Polish developer Forever Entertainment has confirmed that they will be remaking Sega’s classic light gun arcade shooters House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2. Forever Entertainment has previously been attached to remakes of the Sega Saturn-era rail shooters Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei.
Forever Entertainment confirmed the deal for remakes of House of the Dead and its sequel on Twitter, posting that they’ve “sign[ed] the agreement regarding remakes of the games” but that they’re not ready to announce a release schedule or planned available platforms yet. Earlier rumors speculated that the games would be remade for the Nintendo Switch, like the Panzer Dragoon remakes will be.
The House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2 games were originally arcade exclusives played with light guns by Sega that debuted in 1996 and 1998. The House of the Dead series asks the player to rely on your reflexes and light gun skills to save civilians from zombies and other creatures, and being a coin-op game it can be a bit tough. Sega released both games later for their home consoles the Saturn and the Dreamcast, with an additional version for Windows PC.
The first House of the Dead games are probably best remembered for the extra-cheesy and very memorable “quality” of the voice acting, especially the sequel and its first boss duo Judgment and Zeal. Zeal’s voice lines persist to today as something of a weird meme. Hopefully if Forever Entertainment decides to redo the voice acting with their remake they include an option for the hilariously bad original audio too.
More information from developer Forever Entertainment should follow soon as their House of the Dead remake project progresses, including how exactly they will choose to adapt the twitchy light gun controls for today’s audiences and hardware. Maybe the developer will even find a way to incorporate a Typing of the Dead mode that can be played with compatible keyboards on consoles?
Forever Entertainment’s debuted a bit of their Panzer Dragoon remake for the Nintendo Switch at this year’s E3, showcasing the clear improvement to the Saturn-era visuals as well as updates to the controls to make them feel a little smoother while playing. If the progress of the Panzer Dragoon remake is any indication, it looks like the House of the Dead series is in capable hands.