09/07/01

System. Dreamcast

Genre : Horror Survival Touch Typing (not a typo)

Price : I think I bought it for $ 19.95 at ToysRUs.

Have you ever wanted to learn how to type? Yeah, Mavis Beacon can be boring and you would OH so like to learn how to do it effectively and have maybe have some fun while doing it. Believe it or not, this game can do that for you. An educational title in disguise, and a pretty damn fun one at that, Typing of The Dead is one strange piece of work.

This game is House of the Dead 2 with a typing overcoat. Instead of aiming your gun at the hordes of marauding zombies, you must now type out words that appear underneath them. Take too long and away goes a health icon. The bosses themselves also offer a greater challenge, because they will deviate from the normal play by offering such challenges as typing out sentences or having you answer a multiple choice question. It also features a training session similar to other typing teachers that they play off as "field training" Which in a way it is, because after all.... "ONLY TYPING WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!"

Graphically, the game is again, House of the Dead 2. Seemingly some things have been cleaned up and may seem less choppy. Also, the enemies sport silly items to attack you with from cooking utensils to squeaky hammers and the agents sport Dreamcast backpack generators and keyboards.. Other than that, same stages and characters, and nothing really all that new.

Sound, House of the Dead 2. I don't know if it was to retain everything that was House of the Dead 2 or what, but the awful voices are back... Ugh. Other than that, expect to hear plenty of gunshots as that's the noise that is made while typing. Moving on....

You are going to NEED a DC keyboard to play this (obviously.) Personally, whether it be just my keyboard or the DC's detection of it, I felt robbed on a few keys I know I hit. Other than that, the game is good at what it does and it's definitely a change from having to listen to some boring teacher.

Hey... it's fun. You're learning how to type too. Sort of like Frosted Mini Wheats, it's good and good for you. Sega definitely deserves some praise here for bringing it from overseas to the US. It's definitely not going to sell systems, but it shows that Sega cares about its fans.

-Mofat

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