http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/ The House of The Dead ja Copyright 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:02:21 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss In these battles where a split-second’s hesitation could mean the difference between life and death, I’m sure the things you’ve learned from this file will help keep you alive.
But just because you’ve learned a thing or two here, don’t think you can go in cocky. There are some things you can only learn on the actual battleground.
And remember that the strategies I’ve written here are only one way to go about things. There are lots of other strategies that might fit your skills and style better.
Finding the strategies that are right for you is the only way you’ll ever become a true AMS agent.
Good luck, and continue to hone those skills.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/in_closing.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/in_closing.html IN CLOSING Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:02:21 -0500 The Emperor is Goldman’s terrifying creation, designed to rule over all of nature. Its weak point is the red core that can be seen in the center of its transparent body.
Unlike other bosses, each shot you land can whittle away at the Emperor’s health, so the accuracy and speed you’ve cultivated up until this point will really be tested here.
The Emperor’s attack patterns can be broadly divided into three types.
[1]Orb Attacks The Emperor will randomly use one of three types of orb attacks: firing orbs one at a time, firing multiple orbs at once, and a rush-and-slash attack. Firing Orbs One at a Time Just before it attacks, the Emperor will thrust one of its hands forward. The orbs will move at different speeds, depending on the difficulty level, so watch out. These orbs can be shot down with one bullet each, so try to remain calm and deal with them one by one.
Firing Multiple Orbs at Once Just before the Emperor fires multiple orbs at once, it will thrust both of its hands forward. The orbs will always move at the same speed in this attack, regardless of difficulty level.
Rush-and-Slash Attack Before the Emperor makes a rush-and-slash attack, it charges up its energy in order to transform its orbs into a sword. That’s the best time to get lots of shots in. And if you repeatedly fire at its core while it has its sword raised, you’ll be able to stop the attack.
[2]Transformation Attacks Once you’ve reduced the Emperor’s health by about thirty percent, its attack pattern will change, and it’ll start transforming its orbs into the bosses you met previously in the game.
Judgment Transformation If you manage to hit the Emperor’s core while it’s charging up, the orbs will always transform into Judgment. In this stage, Judgment won’t use its circling-left/right attack, so you should simply fire repeatedly into the center of its flight pattern.
Hierophant Transformation The Hierophant will jump high into the air and try to stab you with its trident. In this stage, its chest will always remain open, so you can just aim for its core and keep shooting. This transformation is probably the easiest to deal with of the four.
Tower Transformation After Tower leans its neck to the right, it’ll come slanting down toward you for a bite, so the key is to gun for the moment it starts to lean. Be sure to take aim in advance above and to the right of the Emperor and fire repeatedly when the Tower starts to move.
Strength Transformation The key to defeating Strength is to aim more for its forehead than for the center of its head. The only time you’ll be able to land your shots is when Strength swings its chainsaw up, so timing is more critical with this transformation than with the others. Of the four transformations, this one is probably the most difficult to deal with.
[3]Orbiting Attack When the Emperor’s health falls to approximately one-third, it becomes just a core, and it’ll charge at you with its orbs spinning around it at high speed.
The core is small, so it’ll take accuracy to hit it, but if you stay calm and aim carefully, you should be able to handle this attack fairly easily. Once you’ve gotten this far, you’ve all but beaten the game!
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_emperor.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_emperor.html HOD2 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 The Wheel of Fate’s weak point is the glowing white symbol in the center of its chest. Not only is this weak point very small, but your bullets will just ricochet off when the Wheel of Fate has its back turned or when its wheel gets in the way, so it’s going to be tough to land hits.
Because the Wheel of Fate has so many different attack patterns, you’re going to need it all in order to survive: speed, accuracy and precision timing of your reloads. You also have to be able to tell what attack is coming next just by watching the Wheel of Fate’s movements, and be prepared for that attack.
The Wheel of Fate has five attack patterns. At first, it will switch between Attack Patterns 1, 2 and 3 at random. When its health drops to half, though, it’ll use its light sphere attack. When its health falls to one-quarter or less, it releases its lightning bolt attack.
