Dead Rising Review- Xbox 360
Introduction
Dead rising is a zombie fanatics dream. Many games have emulated GTA’s sand-box style game play, but few have successfully lived up to their hype. Dead Rising is definitely not a game to disappoint, and Capcom have created an instant classic.
Storyline
The storyline is the usual zombie style- there’s an unexplained outbreak, with answers you must uncover. The player takes the role of Frank West- a freelance photo journalist, driven to the town of Willamette due to rumours of the biggest story of his career. However, the instant he arrives, everything is not what it seems, from the heavy National Guard presence outside the town, to the strange rioting acts around the city. Once arriving at the Willamette mall, Frank befriends a government agent called Brad and his partner Jessie. Frank also meets Otis, one of the surviving employees of the mall, who the player will become very used to throughout the game. I won’t uncover much about the plot, but it does contain plenty of twists to keep it interesting throughout.
OVERALL STORY: 7/10
Game play
The very basic core game play is to simply survive 72 hours (3 days) within the mall. Speed is of course sped up - an in game day is about 2 hour’s real time. EVERY mission in the game is entirely optional, even the main storyline. The entire mall is available right from the start of the game. Few games have this true sandbox style game play. Even in Grand Theft Auto some missions were required to be completed before more content was unlocked, but that’s not the case here. The story missions themselves are relatively entertaining, but you will most likely just play them for the storyline. Missions involve either killing someone, saving someone or a combination. There are a few exceptions, but generally each mission has a similar feel. In addition to the storyline missions, optional missions can be obtained from Otis via a walkie-talkie, or just by being in the right place at the right time. These missions, similar to the main missions, usually involve killing someone or saving someone. Although, unlike some of the storyline missions, some of these are generally well thought out and interesting. One example is another photographer, who you meet each day to be tasked with a different photo challenge (more on photos later). There are three playable modes, though the main 72 hour mode is the most interesting, and I won’t spoil the other two for you.
You will meet over 50 fellow survivors in the game, and they are divided into 2 categories: survivors and psychopaths. Survivors are people who have somehow managed to make their way to the mall. You can have up to 8 survivors follow you at any time, and though you are supposed to escort them to the mall security room (one of the few safe areas in the game), they can be useful in drawing attention away from yourself, as well as providing additional firepower. You can use basic commands which tell them to follow you or stay put, but leaving them too long tends to get them killed. Their Intelligence isn’t particularly great, and they tend to run into objects and only attack when they themselves are being attacked. Psychopaths are people who due to the zombie outbreak have become insane, and come in many different forms. These include a crazy clown with dual wielded chainsaws, an arsonist who thinks everyone is making fun of him, and 3 criminals who have escaped from the local prison and acquired a military jeep. Early on in the game these bosses can be very challenging, but each have a weakness, are interesting to fight, and provide gruesome cut scene when you kill them!
The game features a simple RPG style system, where earning enough PP (Prestige points) boosts you up to the next level, providing a new skill or power-up, such as new hand-to-hand moves or extra health. These new skills are randomly generated, so you may get an awesome head ripping move at level 17, then get a health boost for the next 2-3 levels. You can earn PP by killing bosses, saving people, performing special moves or special interactions. The most unique, however, is to take photos. Being a journalist, Frank has a camera, for proof of his story. Take a photo and the game will register several different factors, such as how many zombies, survivors etc are on screen, and assign it to a category. These include Brutality for particularly gruesome scenes, to erotica for sexual themed photos (weird- who would of thought of zombies as sexy?). Some objects and characters have PP stickers attached to them, taking a photo of these things can provide a huge PP boost- sometimes gaining you several level ups when just starting. At the start of the game you are very weak- you probably won’t be able to stand up to many zombies and you certainly will have a hard time killing the game’s psychopath bosses. Once you gain higher levels however, you will become almost unstoppable- at level 50, the games highest level, a kick can kill a zombie!
Perhaps the main attraction in Dead Rising is the zombies. Many other zombie games, such as Resident Evil, have a few zombies in an area who aren’t much of a challenge. Dead Rising, on the other hand, has a swarm engine, and there can be up to 800 zombies on screen at any time. This can make for some jaw dropping encounters, as you are literally knee deep in the undead. Your fists are usually pretty rubbish to use against them, unless you have unlocked special moves. So how do you deal with so many damn zombies? Simply, use whatever is at hand.
The game has literally hundreds of different weapons, ranging from ranged weapons like pistols and shotguns, sharp weapons such as chainsaws and Katanas, blunt weapons such as bowling balls and benches, to the downright obscure such as handbags and bags of flour. Almost everything you can see is a weapon, and simply experimenting with all the different weapons is immensely fun. Wondered what whacking a zombie with a guitar is like? Go to the music store and grab one. Want to hit zombies in the face with golf balls? Grab a club and start driving. The sheer amount of weapons makes the game really unique, and very fun to play. Vehicles can also be used in the malls small outside area, but handle rather clunky and are not as interesting or inventive a weapon as a toy laser sword. Food is also littered around the mall to refill your health, and can also be mixed in blenders to create unique juices that can do things such as improve your speed or make all zombies in the area attack you. Overall, the game play is top notch in dead rising.
OVERALL: 9/10
Graphics
Being a launch title, the graphics may have aged slightly but are still technically outstanding. Few other games can boast about the sheer amount of enemies it can have on screen, and this is the games graphical standout. The games textures and models are good across the board, though there are some occasional muddy environment textures and there is a small amount of slowdown in the games finale. some blocky animations take away from the games generally fantastic visuals but overall this is a great looking game
OVERALL: 8/10
Sound
I seriously do not believe that any other game has better Foley work than dead rising. Every weapon has a unique and satisfying sound, making them even more pleasurable to use. Voice acting is of a high standard, though voices are only used in cut scenes and the player is reduced to reading text though out most of the game. The music for boss battles is varied and fitting, including Rock, Rap and other music forms. The only music letdown is the mall music - like a real mall’s music, its insanely annoying and repetitive, but you could just play your own music through the 360’s music menu, which is just as good I suppose.
Final Verdict
Dead rising is a truly original game, with unique features and game play. Graphics and sound wise the game is pretty impressive, and the game is simply very fun to play, though the missions can occasionally lack variety, and poor Ai do let the game down sometimes. If you love zombies, violence or just want something to loosen your anger, Dead Rising is the game for you.
FINAL GRADE: 8/10
Here we go guys, Mike’s first review.