Dead Rising - Review
Added August 18th, 2006 by T.S. McLaughlin - ''Chakan''
Introduction:
WARNING: This review is not inspired by or developed from George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
You will see a warning like this at least three times right as you begin to play Dead Rising, the newest and one of the finest additions to Capcom’s historic library of great games. It’s a funny thing, because everything in this game seems to indeed be inspired by that penultimate of zombie-flicks. But that gimmick aside the game has its own level of innovation and plot development to get into that far surpasses the essential lack thereof in any of Romero’s movies. I will leave the Romero-chat with one other statement though... if you are a fan of Romero’s movies you will have a one-up on others in guessing how this game will end. Let me tell you though it’s not quite what you think and if you want to really truly know what happened to make this “small-town in America” become over-run with zombies you will have to play through this game at least 3 times.
Let’s get something straight right away about this game. This game is made by an old-school company (Capcom) in the old school way (it was developed by and published by Capcom) and its gameplay lives and breathes with old-school life (though this is not always a good thing). Keeping with these notions, the best way to play this game is to play it straight through the first time as a survival horror. Your only job should be to make it to the end of the three days and hope your ride comes back for you. Be ready for a bit of repetition, bosses will have to be tried more than once and there is a lot of exploring to be done that will need to be finely honed for the best usage of time. Explore, find a good set of weapons, then reload to get there while saving time… time is essential (also an old-school mechanism).
If you wanted a game that lets you beat it without trying, or if you wanted a game that would be as worn as an old shoe after a few hours and would never present a new challenge, well, you might want to back away slowly from the Dead Rising box because this game will not be for you. You can mindlessly hack and slash zombies, but to do it with fun and flair and also success you need level up and play the game through once. People had varying expectations of what this game was going to be like and it is bound to not please everyone. Expectations can be hell sometimes. If you were hoping for an innovative game with a fresh take on an old-school gameplay you will be well rewarded. If you were hoping for a mindless zombie slaughter-fest you will only be half-rewarded.
For those that hate to read an entire review to get the point, I’ll lay out the final assessment right now in some quick bursts for you. This is a game that is free-form in gameplay but stringent in its intended execution. The save system is strict. You can only save in one slot and you can only save in bathrooms and on a couch. This means every time you enter a new area the first thing you have to do is find the bathroom. It’s amusing at first but it quickly becomes irritating. It makes you feel like you are an expectant mother or a person with a failing bladder when the first thing you need to do in a new area of the mall is find the restroom. The controls for using guns (which are very essential to moving beating key bosses) are very difficult and downright annoying to use. To enjoy the game you have to abandon all hope of getting it perfect the first time. The first time through you are almost certain to earn a bad score and have a bad ending. That being said there is nothing else like this game on the planet and there most likely will never be anything else like it ever again. Dead Rising is one of the most unique and wild game experiences I’ve ever had. If you don’t own it, you will, it’s just a matter of when and how much you will pay. But to not eventually have it in your collection would be pure madness for a real gamer. Now with that out of the way let’s get into the reasons behind all of this, shall we?
You play as Frank West, a free-lance photo-journalist who has hired a helicopter to bring him into a town that has been inexplicably cordoned off by the U.S. military. After a ride down the main street and witnessing zombies murdering humans all around, Frank is dropped off at the local mall. Here he finds a slew of people that have barricaded themselves inside this huge monstrosity of shopping goodness and are intent on surviving one way or the other. You have to document the drama, the horror, and the bizarre qualities of it all with your trusty digital camera. This is the main point of Frank’s existence and shouldn’t be forgotten as you run about bludgeoning zombies with any available hard object.
All of the zombies are shuffling about the solid exterior doors just salivating at the fresh meat inside. One silly old lady trying to save her annoying lap dog was all it took to unleash the zombie apocalypse inside the mall. To see how it all happened from there you’ll have to play the game. But right from this point is where the humor, fun, and occasional annoyance that is Dead Rising kicks into high gear.
Gameplay:
For an action-oriented game it has a surprisingly deep level-up system. As Frank West you are the ultimate survivor. There are over 20 skills that Frank can learn as he advances to his max of Level 50. Leveling will also help raise Frank’s total life bar and make his inventory slots expand in number. You level up by acquiring “prestige points” which can be obtained by saving people, killing bosses, killing zombies, taking key photographs, and using special items in the game. The more skills you learn the better you are going to look murdering zombies, or conversely, coolly avoiding them.