[1]Throws rings of light at you. While the Wheel of Fate charges up energy, it curls itself up and conceals its weak point, so you won’t be able to get any shots in. Just steel yourself and get ready for your chance to attack.
Once the Wheel of Fate starts firing its rings of light, it’s time to start shooting. These rings will approach you from the center, arcing left and right.
First of all, aim for the center and quickly fire all six of your shots. Then immediately reload and take care of any rings you missed. If you get the chance, also try to hit the Wheel of Fate itself, which will be far back in the center.
[2]Body-slams you. During this attack, the Wheel of Fate will approach you directly, so it should be easy to target. But even if you land all six shots perfectly, you still won’t be able to drive the Wheel of Fate back.
You’ll have to alternate quickly between shooting as fast as you can, reloading, and shooting as fast as you can again.
To avoid having to reload needlessly, wait until the Wheel of Fate faces your way, and then get your shots in all at once when it draws near.
[3] Flies around at high speed. This attack will test your marksmanship. You’ll have to try to hit the Wheel of Fate’s tiny weak point as it goes zipping around at high speed.
The Wheel of Fate’s wheel will obstruct its weak point, and the boss will turn its back on you sometimes, too, so there won’t be many opportunities to get your shots in.
So that you don’t waste the precious few chances you do get by being out of bullets, avoid shooting repeatedly, and track the Wheel of Fate’s movements carefully with your eyes.
If you’re having trouble tracking it while it’s moving around so fast, you could try just targeting the times when it pauses for an instant, but be prepared to take some damage.
At the end of this attack, the Wheel of Fate will try to hit you with a body slam. At the last instant of its approach, it’ll be at point-blank range, so it’s a great chance to do some major damage. So even if it gets really close, keep shooting and don’t give up.
[4]Shoots light spheres at you. While the Wheel of Fate is busy making its light spheres, try to get as many shots into its weak point as you can. Reload when it starts shooting those spheres at you from its wheel, and take care of them quickly as they come flying toward you.
Because the light spheres move fairly slowly, you’ll probably be tempted to get in some shots at the Wheel of Fate itself during the intervals, but if you press your luck like that, you’ll quickly end up taking unnecessary damage from the light spheres.
So ignore the Wheel of Fate for now, and just concentrate on the light spheres. You can go back to targeting the Wheel of Fate’s weak point once you’ve wiped out all of the spheres.
[5]Fires lightning bolts at you. Once you get this far, you’re almost home free. At the beginning, focus all of your attention on firing at the Wheel of Fate’s weak point as many times as you can until it releases its lightning bolts.
Once it does, reload just as you are turning around and start shooting those lightning bolts down immediately. There’ll be a lot of lightning bolts to deal with, so start shooting in areas where they’re closely clumped together to pare down their numbers a little. After that, take care of any lightning bolts you missed one by one.
Sure, there’ll be a lot of lightning bolts, but they won’t be very fast. If you stay calm and just keep shooting the ones closest to you, you won’t have all that much trouble shooting them all down.
Once you’ve wiped out all of the lightning bolts, you’ll turn to face the Wheel of Fate once more. Start firing at it again with everything you’ve got and make victory yours!
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/wheel_of_fate.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/wheel_of_fate.html HODIII Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 The Sun is a hideous, tree-like monster with countless faces all over its trunk. Its weak points are its flowers, the tips of its vines, and the tips of its roots.
You can also do a little bit of damage to the Sun by shooting the countless faces on its trunk. After you prevent each of the Sun’s attacks, go back to shooting those faces non-stop.
The Sun will first attack you with either its vines or its roots. When its health drops to half or less, it’ll start attacking you by either using pollen or by stretching out one of its heads at you.
The Sun has four attack patterns.
[1]Sends its vines to attack you. Each of the Sun’s vines has its own health bar, and they’ll keep attacking you without mercy unless you defeat them all. As soon as you’ve taken care of one, aim for the next one immediately and get to work.
And by the way, when there are only two vines, they’ll each have more health than when there were three vines, so be on your toes.
