Resident Evil might have monopolised the zombie-slaughtering market, but Sega's The House of the Dead games offer more disgusting zombies, non-stop violence, gore, blood and grotesque effects than anything else. And The House of the Dead III carries on this fine tradition with great style.

The story, which is entirely superfluous, is set in 2019 and original zombie hunter Thomas Rogan has gone missing. Two weeks after Thomas's disappearance, his daughter Lisa and his old partner, known only as G (no he's not dressed in black!) arrive at the research facility where they believe Thomas must be. They quickly discover that they're on the right path, as a horde of zombies greets them at the front gate.

This is your standard light gun fare in that the action is "on rails," meaning that you do not control your character's movement; all you have to do is shoot everything that moves (and a few things that don't). It's a first person perspective, so as Lisa and G run through the various parts of the research facility, you must shoot all of the zombies, mutants and disgusting abominations that attack you and you must kill them before they can reach you. Quick reactions and accuracy are the two most important factors here, as there are plenty of occasions where you will have only a split second to react and shoot before an enemy strikes you.

The graphics are very good, although I'm not convinced that they are pushing the Xbox to the limit and I think they could have been even better. Nevertheless they are very impressive and detailed, with a wide range of zombies to kill, rendered with rich textures, smooth animation and most importantly accurate damage modelling. By this I mean that if you shoot a zombie in the leg, its leg literally explodes and it falls to the ground (it will attempt to get up and reach you until you've killed it though, so watch out!) If you shoot it in the head or chest, a big hole opens up and blood spurts out, or in some cases the head will explode altogether and the headless corpse still advances, attempting to strike you. One of the most grotesque enemies is the big, fat zombie - you can blow a big hole clean through its fat belly and it will still keep coming! Rather than dead zombies just disappearing, their bodies explode in a splurge of blood and slime - lovely!

However, the game does fall down a little bit with its setting. The background and backdrops are nothing special and they are all industrial, leading you through factory areas, corridors, a bio-lab that has been overrun by plant life and a high-tech laboratory. But the scenery is dull, grey and lacking in colour and imagination throughout. I guess it's not really that big a deal, but a story that was set over several locations, taking you through a forest at night, a zombified town or other outdoor locations would have been much more interesting and might have provided some more atmosphere. Still, as it is the game does suck you in and becomes very intense as you focus completely and stay ready to react at a moment's notice.

There is a great range of enemies to kill, each with different tactics, including regular zombies, zombies with knives and axes and muscular zombies that throw barrels and other objects at you or swipe at you with big steel girders. There are bats, vultures, leeches, insects, zombies that crawl along the ceilings, plant zombies that barely look humanoid, legless zombies that crawl at you using their arms, ninja zombies that leap around the room at high speed, marine zombies that can move super-fast and many more. This variety helps keep things interesting. All of the death and destruction is accompanied by the appropriate sound effects, although they don't really enhance the action as much as they could and the music is good enough but does not stand out particularly either.

The weapon you are brandishing is a very powerful automatic shotgun, with 6 rounds per reload. It's a hefty weapon, but it's also a shame that there aren't other bonus weapons to discover during the game (at least if there are, I didn't find any). There are other bonuses to find by shooting barrels, crates and other containers, such as extra lives, coins, frogs and other things that when shot give you extra points. There are also various points in the game where you must rescue your partner by shooting oncoming zombies before they can attack - succeed at this and you get an extra life.

Although this is a light gun game, a light gun is not essential. The left thumbstick is very responsive in moving the target around the screen (and because you are not using a light gun the target stays on the screen at all times). This system works fine, although it is pretty tough on the faster moving baddies, especially some of the bosses. However, what makes up for the lack of aiming speed you can only get with a gun is being able to use a rapid-fire system. Because both the right trigger and the A button fire your gun, you can press them both very quickly alternatively for super-fast firing. This means you can dispatch the enemies more quickly than using a single trigger on a gun and evens things out. The left trigger reloads, but this happens automatically anyway when you run out of ammo.

If you do decide to invest in a light gun then the game is greatly enhanced. The very action of aiming a gun at the screen and firing it invokes an extra intensity and really gets the adrenaline going when you are low on lives and concentrating very hard, reacting instantly to the appearance of every zombie. I used the Madcatz Blaster, which although it is the most disgusting looking gun I've ever seen (and is scarier than most of the zombies in the game!!) is comfortable and very effective to use. Because this game will probably be over quite quickly, you might feel a bit short-changed by the combined cost of the game and a light gun, so only buy one if you intend to buy more light gun games in the future.

There are two main game modes; Survival, which is the main mode, and Time Attack where you play through the game as a timer counts down to zero, with kills giving you added seconds and the more efficient you are at killing the more seconds you get. This mode is incredibly tough and only the most talented players will manage to make it beyond Chapter 2 without running out of time. The format of the game is such that you are given a choice of two routes through Chapter 1, then you can choose the order in which you tackle Chapters 2, 3 and 4, with each having two different routes as well. This adds to the variety and prevents you from having to repeat exactly the same levels over and over again as you work your way through the game. Each chapter also has a boss to defeat, although these bosses are not particularly interesting (with the exception of the giant plant) and are lacking in imagination a little.

The problem is, Chapter 5 is the final level and although the end of game baddy is really tough, it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the game. With only 5 levels and under an hour to complete the game once you know what you're doing, it is simply too short. Although a game like this is always going to be repetitive in nature, more could have been done to vary the locations. Also, a decent storyline would have helped to keep your interest too. However, the storyline is about as clichéd as I have ever seen and the dialogue, whilst acted well, is some of the most awful, cringe-inducing pap I've ever had the misfortune to listen to. Thankfully you can skip the cut scenes, which you will certainly want to do after watching them once.

In balance, the game is quite tough and unless you turn the lives and credits up to maximum it will take you quite a few attempts to complete it in Normal mode, let alone the very tough Hard mode. You also get rankings at the end of each level, dependent upon the efficiency of killing zombies, score, bonuses found and number of hits taken and getting the elusive special ranking in each level will also take a lot of time. And in short bursts, slaughtering zombies simply never loses its appeal! The two-player mode also adds an extra dimension to the game and increases the interest when you and a friend team up against the barrage of mutated freaks. Finally, the inclusion of a preview of The House of the Dead movie and the entire game of The House of the Dead II (unlocked once you win the game) also adds to the lifespan and makes this much better value with two games in one.

The House of the Dead III is a classic zombie shooter and a great chapter in Sega's popular series. With excellent, super gory graphics and non-stop action, this is high-paced blasting at its best. The game is quite short and the locations are lacking in variety meaning that for some the appeal will not last for very long. Whilst it does though, it's exciting, mutant blasting mania all the way!

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).