Reviews from

in the past


Uhhh wow didn't expect to clear this in one go! I don't consider myself particularly adept at light gun shooters; I feel accomplished to get to chapter 4 in Dreamcast HOTD2. This is far, far easier than that which is apparent in just about every facet of gameplay (forced auto-reload, generous hitboxes, the default settings for the game's HOTD2 port being "very easy"/5 lives/9 continues)...not exactly what keeps me coming back obsessively to its predecessor, because it's not like memorization and mastery are really rewarded without getting creative -- but I will definitely be going for other endings/a no continue run. Strong bosses though, and the light rifle is a fantastic and hilarious piece of hardware

cool settings, great characters, nice story. just an overall amazing experience.

Fun light-gun game with some of the most hilarious voice acting and characters out there; trying to look badass and looking all goofy. SEGA is a master on that stuff. Is impossible to play a game from this saga and take it seriously for more than 2 minutes.

(Played it as part of the House of the Dead Compilation for Nintendo Wii).

One of the best rail shooters made. Pump shotguns on a an arcade machine is pretty funny.

Enjoyed playing this with my brother


não me entenda mal esse jogo e ruim, mas os proximos e tão ruim q passei a gostar desse.

I love the graphical updates and the change of main weaponry. I never knew shotguns as you main weapon could make you feel so powerful. It's satisfying to hold and reload the miniature gun too for arcade.

Very fun and replayable arcade on-rails shooter. The game has not aged that well in terms of graphics and animations but it still offers a ton of fun gameplay with the zombie-themed enemies. The shotgun is great. Voice acting is cheesy and also great.

def a downgrade from 1 and 2 in most ways, but I still had a solid amount of fun with it. Whereas the first two games have lots of encounters with 1-4 zombies of various different types in various different scenerios, this game likes to just throw zombies all over you in huge waves. The auto-reloading and large shotgun shot radius means that it doesn't get overwhelming to blast through the increased enemy count, but it does make the game feel less carefully balanced. The biggest core gameplay change is how the levels aren't dynamic anymore, where now you just get to choose which order you play the middle 3 levels in. The visuals are a bit grittier, the soundtrack is much more dramatic, and the plot takes itself a bit more seriously. Definitely a bit of a departure from the more goofy shenanigans of the first two games. It's definitely still a house of the dead game, I just found it rather bland compared to its predecessors.

shoutouts to the PS move controller for working surprisingly well here though, it was easier to calibrate accurately than even the wii zapper.

a fine installment but pales compared to 2.

When thinking about the overall structure of this game, it's considerably weaker than HOTD2 or HOTD4.
But wielding the arcade machine's shotgun and pumping it to reload is such an incredibly satisfying feeling that I will not give the game less than 4 stars, fuck you.

Major graphical improvement over the previous titles, but doesn't hit the nostalgia spot in quite the same way.
That said, holding a massive shotgun for this one in the arcade has never made me feel more powerful. Guns are amazing, aren't they?

shotgun was the best feature and holds up well to the second game. 2nd best in the series in my opinion and its very close to being the best.

A significant change in direction and tone for the franchise, The House of the Dead III was somewhat more gritty, and took itself a bit more seriously than the previous titles. At least, that's how I see it. The zombies are gorier, there's less kooky types of enemies (but still present. A zombie security guard the size of building with a skull-bejeweled club and a big stupid-ass Sloth is still goofy stuff) and the story seems to try taking itself more seriously, topped off with voice-acting that sounds more genuine and with a sense of direction.

The gameplay itself is still rock solid, despite the shotgun being so big and bulky. I also like how much more score-oriented this game is compared to the 2nd title, encouraging quick kills and finding collectables. All-in-all, it's a fine entry to the series, and the end of this franchise's high-point, in my opinion.

Also, all the zombies sound like dogs and monkeys.

Playing this in the arcades was a pain because the controller was a long and heavy shotgun that made your arms sore just after a few minutes. Was it satisfying to use? Definitely. But by the end of a single stage, you'll be hoping the cutscene is a long one so you get a decent break. The bosses are also the worst in the series, and all of them are pretty agonizing to fight against due to weak points being annoying to hit most of the time. The Xbox port is good just for the fact you don't have to use a heavy shotgun controller to play. Also the port allowed you to unlock HOTD 2, which was always nice.