[2]Sends its roots to attack you. Sometimes the Sun’s roots will attack you one at a time, and sometimes they’ll come in twos.
You can inflict damage on these roots even while they’re still underground, so make sure you shave down their health as much as possible before they pop up.
After that, the safest thing to do is to try to time your shots so that you’ll blow the roots away as soon as they appear aboveground.
[3]Spits pollen at you. During this attack, you can get a little bit of damage in even before the flower opens, so concentrate on shooting the flower as fast as you can before it spits pollen at you.
Once the flower spews its pollen, quickly reload and deal with the pollen itself.
Each pollen grain can be brought down with one shot, but because there are so many of them, and because they scatter all over the screen, you’ll most likely take some damage if you just fire at random.
As soon as the pollen grains spew out, and before they have a chance to scatter, fire all six of your shots into the upper, central part of the screen to cut down on their numbers. After that, you can deal with each of the pollen grains you missed one by one.
[4]Stretches out one of its heads at you. During this attack, the Sun will stretch out one of its heads into fairly close range, so it’s the perfect opportunity to do some serious damage. But you won’t have much time before the head attacks, so just keep shooting rapid-fire and try to make it retreat.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_sun.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_sun.html HODIII Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:42:07 -0500 The Magician is one of Dr. Curien’s masterpieces, a powerful creature that can control fire. It was thought to have been laid to rest during the Curien Mansion incident...
The Magician’s weak points are the four areas not covered by armor: its upper left arm, its lower right arm, its left thigh, and its right shin. Attacks anywhere other than on its weak points do no damage whatsoever.
The weak points on its legs leave larger areas exposed and move around less, so they’re easier to target than the ones on its arms.
The Magician has two basic attack patterns.
[1]Fireballs The Magician will shoot balls of fire from its hands. You should fire repeatedly at the Magician’s weak points while it’s charging up energy,
and then, once it releases its fireballs, you should concentrate on shooting these projectiles down.
Fireballs can be brought down with only one shot each, so you should be able to handle them, now that you’ve come this far in the game.
[2]Flaming Punch The Magician will charge you with its arm engulfed in flames. Whether or not you can handle this attack will be the difference between life and death. If you can hit one of the Magician’s weak points, it’ll stop the attack, so your best bet is to quickly aim for either its left thigh or right shin as soon as the Magician starts its dash.
Once the Magician’s health drops below fifty percent, it’ll fly up and start raining fireballs down on you without mercy. Of the ten fireballs it shoots from its hands, only the five in the middle can actually hit you, so concentrate only on shooting those down. How rapidly you can fire counts for a lot here, so give it all you’ve got!
The Magician is defenseless while it’s charging up energy, so aim for its right shin and concentrate your firepower there.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_magician.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_magician.html HOD2 Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:50:12 -0500 The Fool is a huge, sloth-like monster. But despite its appearance, it can attack with surprisingly nimble movements. Its weak points are its right hand, right foot, left hand, and left foot.
Unlike other bosses, the current weak point (one of the Fool’s hands or feet) will be marked throughout your battle against this boss, so you’ll be able to tell at a glance what you should be aiming for.
But the Fool’s weak points are small, and move around quite a bit as the boss moves. And to top it all off, unless you keep hitting these weak points dead center, you won’t do much damage.
What you need when you go up against the Fool is accuracy and quick marksmanship. Aim carefully at the weak point mark and never lose your focus.
The Fool has six attack patterns.
[1]Claws at you with its right hand. During this attack, the Fool doesn’t move all that much, so it ought to be pretty easy to target its weak point. If it manages to hit you at this point, you probably won’t have much luck beating it. Just keep your cool and deal with the Fool calmly here.
[2]Claws at you with its left foot. During this attack, the Fool’s weak point, its left foot, will swing left and right in the area diagonally down and to the right of the center of its body. Your field of vision will sometimes be obstructed by the stairs, but you’ll still be able to get some damage in even then. Just stay focused and keep shooting.
[3]Drops corpses on you. Corpses will rain down on you from above one after another, but if you just concentrate on firing into the center of the group of bodies, you should make out all right. The corpses that drop at the outer edges of your field of vision will miss you, so ignore them and just concentrate on taking care of the ones in the center.
