About
The House of the Dead 2 is the Windows PC port (2001) of Sega's 1998 arcade light-gun sequel, set two years after the original as agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart battle a new zombie outbreak in Venice, Italy. The game expands on the original with more branching paths, new enemy types, and local 2-player co-op. On PC and Steam Deck, mouse aiming replaces the light gun. A modern remake (released 2025) is available on Steam and GOG.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- Hod2.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Pending not enough reports yet
⚙ Setup notes
Add Hod2.exe as a non-Steam game (default install path C:/Program Files (x86)/SEGA/THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2/Hod2.exe). Use GE-Proton. The game uses mouse-based aiming with no native gamepad support — map the Steam Deck's right trackpad (or gyro) as a mouse pointer for aiming, and map triggers/face buttons to fire and reload via a Steam Input layout. The PC port runs at a fixed 640x480 resolution. KNOWN ISSUE: on Windows the game can stop responding to mouse/keyboard input when an Xbox-style controller is detected; if input is dead under Proton, disable/limit the Steam Input controller emulation and rely on trackpad-as-mouse. Supports 1-2 player local co-op on the same machine. NOTE: a House of the Dead 2 Remake is available on GOG and Steam and is the recommended modern option.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy of the 1998/2001 PC port; launch Hod2.exe (not HotD2.exe). Use the right trackpad or gyro as a mouse for aiming — no native gamepad support; build a Steam Input layout. Fixed 640x480 resolution. Game may ignore mouse/keyboard if an Xbox-style controller is detected — tame the Steam Input controller emulation if input goes dead. The 2025 House of the Dead 2 Remake on Steam/GOG is the recommended modern alternative.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.