunks of their heads. One dead center hit to the head will lay that zombie down flat.
Sound: 6
Like the graphics, the sound is exactly the same as it was in House of the Dead 2. The music is all OK, with a pretty, haunting theme that fits the game like OJ's glove. The sound effects are all very impressive as well.
Where this game takes a nosedive in the sound is in its horrid voice acting. Forget the acting in the original Resident Evil or Blue Stinger, because Typing of the Dead is worse than either. I will even go as far as saying this is the worst voice acting I have ever heard anyplace, whether it be an anime, movie or game. It's so poorly acted, it's funny. You roll on the floor in laughter as you hear terrified innocents screaming things like, "Don't come!" or crying out "I don't want to die!" Also, the last boss' sinister laugh—words cannot describe how awful this voice acting is; it must be heard to be believed.
Control: N/A
I can't comment on the control in this game, since it all really depends on the player. If you suck at typing, the controls will suck for you. If you're a good typist, you'll have a much easier time. Thanks to the addictive nature of the game, even the worst typist will be typing like a pro after playing this game enough.
I should note that Typing of the Dead can only be played with the Dreamcast keyboard. If you don't own one or intend to buy one, then this game is unplayable. The Dreamcast keyboard is still fairly easy to find and well worth it, even if you buy it just to play this game.
Overall, I quite enjoy Typing of the Dead. In some ways I prefer it to the original House of the Dead 2. The gameplay just feels so much the same but so different at the same time. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes to type or gamers just looking for something a little different. I would also highly recommend this game to those who can't type all that well; the game is bound to help you improve that skill. Great job Sega—I'd love to see a few more original titles like this.
