The House of the Dead 4 is a horror-themed light gun shooter arcade game and the fourth installment of the House of the Dead video game series, developed by Sega. The game takes place between the events of The House of the Dead 2 and The House of the Dead III, and introduced several new gameplay concepts. Players can control characters James Taylor, from The House of the Dead 2 (on the left side), or Kate Green, a new character to the series (on the right side). The game was followed by House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn.
The House of the Dead 4 is the first game to run on the Sega Lindbergh arcade system board. A PlayStation 3 version featuring support for PlayStation Move and the two stages from The House of the Dead 4 Special was released on April 17, 2012 on the PlayStation Network.
Plot[]
In 2003, three years after the Caleb Goldman Case, veteran American AMS agent James Taylor, and a new rookie agent, Kate Green, are gathering intelligence at the fifth basement floor of the European headquarters of the AMS in Italy (London in the Japanese dub). James has a sharp memory of the Caleb Goldman Case, and believes that the ordeal hasn't yet ended. A sudden earthquake rocks the room while they talk, collapsing the basement walls and leaving the agents trapped.
Several days later, as the two await a rescue team, James' PDA goes off, and a group of undead are seen on the security cameras. Realizing that they are in danger, James has Kate gather all the weaponry they can find to defend themselves. Soon after, the two travel through the sewers to an information room where they uncover a plot to fire nuclear missiles worldwide within 24 hours' time, facing the four-armed giant zombie Justice and a pair of mutant tarantulas known as The Lovers along the way. Taking the subway into zombie-infested streets from an underground shopping district, the agents narrowly avoid attacks by The Empress, a double-ended chainsaw-wielding assassin, and the massive, obese, and nearly impervious Temperance.
James and Kate then learn that the late one-time CEO of the now-defunct DBR Corporation, Caleb Goldman, is responsible for the resurgence of undead. All of his messages and current plans were set in motion even before his death. Upon reaching the surface, they find the city completely obliterated. Goldman sends them a PDA message indicating that the launch will occur in one hour. The agents head for the abandoned Goldman Building and upon arrival, a levitating humanoid named The Star, confronts them in the foyer. After the Star is defeated, the duo arrive in time to halt the missile launch, though it is revealed that Goldman's true intention is to revert humankind to its original state in order to prevent them from harming the planet further. As such, his final legacy, The World, an insectoid humanoid with powers over ice, is released in the opening of "Pandora's Box" to fulfill its role as the successor to his original Emperor project in 2000, having developed underground since his death. As the AMS agents fight it, the World continuously evolves to become larger and more powerful. Following the World's second defeat, James sets his PDA to self-destruct and, telling Kate Green not to give up hope, sacrifices himself to destroy the World in the ensuing explosion. A shaken and distraught Kate Green walks out of Caleb Goldman's premises.