Revisiting HOTD3 this year was unfortunately not fun because the design kinda nosedived.

The maps are boring and the bosses are significantly cheaper than any other entry, I remember barely touching HOTD3 when playing HOTD2+3 Returns on the Wii, and I can kinda see why.

Super fun and replayable shooter, and really satisfying to go back and beat as an adult, knowing how much trouble me and my cousin had with this when we were kids

I love the gunplay. The final boss is my favorite final boss in the whole series, also like the sloth boss...that's about it.
The rest of the bosses suck micro dick and stall for soo long. I love replaying the HOTD series except this one, it's short (THANK GOD) and doesn't even have a boss rush mode to replay one of the best final bosses in the series. The rest of the gameplay is mid dull same blah blah, such a shame cause the zombie death animation corpse moving, an aoe shotgun and zombies still moving without body parts plus the gunplay and reload time is so good but wasted on a short cash grab, also prefer the save your teammate parts rather than saving a random npc

My personal favourite of the games due to nostalgia. I like how the voice acting actually slowly got better starting from here (until Scarlet Dawn) and the new ranking system makes runs feels so satisfying when you get a high rank.

So I played through this with a friend in couch co-op on the Wii with the Wii Zappers immediately after running through House of the Dead 2 and, while I still had a great time with it, it was an obvious downgrade in most regards. The gunplay wasn't quite as satisfying and the bosses weren't nearly as good, however, I still ended up enjoying my time with it. It's worth a play for sure, it's just not quite as good as the game it's following up.

Gameplay: Good
Story: OK
Controls: Good
Graphics: Good (for its time)
Length: Good

this is the best of the series dont at me using the shotgun at the arcade you feel great multiply ending depending on ur paths for replay abilities somewhat biggest and only downside is final boss its bullshit if you get to final boss and die consider that a win you will save alot of money trust me

A fine installment in the series a Xbox console exclusive for a while, using a shotgun feels amazing and the new setting is fun. The gore is even more gorier and the humour is toned down, but it's still fun classic Sega light gun action. But now on a Xbox.

Didn't know that The House of the Dead has more than 2 games but I like it anyway.


Nothing makes you feel so powerful then mowing zombies I mean Creatures with a shotgun.

House of the dead III is in retrospect a fun game but is it the best in the series? I personally do not think so. It certainly its the game that makes you feel the most powerful no doubt in my mind. The shotgun even with a controller feels like you are hitting your targets. Even playing it at the arcade there is no doubt SEGA wanted you to feel like a badass from the Start. I think this one is the easiest of the Numbered House of the dead, but they for sure throw you in the ringer for the last boss which is easily the HARDEST in the franchise IMO. Clear time was about 28 minutes for me on average with plenty of ways to get you back, like time attack and such. The Special feature it comes with is a BTS video from the director of the game. Overall a fun time. If you know what you are getting into with these Light Gun games I doubt you will have a Horrible time at all unless you are going for the higher difficulties which will test your patience for sure.

I got this as part of the House of the Dead Bundle on PS3 which comes with HOTD III , HOTD 4 and HOTD Overkill, Directors cut for 29.99 last time I checked. These really are trying times to really play these more "Modernly" since they have not been ported anywhere else. I would HIGHLY recommend people curious enough to pick it up!

Played this from start to finish at a Gameworks (RIP) in Schaumburg, Illinois in the summer of 2003. Some other kid came up about 10 minutes into my run and joined me, and we played through the whole thing together while barely saying a word to each other, just this weird and kinda great communal experience. Eventually he had to leave and I said bye and we never saw each other again. I wonder how he's doing now.

I don't remember if this game's any good or not. Who cares.

The lower contrast, muted palette and drab environs make this visually un-exciting next to 2, but it offers clearer route-based progression, while throwing in great new bosses and fun partner mechanics.

less distinctive aesthetically than the prior 2 but looks nice and i love the shotgun. the boss who just runs kinda sucks but is an improvement over the 2 level 4 boss and the final boss is a comical difficulty spike but enjoyable to fight. generally feels better and less prankster-ish than the previous two besides the aforementioned spike


played with ps move. love the bullet pissing you can do with alternating the move button and the trigger

got tired of trying to beat with 3 lives and 3 credits so i did free play. wouldve taken 5 credits with 3 lives which i think is ok but i'll probably come back to this one to try and improve my score and shit