WARNING: This review is not inspired by or developed from George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
You will see a warning like this at least three times right as you begin to play Dead Rising, the newest and one of the finest additions to Capcom’s historic library of great games. It’s a funny thing, because everything in this game seems to indeed be inspired by that penultimate of zombie-flicks. But that gimmick aside the game has its own level of innovation and plot development to get into that far surpasses the essential lack thereof in any of Romero’s movies. I will leave the Romero-chat with one other statement though... if you are a fan of Romero’s movies you will have a one-up on others in guessing how this game will end. Let me tell you though it’s not quite what you think and if you want to really truly know what happened to make this “small-town in America” become over-run with zombies you will have to play through this game at least 3 times.
Let’s get something straight right away about this game. This game is made by an old-school company (Capcom) in the old school way (it was developed by and published by Capcom) and its gameplay lives and breathes with old-school life (though this is not always a good thing). Keeping with these notions, the best way to play this game is to play it straight through the first time as a survival horror. Your only job should be to make it to the end of the three days and hope your ride comes back for you. Be ready for a bit of repetition, bosses will have to be tried more than once and there is a lot of exploring to be done that will need to be finely honed for the best usage of time. Explore, find a good set of weapons, then reload to get there while saving time… time is essential (also an old-school mechanism).
If you wanted a game that lets you beat it without trying, or if you wanted a game that would be as worn as an old shoe after a few hours and would never present a new challenge, well, you might want to back away slowly from the Dead Rising box because this game will not be for you. You can mindlessly hack and slash zombies, but to do it with fun and flair and also success you need level up and play the game through once. People had varying expectations of what this game was going to be like and it is bound to not please everyone. Expectations can be hell sometimes. If you were hoping for an innovative game with a fresh take on an old-school gameplay you will be well rewarded. If you were hoping for a mindless zombie slaughter-fest you will only be half-rewarded.
For those that hate to read an entire review to get the point, I’ll lay out the final assessment right now in some quick bursts for you. This is a game that is free-form in gameplay but stringent in its intended execution. The save system is strict. You can only save in one slot and you can only save in bathrooms and on a couch. This means every time you enter a new area the first thing you have to do is find the bathroom. It’s amusing at first but it quickly becomes irritating. It makes you feel like you are an expectant mother or a person with a failing bladder when the first thing you need to do in a new area of the mall is find the restroom. The controls for using guns (which are very essential to moving beating key bosses) are very difficult and downright annoying to use. To enjoy the game you have to abandon all hope of getting it perfect the first time. The first time through you are almost certain to earn a bad score and have a bad ending. That being said there is nothing else like this game on the planet and there most likely will never be anything else like it ever again. Dead Rising is one of the most unique and wild game experiences I’ve ever had. If you don’t own it, you will, it’s just a matter of when and how much you will pay. But to not eventually have it in your collection would be pure madness for a real gamer. Now with that out of the way let’s get into the reasons behind all of this, shall we?
You play as Frank West, a free-lance photo-journalist who has hired a helicopter to bring him into a town that has been inexplicably cordoned off by the U.S. military. After a ride down the main street and witnessing zombies murdering humans all around, Frank is dropped off at the local mall. Here he finds a slew of people that have barricaded themselves inside this huge monstrosity of shopping goodness and are intent on surviving one way or the other. You have to document the drama, the horror, and the bizarre qualities of it all with your trusty digital camera. This is the main point of Frank’s existence and shouldn’t be forgotten as you run about bludgeoning zombies with any available hard object.
All of the zombies are shuffling about the solid exterior doors just salivating at the fresh meat inside. One silly old lady trying to save her annoying lap dog was all it took to unleash the zombie apocalypse inside the mall. To see how it all happened from there you’ll have to play the game. But right from this point is where the humor, fun, and occasional annoyance that is Dead Rising kicks into high gear.
Gameplay:
For an action-oriented game it has a surprisingly deep level-up system. As Frank West you are the ultimate survivor. There are over 20 skills that Frank can learn as he advances to his max of Level 50. Leveling will also help raise Frank’s total life bar and make his inventory slots expand in number. You level up by acquiring “prestige points” which can be obtained by saving people, killing bosses, killing zombies, taking key photographs, and using special items in the game. The more skills you learn the better you are going to look murdering zombies, or conversely, coolly avoiding them.
