From on-rails shooter House of the Dead came the finest typing tutor video game of all time…
This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
The original game and its sequels was an on-rails light gun shooter.
Until it got to the really hard bits and boss battles.
Subsequent sequels would follow a similar pattern, until enthusiasm for zombie-blasting lightgun games seemed to peter out.
One spun out of a title ostensibly about blasting zombies and pretending to give two hoots about the plot.
But beyond the initial novelty value, it was quickly clear there was something to it.
The characters bashed away on words, as zombies melted away.
That version did make it to the UK eventually, and its here where I first encountered it.
In hindsight, I think it may be one of the most stressful computer games Ive ever played.
The idea is very simple.
Or T. Or whatever the game wanted you to press.
But as fast as you typed, you were never far away from another swarm.
And that was just on the easy level.
If you were bold, and went on the harder levels, the game started generating nonsense words.
If you didnt know your way around a computer keyboard, you werent getting far.
Its worth contextualizing all of this, too.
At this stage, the PC typing tutor market was dominated by theMavis Beaconseries of products.
Some trivia for you, too: Mavis Beacon never existed.
Typing of the Deadwas anything but.
Im glad they did.
Its because its far more than the novelty it appears.
Sequels have followed since, with the Grindhouse-inspiredTyping of the Dead: Overkilllanding four years ago.
Why, I wonder, wasnt all educational software designed with zombies as part of the package?
I think theres an argument for that withTyping of the Dead, too.
