Dead Rising

[REfan001]

With Dead Rising, Capcom has finally given zombies their due. If you're a fan Dawn of the Dead or any George Romero movies, this is the game for you. It's a gory, violent, and sometimes funny game that is loaded with gratuitously violent zombie killing action, and its what you've been waiting for.

In the game, you play Frank West, a freelance photojournalist, who comes to the small town of Willamette, Colorado to investigate some strange happenings and finds out the town has been overrun with zombies. oh no. and you are then stranded in the mall for 72 hours to figure out what happened and escape. The story is your standard B-movie plot, but it gets the job done.

But What really matters is the gameplay. As you play, there's a constant tension between free-form zombie killing and timed missions. You earn prestige points (experience) by rescuing survivors, lining up gory zombie slaughters, and taking pictures. Yes, taking pictures. You are, after all, a journalist in pursuit of a story. The photography is an amusing diversion that fits in nicely with the sometimes juvenile tone. Include some hot undead chick's cleavage in your photo and you get a bonus for some hot zombie erotica. When you earn enough prestige points, you'll level up. This improves your character with new stats and new combat moves, such as being able to walk over zombie crowds, flying jump kicks, and being able to rip out a zombie's guts with your bare hands. Improved stats let you do things like carry more items, survive more damage, and run faster. Most of the side missions involve you rescuing survivors or killing boss type characters called psychopaths, such as a chainsaw juggling clown, and a machete weilding madman who thinks your the vietcong. Escorting the survivors wouldnt be so bad, if they werent dumber than the zombies.

Dead Rising takes place almost entirely in the mall. The mall setting encourages a lot of exploration and experimentation. You can use anything and I mean ANYTHING in the mall to kill a zombie. Mere guns are passe. This is a game of chainsaws, battle axes, and bowling balls. This is a game about the meeting of familiar objects with undead flesh. This is a game about using whatever's at hand. Nearly everything degrades after a certain amount of use, a contrivance Dead Rising uses to encourage you to try more and different things. But of course, there are guns in the game like shotguns and pistols and machine guns and what not. Dead Rising is all about enjoying a hundred different violent and/or goofy ways to destroy a zombie.

At first, it might seem like the missions interfere with the free roming gameplay. Some of which can trip fail states when it comes to the storyline, which really isnt all bad cause then you have 72 hours to just do whatever the hell you want. But it's important to note that Dead Rising is built to be played over and over. As there are six differemt endings. When you die, you can restart the game, keeping any levels and abilities you've earned through experience points. And it's also important to note that once you've reached the end of the game with the REAL ending, you can play without the timer.

The game's save system is also going to frustrate some people. You can only keep a single save for each game. And you can only save the game at predetermined save points, bathrooms and the security room which is like you safe house. Save points are few and far between, and there are times when you'll lose a lot of progress when you die, which sucks. But these spaced out save points create and sense of dread. You'll want to stock up on inventory and weapons before attempting a particularly difficult passage. And you're not always secure whether you're going to make it. You actually have to sometimes plan out what you're gonna do before do it. Do you plow through zombies with a beach umbrella? Do you arrange propane tanks to blow them up? Do you just try to hack your way through again? Or do you make a run for it? This is survival horror where the word survival is actually meaningful.

But its the way it all comes together, the gratuitous violence, the graphics, the setting, the save system, makes Dead Rising something far more special than any specific complaints you might have about it. If for no other reason, this is a game you should play for how well it appreciates, honors, and finally does justice to its subject material. This is the game that finally gets the zombie stuff right. This is a definite buy for any 360 owner.

[neonspyder]

nicely written review, bro

i rented the game and am thoroughly enjoying it - minus those save points

[Pspgamr]

This game looks so awesome, can you get a demo through xbox live? I wanna get that game soooooo bad and hoiw much is it $80?

[REfan001]

yes, you can get the demo on Xbox Live Marketplace, and no, its $60 not 80

[brfitzp]

Nice review, thanks alot....i rented it a few days ago and im still playing it, i played 72 hour mode quite a few times now

[baseballkiller25]

I played the demo and cant wait to make enough money to buy the game

nice review, looks like a decent game.

[dan_barney]

Nice review, i've been playing the demo and love it, can't wait until the game is released.

[Woozie92]

Man,i heard about this game,and i really want to play it.
I think i will just buy the game when it comes out.

[steveL88]

I had a hard time finding it (took me six days after US release), but I've been playing it quite a bit lately. My only gripe is how little room there is for error with the time limit. You can only do so much, and it is impossible to save everyone. Other than that, the achievements are a pain in the ass too.

I give it a 8/10.