Introduction:
In my mind, there are 3 types of games. Games that blow and should be avoided. Games that are pretty good and you should pick up if you have the console. And games that help influence you into buying the console that it’s on. Capcom’s Dead Rising released in 2006 is in the latter category. While not perfect, at the time of its release it made me strongly consider getting an Xbox 360 because not only was it a blast to play, but it promised a wonderful future for the console.
Story:
You are Frank West, a freelance reporter/photographer. A zombie epidemic has come down on a small town called Willamette and the army has been trying to contain the epidemic and not allowing anyone in or out. Frank gets in by helicopter but is forced to jump out on top of the shopping mall. He instructs the pilot to come back to him in 72 hours so he can get his story and find out what is going on. When he gets in the mall he forms an alliance with the security team to try and stop an immanent terrorist attack.
As you can probably tell from that description Dead Rising borrows a few elements from George A. Romero’s 1978 horror classic Dawn of the Dead. Mainly the ‘Zombies in a Mall’ setting. Many reviewers picked this apart at time of release and I didn’t get why. Sure, it’s not original but copying is the foundation of the entertainment industry and it never got in the way of my enjoyment. Now that’s out the way, how is the story handled? Pretty damn well considering that Capcom have brought us some of the worst writing and story telling in the history of games. The characters are well-rounded, interesting and believable. The writing is pulled off well and so is the voice acting. The story takes many twists and turns and should keep you guessing until the end. Sure, there are moments of melodrama, cheese and just sheer odd moments but it’s a well told story about survival against the odds. It’s not up to the standards of a Grand Theft Auto or Zelda game, but Dead Risings story rises out of the B-Movie category to create a well told story.
Design:
As I said earlier, Dead Rising takes place in a huge mall. It’s just as great as it sounds, but for those of you who don’t understand the possibilities then let me explain. In this mall there are over a hundred different shops with a huge variety of items. Go into a music shop and you can pick up some instruments and beat the horde of zombies to death with them. Go into a hardware store and you can find Chainsaws and so much more. There are so many possibilities and I wouldn’t be surprised if this game had the largest amount of melee weapons in any game ever created. You can use guns if you are boring, or you can throw pies, charge zombies with benches, ride a bike into a crowd of zombies or throw bowling balls. There are thousands of possibilities. This is Dead Risings strongest aspect. The mall is a huge area and is essentially your playground…for 72 hours. Like I said Frank has 72 hours to get his story. This is shown in the ’72 hour mode’, otherwise known as the main campaign and the main bulk of the game. This will last you about 7/8 hours which seems a bit short but Dead Rising is meant to be played multiple times to upgrade your skills. When you slaughter Zombies or do missions you are rewarded with PP (Prestige Points). When you get a certain amount you level up and can obtain more health, more fighting moves and more inventory slots. But killing zombies isn’t all you will be doing. Because Frank is a photographer you are able to take pictures and if your picture is gory, sexy or action-packed then you will gain extra PP. While this isn’t exactly a selling point, it is an interesting component of the game.
Zombies aren’t the only enemies you will be fighting though. Every now and again you will have to fight a human opponent who has gone mad because of all the destruction around them. Some of these are optional, but if you fight them then you will benefit more (you will get extra PP and access to better weapons). There aren’t many of them though and some of them are lacking in the gameplay department.
After you have beaten the 72 hour mode you will unlock the Overtime Mode. This continues the story and reveals the true ending. This will take you about 2 hours to complete and after that you get the Infinite Mode, where you are in the mall and have to survive as long as possible with limited resources. The Infinite aspect of it is a lie though because every 100 seconds you lose a portion of health which is frustrating, unfair and very disappointing.
Overall, you are getting a lot of bang for your buck and while all the options don’t reach their full potential and will only be worthwhile if you enjoy the overall gameplay experience.
Gameplay:
Dead Rising is a 3rd Person Shooter, Resident Evil 4 style. Dead Risings shooting mechanics are pretty much identical to RE4. There isn’t a lot of ammo, so it’s best to save it for boss battles or hairy situations. The main emphasis is placed on melee combat, good thing there are plenty of weapons in this mall. Almost everything in the mall is a weapon. These weapons to degrade and break apart after a few hits, but it’s never a problem because there are so many to choose from.
The shooting controls can be a bit clunky and out-dated, but because I loved Resident Evil 4, this never caused a problem for me personally. Melee combat is well done, but hand-to-hand combat isn’t very effective unless you upgrade your skills a lot. You’re not always killing Zombies though. Boss battles are thrown in against human opponents but they move a lot faster then the zombies which show the control limitations. One of them is riding a motorcycle and that’s a very cheap boss battle.
While the zombies are stupid, that’s fine because they are supposed to be. But the human NPC’s are just as brainless as the zombies. When you try to rescue them they will run straight into the horde and can’t defend themselves effectively. It’s definitely Dead Risings weakest aspect. It can be very frustrating trying to save these stupid characters and sometimes it’s not worth the frustration.
Weapons aren’t the only effective items in the mall. You can mix food together in blenders to create ‘potions’ which make you more powerful in a variety of ways. You can also equip magazines which help you learn more abilities. These aspects help Dead Rising become more then a conventional 3rd Person Shooter. While it’s not perfect or revolutionary, the zombie aspect and the mall help make it feel fresh and innovative.
Graphics:
This is definitely a game that couldn’t have been done on a last generation console. And not just because of the graphics or setting, but due to how impressive the tech is. Apparently, there can be 800 zombies on the screen at any one time. That’s an impressive achievement. That’s not to say that the tech isn’t the only impressive aspect that the game has up its sleeve. The character models are very realistic (in-game and during cutscenes), they emote very well and move in a believable way. Decapitations look gory and great, especially considering the amount of ways a zombie can be killed in this game. The weapons look great and react realistically with zombie flesh. The attention to detail is impressive and the mall has hundreds of shops with even more weapons, so the sheer amount of content in the game world is impressive. The frame rate will drop though but I can’t say I blame it. Overall, it’s the early days of the Xbox 360 and while it’s been topped in terms of graphics, when it was first released there was nothing that looked quite like it.
Sound:
The sound design in this game is very subtle, but very effective. The music sounds just like elevator music, which clashes with the horror zombie setting. It’s hilarious and very charming. The voice acting is pretty good, especially by Capcom standards. The sound effects are show stealing though. The squishing of Zombie organs will be music to some gamer’s ears. Overall, there isn’t a lot to the sound design, but what’s here is very good.
Closing Comments:
Dead Rising is definitely a game that you should pick up if you own an Xbox 360. If you didn’t mind the controls in Resident Evil 4 (or 5) then you won’t mind this. It’s been out for 3 years and it’s still a blast to play and you should be able to pick it up really cheap now. When the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse happens, players of Dead Rising will be prepared.
+ Interesting Story
+ Huge Variety of Weapons
+ Impressive Tech and Sound
- Limited Options
- Brainless NPC's
8.6/10
Re: Dead Rising 
Linear Mode
