The Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast, 2001)

Who would have thought that taking a popular arcade zombie shooter and swapping the guns for keyboards would have been successful? With a premise like that, right off the bat most people will avoid this game. That's fine, that just leaves more zombie killing for me.

The Typing of the Dead follows the arcade story (if you can call it that) of The House of the Dead II, in all its ridiculously bad and underacted B horror movie scripting. Yet that is what makes it one of those "so bad it's good" pieces of video game history. If you make it to the end of the game and don't fall over laughing at what happens, then you are probably too serious for your health or the health of everyone around you.

TTotD plays out like a lot of typing games... it has its story/mission mode, but it also has a training mode where it can teach you to type. If you already have a good grasp on typing, then you'll be ready to dive right into this straight injection of fun.

This game STRIVES not to take itself too seriously. The character models no longer carry guns. They instead have Sega Dreamcasts strapped to their backs, and Keyboards hanging in front of them from their shoulders. The dialogue is cheesy and the voice acting is nothing short of hysterical. And while they could have tried to keep the atmosphere of zombie killing pure by having boring words to type out like "zombie" or "gore" they go all over the place, in the most bizarre directions you can imagine. "Foot fetish" and "George Bush Impersonator" have come up several times for me. It's humorous effects like these that keep the game feeling lighthearted and fresh all the time.

This is a cult classic game that belongs in any Dreamcast owner's collection. The only problem is that it's over before it really gets going.

If they would have had this in high school typing class I would have gotten an "A". This game is essentially The House of the Dead 2, but instead of shooting the zombies and creatures you kill them by typing the words that flash on the screen before they get to you. If you are too slow then you are dead!

The funniest thing about this game is that the characters don't even have guns. They cruise around with dreamcast's strapped to their back and keyboards propped up in front of them where they can type quickly!

With varying levels of difficulty this is one of the games that you can play and use the excuse that you're not wasting time playing games, you are sharpening your typing skills. :)

Typing of the Dead is a legendary game for the Sega Dreamcast. Right from my first playthrough, I was astounded by the experience. It's silly, bizarre fun, but it also has highly engaging and rewarding gameplay. This isn't just a "joke" title - the developers knew what they were doing when they made this. I can play this game again and again, and I'm almost compelled to show it to everyone I know, confident that they've never seen a game like this. If you have any interest in the Dreamcast, zombies, or completely unique video games, you won't regret having this in your collection!

Note that this game requires a Dreamcast-compatible keyboard to play - and it requires two keyboards in order to play simultaneously with a friend. They're not easy to find, but it's a well-made keyboard with a strong report in the keystrokes - even if the board itself is a bit thin. In a way, it's fortunate that not many keyboard-compatible games were ever made for the Dreamcast, since that also means used keyboards tend to have very little wear on them.

Very fun and innovative game. Wish it were for kids though as they love to type. However, the horror theme is not appropriate for kids under 12.

product never arrived. emailed seller 3 times, called once, asking for some type of tracking number or method of delivery. Over the course of a month when attempts at contact were made, seller never responded. Would like to play the game.