Over 140 weapons are available to slaughter zombies and all of them have their own drawbacks and advantages. The way weapons work in this game is stunningly complex. Each and every one of those 140 weapons have their own feel, look, sound, and nuances that you will either love to use or hate to bother with or simply use for fun and amusement. For example, the golf club isn’t just swung like any other club to crush zombies. Frank actually hits golf balls from it (with a perfect backswing might I add) that makes the weapon’s usage very unique and specific to a certain way of killing zombies. Some of the more fun (and bizarre) weapons such as the auger (a large hole-drilling machine) and the skateboard have more than one use. The auger can be used to impale zombies and then you can throw their bodies at more zombies OR you can impale a zombie and turn on the auger and run around with a spinning zombie that can mow down a whole row of other zombies. If you do the latter you will find that the zombie you have impaled slowly dismembers itself and loses effectiveness until it becomes nothing but a bloody, spinning, torso. Time to get a new zombie-victim! The skateboard can be used as a melee weapon to club zombies in the face or you can hop on it and ride it to knock down all the zombies as you pass by. The weapon and gameplay variety will never, in this way, cease to amaze or get old.
Even though zombies are easily taken on in small groups and especially one at a time you must not get complacent. If a group of them get ahold of you, you will die a grisly death and have to reload from your last save. When they grab ahold or knock you down, you can still fight back if you wiggle the left thumbstick while pressing the face buttons. Do it right and you might survive these attacks but if you don’t master it, you are dead meat... literally.
As for game progression and game-flow this game moves along whether you like it to or not. This is where the patience and willingness to go with the wind must be present. If you are compelled to complete every mission you are given you will run out of time with little to show for your work and you will most likely become frustrated at the game and the way it was put together. Missions are separated into two types: “Scoops” and “Cases”. Cases move the story-line and help you meet the main characters that will give you the story. Scoops can be thought of as side missions though if you don’t do Scoops you will never find out what happened at Willamette or just who some of the survivors really are. Scoops also bring you most of your extra survivors and bringing survivors back to the security room means BIG prestige points for you. You want to level? Make sure to complete at least a few scoops the first time around in this game.
Graphics:
While it is still hard to judge a next-gen game’s graphics with dead-set certainty, the easy way can always be taken and a reviewer can say “it’s a mixed bag”. And well, it IS a mixed bag. The cut-scenes are beautifully rendered in the game engine but textured far better and are far clearer than anything you will see during gameplay. What goes in Dead Rising’s favor here is that there are tons of zombies on-screen at any given time, the surrounding environments are very detailed, and it has a smooth physics engine that provides all of the key animations for the weapons and combat that takes place in the game.
Every facet of the game is detailed and colorful. The stores seem realistically full of three dimensional items to play with, manipulate, and observe. Though the textures are far from perfect they get the job done. Tile looks bumpy and shiny, linoleum appears smooth and slick, and plaster looks dull and heavy. Everything appears to be just about right and yet the zombies look pretty bland up close and not all of the character movement animation is so smooth. Though it’s a small concern (and smooth animation is relative when observing the shuffling movements of the undead) it is something you will notice.
If there was one solid beef with the graphics though it would be how incredibly unreadable the text is on every screen. The map is a torture to use and the text pop-up boxes that come up so often from your buddy Otis, who watches the mall’s security cameras, is impossible to read from any further than 3 feet away from the screen. Unexplainable, bizarre, and inexcusable are the only words I can come up with for this anomaly.
Audio:
The audio in the game is spot-on. The mall music is horridly, fantastically, utterly perfect. Just about every common area and store that should have music does and the scores are all unique and funny. Sound effects are equally perfect. Zombie moans and sliding, meaty shuffles are everywhere. When you hit a zombie with any given weapon they all sound perfectly realistic. An axe has a wet, sharp sound. A hammer has a heavy dull smack to it. The snow blower chugs and struggles to chew through zombie flesh and zombie bone and you revel in the glory of it all when it victoriously spits zombie blood and gore out its chute.
