The game cannot be continued if the timer reaches zero, and at the end of each game Dr. Every successful hit on the final boss also grants two seconds, and does not require a stun. Stunning a boss grants the player 10 seconds. Getting hit by a zombie subtracts 7 seconds, projectiles subtract 5, and bosses subtract 15. Excellent, Good, Faster and Twin Shots give extra time, as do clocks in the background, successful rescue events and end-of-stage bonuses. On the Xbox, PC, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions, there is a "Time Attack" mode where the player's lives come in the form of a timer, starting at 45 seconds. Decaying zombies and weak points on stunned bosses can also be shot repeatedly for extra points. The House of the Dead III expands upon this, introducing a silver coin that can be shot repeatedly, a wind-up robot that must be shot several times, and a golden miniature version of recurring boss The Magician. In the previous games, bonus points could also be gained by shooting hidden objects such as a golden frog, or coin. Now the player can have up to nine lives at a time, and any additional lives are turned into bonus points.
In the previous arcade installments, nothing would happen if a player had all five lives and gained another. A final grade is given at the end of the game, and depending on how many S ranks were received for each stage, the player may be given a "SS" rank as his or her final grade.Įxtra lives and bonus points are also handled differently. Completing the stage with an A rank will award the player with an extra life, while an S rank will reward the player with two. A letter grade is also given at the end of each stage, ranging from S, A, B, C, D and E. Players are now graded on how fast they dispose of the zombies, ranging from Excellent, Good, Faster, and Twin Shot, the last taking place if two zombies are killed with the same shotgun shell. In this game, the bosses' weak point must be shot repeatedly to drain the "Cancel" bar and stop the enemy's attack.Īnother major change to the gameplay comes in the form of a new rank and grade system. In previous installments, the bosses' weak point would only need to be shot once to stun the attack.
If all rescue events are successful, the players find crates in the room before the final boss that, when shot, drop a lot of bonuses and lives.Ī new concept of the series comes in the form of a "Cancel" bar. An extra life is rewarded for each successful rescue. Instead, "Rescue Events" occur during each stage in which the player will need to rescue his or her partner from attacking zombies. Unlike the first two The House of the Dead games, in which players could rescue various people in peril, The House of the Dead III contains no extra personnel beyond those central to the plot. In The House of the Dead III, the player is given options for navigating through the game prior to the start of most stages, ultimately going through the same areas with different results dependent on the order chosen.Īnother important difference is the absence of civilians. While playing the game on Xbox, the light gun controller released by Madcatz may be used however, the traditional "shoot off-screen" reload was reintroduced in the Wii version.Ī branching storyline existed in the previous games, but was handled differently. A reload is achieved by pumping the shotgun controller.
The arcade version differs here, because there is the presence of light guns, allowing for similar speedy reloading. Reloading still takes time, but happens without prompt as soon as the gun needs it. The shotgun used in the game no longer requires the traditional "point off-screen" reload, but rather reloads automatically. The former is immediately apparent upon playing the Xbox version.
The House of the Dead III departs from the original games in many ways: the most obvious being weaponry.