The House of the Dead 2 is a rail shooter light gun game. It includes an auto-reload feature that allows players to point their guns off-screen to reload their weapons without pulling the trigger. Players must shoot their way through hordes of zombies and other monsters while attempting to rescue civilians being attacked. Health is represented by torches at the bottom of the screen and are lost when the play is hit by an enemy or shoots a civilian. Bonus health can be awarded by rescuing civilians and finding first aid kits hidden in crates and barrels. As in the first game, this game incorporates a branching path system that allows for a variety of different routes in each stage depending on the players actions. This is expanded upon with more paths than the original which also lead a greater variety of stage layouts and locations, although the general story itself will always remain the same. The flashbacks to the first The House of the Dead in the game's introductory sequence were recorded using the game's engine.