[4]Claws at you with its right foot. The right foot weak point will swing from the center right to the center left as the Fool’s hip pivots. It won’t move all that fast, so if you keep a level head and keep shooting, that ought to do the trick.
[5]Claws at you with its left hand. During this attack, the Fool will climb toward you along the cage, making big movements with both hands. Its left hand weak point will be swinging violently, so it’ll be tough to keep your sight on it. Just aim for either the left or the right end of the hand’s swinging arc.
[6]Jumps at you. During this attack, the only chance you’ll have to attack is the tiny fraction of time when the boss is in the air and is about to attack you. And you won’t have any time to reload during that moment, either. On top of all that, you won’t be able to stop the Fool’s attack unless you land all six of your shots, either. This attack pattern is a tough one.
Reload before the Fool jumps, and place your shots carefully, aiming a little to the left of and above the center for the first shot, and then shifting your sight down slightly with each of your next shots.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_fool.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/the_fool.html HODIII Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:32:19 -0500 Strength is a huge, chainsaw-wielding zombie. Its weak point is its head, but because it blocks your shots with its chainsaw, it’s extremely difficult to hit. You can slowly wear away at Strength’s health by shooting its body, too, but that won’t stop Strength's forward movement, so it’s probably best just to aim for its head.
Strength’s attack patterns can be broadly divided into three types.
[1]Chainsaw Slash Strength will rush at you with tremendous force and try to slash you with its chainsaw. There’s no other way to stop it except to aim at its head and fire repeatedly. When shooting, it’s best to aim slightly to one side rather than at the center of its head, and you should try to avoid hitting its chainsaw.
[2]Hatchet Throw Strength will attack you by throwing hatchets that’ve been embedded in its body. The hatches will fly at you in an arc. Shoot them down and then go back to firing at Strength’s head.
[3]Jump Down and Slash Strength will jump down from the tops of walls and try to slash you. Just before it lands, you’ll have a chance to shoot its head, but the window of opportunity is extremely narrow. The key is to aim for its chin area as soon as it jumps and to fire repeatedly.
At times, Strength will threaten you with its chainsaw raised menacingly. It leaves itself wide open when it does this, so fire at its head relentlessly.
Depending on what route you took, your battleground will either be the east side or the west side of the coliseum, but the basic strategy will be the same.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/strength.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/strength.html HOD2 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:43:47 -0500 Death is a brutal guard that chases you relentlessly with a gigantic club. Shooting its big, brawny body won’t do you any good. Aim for its head. That’s its weak point.
If you don’t cause enough damage to it before it closes in, you’ll fall victim to its giant club.
You’ll be fighting Death twice, but the basic strategies are the same both times. You have to be careful the second time it appears, though, because it'll be chasing you behind obstacles, passing in and out of view. Efficient timing of your reloads is key.
Death has two attack patterns.
[1]Charges toward you and wallops you. Death’s weak point, the head, only sways slightly as the boss runs, so it should be pretty easy to target.
Death leaves itself open the instant it starts running this way. If you reload before it gets started, aim upward in advance, and shoot as fast as you can as soon as Death starts barreling toward you, you should be able to stop this attack without taking any damage.
The time when you can really get some good damage in is the moment it swings its club up to slam you. You’ll be at point-blank range then, so you’ll be able to inflict maximum damage. Even if Death gets too close for comfort, try to remain calm and just keep getting in as many shots as you can until the very last second.
[2]Chases you behind columns and then wallops you. When Death is running behind the columns, its head barely moves at all, so targeting it should be a piece of cake.
But figuring out when to reload isn’t quite so easy. That’s because you’ve got to shoot when you can see Death between the columns, or else the columns will block your shots and you won’t be able to score any hits. If you reload after Death goes behind a column, it’ll be a tough battle.
The key is to start reloading before Death disappears behind a column,
and each time it appears again, get three shots in.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/death.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/death.html HODIII Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:05 -0500 Tower is a giant dragon with five heads. In order to defeat it, you first have to wipe out the four brown heads on the left and right.
