SEGA, please bring this game over to North America!
For the longest time, I’ve been wondering what SEGA was planning to do with their huge back catalog of games. And while I’m still waiting to see some of their more neglected titles put to work, it’s nice to see that they haven’t forgotten all of them. That said, there’s a bunch of news coming from the arcade scene that SEGA is working on a new House of the Dead game – House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn.
For those who aren’t familiar with the game. The last time we saw a HOTD arcade title was back during 2005 – House of Dead 4. Well over ten years, so it’s nice to see a return of the game. House of the Dead: Overkill was released during 2009, but was a console-exclusive title. It was also a spin-off of the main series, so it wasn’t directly tied to it. But hell if it wasn’t fun!
Thanks to multiple sources, including Arcade Heroes, we have a decent description of the game. It’s been confirmed that the title is a sequel to HOTD4, meaning that it still takes place before HOTD3. It is also running on the Unreal Engine 4, which means we’ll see more enemies on the screen – which is fantastic news. The gameplay is similar to HOTD4 and we’ll see a return of Kate Green. James Taylor won’t be around, replacing him will be his brother Ryan Taylor.
There’s so much more going on, but I’ll let this lovely and super informative video from Arcade Heroes explain it. This video is very detailed and does a great job walking what has been seen so far and more.
Update: Footage of House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn played a test location. It looks beautiful if you ask me. I really need to play this. This is the Unreal Engine simply doing amazing things for the game. It looks like World War Z when the zombies are swarming the helicopter.
My thoughts on this? It’s nice to see a revival of the series that I (as well as many) have put so many quarters into. It’s also a bit depressing due to the state of arcades in North America. With so many games coming out, we tend to miss out on them. With the recourse of many is to hope that either Dave & Busters or Round One picks up the game. That said, I’ll be reaching out to all those local chains to make sure this is on their radar.
For more info on the House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, keep an eye on Arcade Heroes.
Now, with House of the Dead being brought back from the.. er, Dead. I hope that this isn’t the only title that SEGA is planning on reviving – in arcades. Sure, we have a new Virtual On, and Daytona USA 3. But there are so many others that need to see the light again. SEGA, if I may suggest a title or two, how about getting to work on a new or rebooted Virtua Fighter or even….. Streets of Rage? I didn’t include Outrun as SEGA doesn’t have the rights to the Ferrari game license. And let’s face it, Outrun without Ferrari just isn’t Outrun.
Source: Arcade Heroes
