I'm all for quirky games with unique ideas, but one thing that Brad and other game reviews for Typing Of The Dead don't emphasize enough is that aside from the typing action, Typing Of The Dead is virtually identical to House Of The Dead 2! I went into this game expecting an entirely new game based on the House Of The Dead universe. Much to my surprise, all the same stage layouts, atrocious voice-acting, zombie appearances and boss characters have been ported over almost exactly as they were, but only this time with the typing action tacked on.
If you're a big fan of light-gun games like I am, chances are you've played House Of The Dead 2 hundreds of times, and you're more than familiar with the every part of the game. So before I even typed one keystroke to lay waste to a zombie, I knew exactly what was in store for me in terms of graphics, sound and story. It's not just predictable, its déjà vu! I found the typing part of it to be entertaining and funny, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Brad did, and I didn't feel as though the title had undergone a rebirth of sorts. I just couldn't shake off the tedium of having to trek through the exact same landscapes as I had done before countless times.
I find it ironic that in trying to create a new way to play videogames, the developers rehashed an old title. That to me doesn't make much sense. I like videogames that offer up new interactions and fresh experiences. Typing Of The Dead, which is essentially a resampling an old title with a new spin, just doesn't do it for me.
My advice to Sega? Keep the typing, but lose the played-out content.
Somewhere between all the gaming, Chi some how managed to finish high school and get into the New York Institute of Technology. At the same time, Chi also interned at Virtual Frontiers, an Internet software consultancy where he learned the ways of HTML. Soon after acquiring his BFA, Chi went on to become the lead Web designer of the Anti-Defamation League. During his tenure there, Chi was instrumental in redesigning and relaunching the non-profit organization's Web site.
Today, Chi is the webmaster of the American Red Cross in Greater New York and somehow managed to work through the tragic events of September 11th without losing his sanity. Chi considers GameCritics.com his life's work and continues to be amazed that the web site is still standing after the recent dotcom fallout. It is his dream that GameCritics.com will accomplish two things: 1) Redefine the grammar of videogames much the same way French film critic Andre Bazin did for the art of cinema and 2) bring game criticism to the forefront of mainstream culture much the same way Siskel & Ebert did for film criticism.
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