When one of these brown heads approaches to make a biting attack, its mouth will glow. That’s the moment you should fire.
Once you’ve wiped out the brown heads on the left and right, it’s time for one-on-one combat with the final blue head in the room beyond. This blue head will move around wildly and try to bite you. Just as with the brown heads, however, its mouth will glow just before it strikes, so if you aim for its mouth and fire repeatedly, you should be able to defeat it without too much difficulty.
Depending on the route you took, the battleground will either be filled with water or sand. But despite some small differences in the timing of when the blue head’s mouth glows, the basic strategy will be the same.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/tower.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/tower.html HOD2 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:04 -0500 The Hierophant is a huge aquatic zombie that wields a trident. Its weak point is its heart, which is covered by its thick chest. Bullets fired anywhere else on its body besides its heart will bounce away.
The Hierophant will try to approach and attack you with its trident, so be sure to shoot its heart to prevent it from getting too close.
When the Hierophant’s health drops to nearly half, it’ll send zombie fish to attack you. Attempting to deal with all of these zombie fish would be quite difficult, so as soon as the Hierophant shifts into this attack, just concentrate on aiming for the Hierophant’s heart. Only try to take care of the zombie fish during the intervals, when the Hierophant’s chest is closed.
But don’t let your guard down once the zombie fish attacks are over! The Hierophant will now begin a jumping attack on you. You might be taken aback at first by the sudden movement, but if you aim for the Hierophant’s heart just as it begins to descend from the peak of a jump, you should be able to bring it down.
There are two variations of this jumping attack. The Hierophant will either jump up from the bridge, or it will jump up out of the water. If it’s jumping up from the bridge, its heart will be exposed just before it jumps, so try to get some shots in then.
Depending on what route you took, you may face the Hierophant on a pier. Its attack patterns and the timing of its heart being exposed will be slightly different, but the strategy for beating it will be basically the same.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/hierophant.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/hierophant.html HOD2 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:03 -0500 Together, the headless monster Kuarl and the winged imp Zeal make up the Judgment boss.
The key is to aim for Zeal, Judgment’s weak point, but landing shots on Kuarl will also whittle away small amounts of Judgment’s health, too.
Just as Kuarl is about to attack, Zeal will pause in its overhead flight. That’s the moment you’ll be able to target Zeal most easily. Take aim at Zeal when Kuarl grips its battle axe with both hands.
Until that moment comes, however, you should make repeated shots at Kuarl to help wear down Judgment’s health.

Once you manage to reduce Judgment to thirty percent of its original health, a one-on-one showdown against Zeal begins. Zeal has two basic attack patterns.
[1]Moving Left/Right or Up/Down Making small movements either left and right or up and down, Zeal will come flying toward you. If you repeatedly fire at the center of its flight pattern, you should be able to get some shots in.
[2]Circling Left/Right When the difficulty level is higher, Zeal will fly in a large circular pattern. Aim for the spot in its flight pattern where it makes its turn toward you, and shoot just as it makes its turn.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/judgment.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/judgment.html HOD2 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:02 -0500 Welcome to the AMS.
My name is “G.” As an AMS agent, I’ve been on countless missions, including the Curien Mansion case.
As an AMS veteran, I thought I’d better write up this file for all of you rookies out there, to help you get through some of the many challenges I’m sure you’re going to face.
In this file, I’m going to concentrate on the bosses, the enemies you newbies are bound to have the most trouble with, so pay close attention.
But keep in mind that the boss information I’m going to be giving you here is classified, so you’d better make certain you don’t let any of it leak.
Some of you might be the stubborn type, the kind that likes to prove you can do things on your own without any help. If that’s you, then I advise you not to look at this file.
Remember, it’s up to you whether you open this file or not.
But if you do decide to look at this information, make sure you learn it inside and out, backwards and forward, because I guarantee you you’re going to need it against what you’re about to face. Hope it helps.
]]> http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/foreward.html http://www.sonicteam.com/HOD2and3RETURN/en/2008/03/foreward.html FOREWORD Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:01 -0500