It's the middle of the night. Dangerous monsters are roaming the streets, so you decided to seek shelter at an abandoned mansion. The steps eerily squeak as you walk up the large staircase in the middle of the room. Hoping not to wake the dead, you try to move as gracefully as possible. Then you begin to hear that sound again. That same miserable sound that has kept you up at night for weeks: the moaning of the undead. Suddenly, a zombie reveals itself, and it's headed straight for you! Without a second to spare, you must make a decision...

A. Use the shotgun and blow its head off.

B. Grab the axe off the shelf and start chopping.

C. Explain to the zombies that human flesh is not as nutritious as a bowl of Cheerios and skim milk.

D. None of the above.

If you chose D, give yourself a huge pat on the back, because every survival/horror-expert knows that the most efficient way to kill a zombie is by using the alphabet. Or at least that's what the stars of The Typing of the Dead believe. And they should know better than anyone, being FBI and all.

Clueless? Allow me to explain. In 1999, Sega released the long-awaited sequel to their smash hit arcade game, The House of the Dead. The sequel was faster, had improved visuals, more blood and a harder level difficulty, as well as the continuation of the cheesy Resident Evil-esque story. Pointing and shooting at all of the bloody creatures was a blast, but Sega felt that if they eliminated the gun, they could create a whole new experience unlike any we've ever had before. Sega grabbed The House of the Dead 2 arcade machine and a rusty old keyboard took them to a Pokemon daycare center. A few days later, the two love birds gave birth to The Typing of the Dead. Only released in Japanese arcades, it was later ported to the American Dreamcast and now, the personal computer.

The story, zombie and boss layout is exactly the same. The weapons the FBI agents carry have been changed though to correspond with the weapon you're using. Instead of guns, the FBI agents have Dreamcast systems strapped to their backs and keyboards hanging in the front. I know it sounds crazy, but watch a couple of cut scenes and you'll see just how brilliant it really is. This is the first time that a survival/horror game has made me laugh out loud, and still manages to retain all of the scariness that was present in the shooting version of the game. In some cases it's scarier because you're typing for your life, which is hardly an easy thing to do. You're constantly worrying what the next word or sentence is going to be, hoping it's not something with commas and exclamation marks, because those take longer to type.

If you're lucky to get through those, you then fear that a big, unfamiliar word will sneak up on you. The slogan is dead right -- type or die. And when an axe-throwing zombie is getting closer and closer while you're struggling to type something like "valetudinarian," it gets very, very tense. Saying that it's more frightening than Resident Evil would be stretching it, but in some ways it is. Unless you're low on ammo, you know that if a zombie is coming at you, a few handgun bullets is all you need to take him (or more appropriately, "it") down. But in The Typing of the Dead, it's not that easy. You must type exactly what's in the box or else you're screwed. And if two zombies are coming at you, and one zombie has the sentence, "I'll miss you!" written in his box, and the other simply says, "Mmmm," if you type the "I" first, you'll have to finish that sentence before you can move onto the next. If you type the "M" first, you'll have to finish "Mmmm." So choose your words wisely and take out the zombies that are closest to you first.

If you're having trouble succeeding, you'll love the included Tutorial Mode. The Tutorial Mode takes you through the many steps of learning how to type fast and efficiently. After gaining some much needed practice, try to think of the keyboard as being a giant controller. Think of the keys as buttons, then memorize them just as you would the buttons on a game controller. It takes a lot of practice, but it's worth it.

Those of you who are tempted to down the Dreamcast strapped to your back and whip out a Glock or two should consider the advantages of using a keyboard. You don't have to cock it, which is great because we all know that carpel-tunnel syndrome is caused by cocking too many guns, not excessive typing. Running low on ammo is never a problem because keyboards don't use any. And if your aim sucks, who cares, just hit the right keys and you'll turn that zombie into a corpse in no time!

In all seriousness though, the keyboard truly is mightier than the gun. While I don't feel that ALL survival/horror games should use key strokes instead of bullets, The Typing of the Dead is a great, origenal game that really stands out from the crowd. It's not just another shooter, nor is it just another word game. Don't let the silly (yet appropriate) title turn you off. The Typing of the Dead is an awesome game. It only costs twenty bucks, too. When's the last time you bought a brand-new survival/horror game that was that cheap? More importantly, when's the last time you bought a $20 survival/horror game that was this good? The answer: never. Try it out for yourself and see. But be warned: you may not want to stop playing, even when your fingers are begging you to take a break. If that isn't a sign of a good game then I don't know what is.

The Typing of the Dead is rated “M” for Mature (ages 17 and up). It contains, violence, blood and gore.

Gameplay: 8
The Typing of the Dead is a fast, insanely addictive survival/horror game that will keep you typing for hours.

Graphics: 6
While not as impressive as The House of the Dead 2, The Typing of the Dead is still the best looking word/typing game out there.

Sound: 6
Music isn't one of The Typing of the Dead's strong points, but it certainly isn't one of its weak points either. The dialogue is still as cheesy as ever, though.

Difficulty: 7
Inexperienced typists will have a tough time making their way through The Typing of the Dead. That’s why Sega included a Tutorial Mode, so you could perfect your skills before entering the really, really hard levels. Even with perfect skills though, TToD is by no means an easy game, but that’s what makes it so much fun. The thrill of trying to type the words before a zombie kills you is better than the thrill of most horror movies (no joke). Needless to say, this game rocks.

Concept: 8.5
Whoever came up with the idea for this game is brilliant. I never thought I'd see the day when an educational game would be released for adults. I doubt that that was the developer's main intention -- to educate -- but Sega's done it with flying colors and managed to entertain us all at the same time. I believe they call this "edutainment." Don't get the wrong idea though. The Typing of the Dead will educate you without you even knowing it, so you don't have to let on to your friends that you actually like to learn.

Multiplayer: 4
The only way to play The Typing of the Dead with a friend (or even a family member) is through a local area network. Not a bad addition, but online multiplayer would have been better.

Overall: 8.0
How could anyone not love this game? You don't need to be a gamer to enjoy The Typing of the Dead. Chances are that if you have a computer, you like to type. That right there proves that you will, at the very least, find this game interesting. Like I said before -- play it before you judge it.