In honor of Zombie Jesus Day, I present the Dead Rising review.
Genre: Third Person Action
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
Price: 53.99 USD
US Release Date: August 8, 2006
Equipment: HP 23" widescreen monitor with component cables in 720p, standard 360 wireless controller.
Completion: Approximately 15 hours.
"Willamette, Colorado. Population: 53,594. Distinguishing characteristics: Jack shit. About the only thing to do in this town is kill time at the shopping mall."
If you've seen George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, you know the setup for Dead Rising. There's a mall in a small town that's filled with zombies and a handful of survivors. Your job, as freelance photojournalist Frank West, is to survive for 72 hours until the rescue chopper returns. Along the way, you can take pictures, bring survivors back to the safe room, take down nutjobs who've lost their minds after seeing the dead walk, and kill a shitload of zombies.
Frank's not alone in his endeavor. His primary contact is Otis, a mall security guard equipped with a two-way radio. Otis calls you on this radio. A lot. Some of his information is useful, but most of it isn't. There are also a couple of Federal Agents on hand to deal with the zombie outbreak. Everyone else in the game falls into three categories: zombie, survivor, or psychopath. Zombies and psychopaths are there to kill you, or be killed. Survivors are there to be saved, or be turned into zombies.
What better way to deal with a zombie outbreak than being trapped in a mall? Almost anything on screen can be picked up and used as a weapon. From benches to trashcans to CDs to bowling balls to shotguns to nerf guns, there's always something handy to take out some living dead. Who hasn't wanted to knock someone's head off with a home run swing? Or crack them in the face with a 2x4? Or bisect them with a chainsaw? Dead Rising lets you do that to any zombie you meet.
The game looks beautiful. The character models are quite detailed, and the cutscenes show them off really well. Hundreds of zombies can be shown on screen at once, all looking and shuffling differently, and the frame rate remains silky smooth. Blood and viscera in HD is stunning.
Voice work is well done. None of them are recognizable names, but they're all good. There's not a bad one in the bunch. The music fits the action without being overbearing, and sound effects are solid. The sizzle of a zombie's face being burned off with a hot frying pan is spot on.
Controls are nice and tight, although the camera can get a bit wonky in certain spots. The camera has been a problem in every third person action game ever, though. The melee combat controls are perfect, but the ranged combat controls are not. Throwing an item or shooting a gun requires entering a targeting mode, which means Frank can't move and shoot at the same time. In a game that is otherwise extremely polished, the somewhat sloppy ranged controls stand out that much more.
On a related note, whenever Otis calls, Frank is rendered impotent. He drops whatever he's doing in order to answer the call. While Otis blathers on, Frank can't use any weapons or his camera, he can't lead or carry survivors, and he often gets gnawed upon by zombies. Of course, this interrupts the call, prompting Otis to call back and reprimand you for cutting him off. Otis is such a bastard.
Saving is something that has been maligned by other reviewers and players. There's only one save slot, and Frank has to go to the restroom in order to save. If Frank ever dies, the player is given the option to load the saved game, or start the storyline anew while keeping Frank's current stats. This is practically necessary in the early game, because Frank simply doesn't have enough health or item slots to progress very far. The argument could be made for starting Frank out at level 10, which would lessen the amount of restarts. On the other hand, restarting the game allows for correcting earlier mistakes, like saving more survivors, or taking out more psychopaths. That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with the save system.
If there's one place where Dead Rising falls down, it's the boss fights. Zombies are human. Or at least, they once were. So it follows that Frank can take their heads off with a sickle, or slice them open with a katana. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is a supposedly regular human who is nearly immune to every type of attack, whether it be a sledgehammer, lead pipe, pistol, or shotgun. It doesn't matter who you are, if you take a rifle round in the forehead, you're dead. If you take a full load of buckshot in the chest at point blank range, you're dead. If a ten pound sledge slams into the side of your skull, you're dead. The bosses don't follow those rules. If the bosses were challenging for some reason other than the fact that they cheat, Dead Rising would be a perfect game.
Multiplayer is nowhere to be found, but there are rumors about co-op play being included for a Greatest Hits version. After the 72 Hour mode is complete, there are options for Overtime and Survival, the latter of which where Frank tries to stay alive for 5 days straight, without saving.
For 360 owners looking to add a solid title to their library, they can't go wrong with Dead Rising.
Heath Says:
Since I enjoy picking out the bad in games, let me reiterate the bad in Dead Rising. Ranged combat sucks. Bosses cheat. I can't kill survivors once they get back to the security room. Otis is the bane of my existence. However, it's way too much fun to spit in a zombie's face and then burn it off with a red-hot skillet. Dead Rising was in my collection until I got rid of my 360. It's so good, I'll probably repurchase it (the Greatest Hits version anyway) when I get a 360 again. That's the best endorsement I can give it.
Final Verdict:
