House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn
Developer(s)Sega Interactive
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Takashi Oda
Producer(s)Masakatsu Watanabe
Designer(s)Akito Konoki
Composer(s)Keitaro Hanada
Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Ryohei Kono
SeriesThe House of the Dead
EngineUnreal Engine 4[1]
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
  • JP: September 13, 2018
  • US: October 2018
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer
Arcade systemSega ALLS

House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn[lower-alpha 1] is a 2018 horror-themed rail shooter arcade game developed by Sega Interactive, and is the fifth title in The House of the Dead series, following the release of The House of the Dead 4 in 2005.

It was scheduled for location testing on January 19–21, 2018 in Akihabara, Japan.[2] It was released in all arcades of Japan on September 13, 2018,[3] and was released in the United States through Dave & Buster's locations in October 2018.[4] The game's release ended a nine-year hiatus for the series for new installments, which began in 2009 with the initial Wii release of the non-canon prequel The House of the Dead: Overkill.

Plot

Sometime between 2006 & 2008, a few years after the events of The House of the Dead 4, AMS agent Kate Green joins forces with Ryan Taylor, the brother of her late partner and mentor, James, on an undercover mission in a dinner event within Scarecrow Manor. The manager unleashes his army of mutant creatures upon the dinner guests. Realizing the threat to the world, Kate and Ryan begin their quest to stop the manager and the outbreak he started.

Within the manor, Kate and Ryan find clues which reveal that the manager, Thornheart, is connected to the late bioterrorists, Dr. Roy Curien and Caleb Goldman. Kate explains that, in 1880, the trio's ancestors formed an organization that was the catalyst for prior incidents that the AMS investigated. Thornheart contracted a fatal disease and was long believed dead, but survived and began developing a project named Noah's Ark after Curien and Goldman's deaths.

Kate and Ryan battle resurrected creatures from the 1998 Curien Mansion incident, The Chariot and The Hanged Man, and a squid-like being named The High Priestess. In a church, they find Thornheart, who states that the purpose of Noah's Ark is bring "new [human] evolution" to the world. He releases The Moon, an aerokinetic tree-like behemoth. The Moon gradually grows larger and stronger; realizing this, Ryan stabs an iron rod through its head. Lightning strikes the rod, electrocuting and killing the creature, which Kate believes was James intervening from the dead.

Just then, Kate and Ryan rest as they watch the sun rise.

Endings

The game has four endings based on the player's performance. Each ending concludes with the text "To be continued in the next HOUSE OF THE DEAD". Unlike the previous games, this is the only game where no ending involves a character transforming into a zombie.

  • Thornheart walks among rows of incubation tanks and says "It's impossible to change a predefined future."
  • In the church, Thornheart claims that the ordeal has only begun, smiling as the camera glitches out.
  • Thornheart stands from his chair and leaves the church, stating that he saw out "the evolution of envy" and vows to follow up with "arrogance".
  • Kate recalls James' motto to never lose hope and keep fighting to the end, before leaving Scarecrow Manor with Ryan.

Characters

  • Ryan Taylor: James Taylor's brother who joins Kate to solve the Scarecrow Manor case.
  • Kate Green: James Taylor's former partner who joins Ryan to solve the Scarecrow Manor case.
  • Thornheart: The manager of Scarecrow Manor who unleashes his army of creatures upon the guests. He is also revealed to be the "Mystery Man" from The House of the Dead III and The House of the Dead 4.

Reception

House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn received mixed reviews from critics. The design of the arcade cabinet was largely cited as atmospheric and eye-catching.[5][6][7] Wilcox Arcade felt the air blasters and vibrating seats were particularly effective.[8] Gamerism also praised these features, but found the cabinet's sound mixing to be poor.[5]

The graphics were generally praised for their high fidelity.[8][9] SEGAbits lauded the inclusion of enemies and bosses from the original 1996 House of the Dead game.[7] However, some critics lamented the lack of violence and felt that the human character animations were unimpressive.[6][9]

Scarlet Dawn's gameplay drew mixed responses. Most critics enjoyed the larger enemy hordes and the added strategy of picking special weapons before each stage.[7][9] Others took issue with the auto reload mechanic.[5][8] Gamerism noted frame rate drops, which they felt added an unfair element to the game's difficulty.[5] The lack of English subtitles was also criticized.[5][8]

The boss fights were criticized for being overly scripted.[5][8][9] Chris Plante of Polygon said that the fights "tend to make it a little too obvious that I’m just pointing a cursor where the game tells me until the health bar hits zero, or I trigger the special move that will deliver the fatal blow."[9] Some critics found the final boss in particular disappointing.[5][8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ハウス・オブ・ザ・デッド ～スカーレットドーン～, Hepburn: Hausu obu za Deddo 〜 Sukāretto Dōn 〜

References

  1. ↑ "HOUSE OF THE DEAD SCARLET DAWN SDLX - Sega Arcade". Sega. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  2. ↑ Romano, Sal (January 14, 2018). "House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn announced for arcades". Gematsu.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Sega Releases House Of The Dead Scarlet Dawn In Japan". Arcade Heroes. September 13, 2018. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Sega's House Of The Dead Scarlet Dawn Headed To All Dave & Busters Locations This Fall". Arcade Heroes. July 9, 2018. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sukjaidee, Phantawit (January 3, 2019). "House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn Review ปลุกตำนานเกมยิงผี" (in Thai). Gamerism.co. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Spin-dash. "SEGA-MAG fiche House of the Dead : Scarlet Dawn sur Arcade" [SEGA-MAG page House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn for Arcade] (in French). SEGA-MAG. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Kori-Maru (October 31, 2018). "Arcade Review: House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn – True Horror Returns". SEGAbits. Archived from the original on December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wilcox, Dustin (February 4, 2019). "House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn (Arcade) Review". Wilcox Arcade. Archived from the original on December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Plante, Chris (October 9, 2018). "House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn review: a throwback to arcade glory days". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020.
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