Adding to the excellent cut-scene graphics are the well-done character voice-overs. Truly Dead Rising shows how sound should be used to immerse the player and enhance the game. It is a real shining point and it does its job better than most games could ever dream of doing without being so obvious and in your face that you could tell it was a major development point. The sound is subtle and effective. It’s just what was needed.
Controls:
Most of the weapons in this game react and feel perfect to your hands and the controller. With a melee weapon you hit what you want to hit every time, once you get to know that weapon’s range and target area. Aside from that shining point though, the controls are one of the worst areas (overall) in the game.
Using guns in this game is absurdly difficult and can make the game difficult to finish properly. Most every boss battle requires the use of a gun of some kind. Why Capcom chose to blemish their otherwise excellent game with a control scheme made for a PS2 is beyond anyone’s comprehension. To fire a gun with any accuracy you have to hold down the right trigger. This will freeze Frank in-place. Then to aim you must move the left thumbstick. The right thumbstick, which you would expect to allow you to run and move while aiming, does nothing at all. So you are stuck in one spot holding tightly onto the right trigger while your enemy is running around and trying to eviscerate you in 4 different ways… and you are stuck still trying to put as many bullets as possible into them before you have to run again.
Every boss behaves differently but they also have a similar set of attacks. They each have a long-range attack, a devastating up-close attack, and a ranged explosive that they can toss at you if you stand still. So put this together... you absolutely have to use a gun to kill most of the bosses in this game. You cannot fully beat the game and attain the perfect ending unless you beat all of the bosses and as I said before you need a gun to beat most of the bosses. Now add back in the fact that you must stand perfectly still to use a gun and you have a recipe for pure irritation.
The bosses will shoot at you when you stand still and if you stand idle long enough they throw something that explodes at your feet. So, you have to stop and face the boss, draw the weapon and carefully aim with the LEFT thumbstick. By the time you find the boss, one of two things will then happen: you fire one shot and the boss runs away or he shoots back and then throws an explosive at you. Either way you have to take a shot or two and then run. Rinse, recycle, and repeat… This gets old very fast and simply could have been fixed if Capcom had not arbitrarily made the right thumbstick utterly useless. There it is, just sitting there, doing nothing, while you are stuck in one spot lining up a precise shot like a Playstation-era 3-D idiot.
These kinds of controls hurt the game significantly because there are other frustrating elements in the game such as the small text, single-save system, and the difficulty in managing survivors that can make this game far more a struggle to get through than it needed to be. However, it can be worked with and to some extent worked around, but the game could have such a wider appeal if there were no issues with the controls at all.
Replay:
2 extra play modes are available after the original game is over. The first of these is called “over-time” mode and shows you what happens to Frank and Company after the first ending. Completing “over-time” mode is essential to finding out the true story of what happened in Willamette, Colorado as well. The mode that you unlock if you beat the “over-time” mode is “infinity-mode” and this is one is just for kicks. Infinity mode sort of makes the game because you get to take “your” leveled-up Frank West and see just how long you can survive in the mall with a slowly diminishing health bar, limited healing options, and random boss appearances. Whatever your score is you can post it onto Xbox Live and take a run to for the leader board. It’s a nice touch and gives a clear incentive to keep playing the game long after you feel you have mastered it.
Audio:
The audio in the game is spot-on. The mall music is horridly, fantastically, utterly perfect. Just about every common area and store that should have music does and the scores are all unique and funny. Sound effects are equally perfect. Zombie moans and sliding, meaty shuffles are everywhere. When you hit a zombie with any given weapon they all sound perfectly realistic. An axe has a wet, sharp sound. A hammer has a heavy dull smack to it. The snow blower chugs and struggles to chew through zombie flesh and zombie bone and you revel in the glory of it all when it victoriously spits zombie blood and gore out its chute.
Adding to the excellent cut-scene graphics are the well-done character voice-overs. Truly Dead Rising shows how sound should be used to immerse the player and enhance the game. It is a real shining point and it does its job better than most games could ever dream of doing without being so obvious and in your face that you could tell it was a major development point. The sound is subtle and effective. It’s just what was needed.
Controls:
Most of the weapons in this game react and feel perfect to your hands and the controller. With a melee weapon you hit what you want to hit every time, once you get to know that weapon’s range and target area. Aside from that shining point though, the controls are one of the worst areas (overall) in the game.
