The Typing of the Dead
|
|
| The Typing of the Dead | |
| Developer(s) | Smilebit |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) | March 30, 2000 |
| Genre | Action, Education |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | Dreamcast, PC |
The Typing of the Dead is an arcade game (later ported to the Dreamcast and the PC), released in 1999, and of an unclassifiable genre based on The House of the Dead 2. While the latter is a fairly standard light gun shooter, Typing takes a whimsical and apparently unprecedented twist and replaces the gun (or mouse for home systems) with the keyboard.
The levels of the two games are close to identical, but instead of simply gunning down hordes of onrushing zombies the player has to type the word or short phrase in front of each enemy to kill it. Several mini-games designed to improve typing skills are also included.
Despite the dark subject matter of the original, The Typing of the Dead is firmly tongue-in-cheek. The (progressively more difficult) things the player has to type are quite often weird, melée weapons have been replaced by things such as rubber hammers, and the guns have been replaced by keyboards powered by Dreamcasts on the characters' backs. Given sufficient typing ability, the game is widely considered good, intensive, nonsensical fun and is somewhat of a cult classic amongst Dreamcast owners. Phantasy Star Online and Typing of the Dead were the main games that got use out of Dreamcast keyboards along with a couple PC First-Person Shooter ports.
A sequel was released on December 22, 2004 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan, titled The Typing of the Dead: Zombie Panic.