Using guns in this game is absurdly difficult and can make the game difficult to finish properly. Most every boss battle requires the use of a gun of some kind. Why Capcom chose to blemish their otherwise excellent game with a control scheme made for a PS2 is beyond anyone’s comprehension. To fire a gun with any accuracy you have to hold down the right trigger. This will freeze Frank in-place. Then to aim you must move the left thumbstick. The right thumbstick, which you would expect to allow you to run and move while aiming, does nothing at all. So you are stuck in one spot holding tightly onto the right trigger while your enemy is running around and trying to eviscerate you in 4 different ways… and you are stuck still trying to put as many bullets as possible into them before you have to run again.
Every boss behaves differently but they also have a similar set of attacks. They each have a long-range attack, a devastating up-close attack, and a ranged explosive that they can toss at you if you stand still. So put this together... you absolutely have to use a gun to kill most of the bosses in this game. You cannot fully beat the game and attain the perfect ending unless you beat all of the bosses and as I said before you need a gun to beat most of the bosses. Now add back in the fact that you must stand perfectly still to use a gun and you have a recipe for pure irritation.
The bosses will shoot at you when you stand still and if you stand idle long enough they throw something that explodes at your feet. So, you have to stop and face the boss, draw the weapon and carefully aim with the LEFT thumbstick. By the time you find the boss, one of two things will then happen: you fire one shot and the boss runs away or he shoots back and then throws an explosive at you. Either way you have to take a shot or two and then run. Rinse, recycle, and repeat… This gets old very fast and simply could have been fixed if Capcom had not arbitrarily made the right thumbstick utterly useless. There it is, just sitting there, doing nothing, while you are stuck in one spot lining up a precise shot like a Playstation-era 3-D idiot.
These kinds of controls hurt the game significantly because there are other frustrating elements in the game such as the small text, single-save system, and the difficulty in managing survivors that can make this game far more a struggle to get through than it needed to be. However, it can be worked with and to some extent worked around, but the game could have such a wider appeal if there were no issues with the controls at all.
Replay:
2 extra play modes are available after the original game is over. The first of these is called “over-time” mode and shows you what happens to Frank and Company after the first ending. Completing “over-time” mode is essential to finding out the true story of what happened in Willamette, Colorado as well. The mode that you unlock if you beat the “over-time” mode is “infinity-mode” and this is one is just for kicks. Infinity mode sort of makes the game because you get to take “your” leveled-up Frank West and see just how long you can survive in the mall with a slowly diminishing health bar, limited healing options, and random boss appearances. Whatever your score is you can post it onto Xbox Live and take a run to for the leader board. It’s a nice touch and gives a clear incentive to keep playing the game long after you feel you have mastered it.
There are 50 Achievements total and 15 of those give you rewards for your in-game use and amusement. There are 99 special Photo Bonuses hidden throughout the game that you have to be really on the ball with your camera to catch. To completely level Frank West up, you have to play through the game many times and as you do you will unlock various new melee moves for you to murder zombies with. These moves range from your everyday jump-kick to the unforgettable “disembowel” move that lets you rip the intestines out of your enemy and throw them on the floor. Learning these kinds of moves keep you coming back for more and more zombie killing and more replays through the game.
Summary:
Dead Rising brings something to the action genre it hasn’t seen in a long, long time and that is innovation and imagination. Everything about this game is so unique and dense that it’s difficult to fit into one review. The core gameplay is great (with the exception of the gun “issue”). The humor is fitting and demented and horrific all at the same time. The replay value is tremendously high. Loading up the game just to kill zombies is a very likely and very fun way to spend a few hours of a day… any day.
Play enough of this game and you will find yourself getting chills every time the title screen comes on. This isn’t because you are scared of the big-bad zombies but because your adrenalin is already pumping just enough to make you quiver with the anticipation of what new ways you are going to take on the hordes this time around. Killing zombies in this game never gets old, but going through the game unfortunately does. It’s a shame that Capcom spent so much time working on this game and still managed to goof it up enough to make its true glory and great endings essentially inaccessible to the casual gamer, who doesn’t want the stress of finding out the perfect inventory to carry on a mission, ordering around dopey survivors, and all the while keeping one eye out for the john so they can save their game.
If you wanted a game you could show off to your friends and have fun playing together on a weekend night you won’t really get it with this game. There’s too much repetition and loading of saved games and the inevitable loss of progress because of one mistake for many casual gamers to really bother watching or playing over and over again. To beat some of the bosses and save some of the survivors you need to do things “just so” and this means you have to do it over and over again until you get it perfect. This is the one instance where the game being old-school is NOT a good thing. Bosses have been like this since they first appeared in videogames. There’s always this methodology to exploit or place to hang out in the room where you can take care of them with no chance of getting hurt. To find it though you just need to play the game repeatedly and the save mechanic does not lend itself to that type of gameplay at all. It does not, however, make it a game that is impossible for the casual gamer to enjoy, just to beat.
Overall Capcom has created something truly special in Dead Rising, special and unique. There isn’t another game like it out there on the market on any system and it is a game worth buying as long as the buyer understands what they are getting into. The game is no cake-walk and it does some things differently, but overall it’s most likely to be forever its own unique mix of game genres, horror, humor, and fun that should probably be played by every serious gamer and a great portion of the casual gamers out there. Run out and buy it at $60? No.... I can’t say that I insist on that. But you will pick this game up eventually if you haven’t already. Despite its issues that are more frustrating than truly broken, the game is something you simply cannot miss. One day it will be most likely be in your collection of Xbox 360 games. You might rent it, but about 1 week after sending it back you will begin to miss it. The thought, “taking a sledgehammer to a zombie’s face would really take the edge off of my day right now, I wonder how much I can get Dead Rising for” will creep into your head and again and again. Eventually you will own it. It’s just that simple of an issue and that addictive of a gameplay. It is just a matter of time.
Summary:
Dead Rising brings something to the action genre it hasn’t seen in a long, long time and that is innovation and imagination. Everything about this game is so unique and dense that it’s difficult to fit into one review. The core gameplay is great (with the exception of the gun “issue”). The humor is fitting and demented and horrific all at the same time. The replay value is tremendously high. Loading up the game just to kill zombies is a very likely and very fun way to spend a few hours of a day… any day.
Play enough of this game and you will find yourself getting chills every time the title screen comes on. This isn’t because you are scared of the big-bad zombies but because your adrenalin is already pumping just enough to make you quiver with the anticipation of what new ways you are going to take on the hordes this time around. Killing zombies in this game never gets old, but going through the game unfortunately does. It’s a shame that Capcom spent so much time working on this game and still managed to goof it up enough to make its true glory and great endings essentially inaccessible to the casual gamer, who doesn’t want the stress of finding out the perfect inventory to carry on a mission, ordering around dopey survivors, and all the while keeping one eye out for the john so they can save their game.
If you wanted a game you could show off to your friends and have fun playing together on a weekend night you won’t really get it with this game. There’s too much repetition and loading of saved games and the inevitable loss of progress because of one mistake for many casual gamers to really bother watching or playing over and over again. To beat some of the bosses and save some of the survivors you need to do things “just so” and this means you have to do it over and over again until you get it perfect. This is the one instance where the game being old-school is NOT a good thing. Bosses have been like this since they first appeared in videogames. There’s always this methodology to exploit or place to hang out in the room where you can take care of them with no chance of getting hurt. To find it though you just need to play the game repeatedly and the save mechanic does not lend itself to that type of gameplay at all. It does not, however, make it a game that is impossible for the casual gamer to enjoy, just to beat.
Overall Capcom has created something truly special in Dead Rising, special and unique. There isn’t another game like it out there on the market on any system and it is a game worth buying as long as the buyer understands what they are getting into. The game is no cake-walk and it does some things differently, but overall it’s most likely to be forever its own unique mix of game genres, horror, humor, and fun that should probably be played by every serious gamer and a great portion of the casual gamers out there. Run out and buy it at $60? No.... I can’t say that I insist on that. But you will pick this game up eventually if you haven’t already. Despite its issues that are more frustrating than truly broken, the game is something you simply cannot miss. One day it will be most likely be in your collection of Xbox 360 games. You might rent it, but about 1 week after sending it back you will begin to miss it. The thought, “taking a sledgehammer to a zombie’s face would really take the edge off of my day right now, I wonder how much I can get Dead Rising for” will creep into your head and again and again. Eventually you will own it. It’s just that simple of an issue and that addictive of a gameplay. It is just a matter of time.
