Review: Dead Rising

Willamette mall is full of zombies! Why? Well you're there to find out of course. You play a journalist called Frank who gets a scoop that something pretty unusual is going down at a mall situated in this small town. As the super cool interactive opening cutscene plays out you start to realise that the locals are a little less 'friendly' than normal. The first thing that hits you here is the sheer number of zombies on screen at once. It's rather impressive and great to see some of the 360's power being put to good use.

When you eventually touch down on the helipad you have 72 hours (which works out at about 6 hours in real time) in which to figure out what the hell is happening. If only it were that simple. Everything in Dead Rising has a time limit and you must complete certain scoops at certain times within the strict time limits in order to reveal the 'true ending' and further the main story.

Obviously this being a 'sandbox' game and all means you don't have to follow the main story. There are many survivors within the mall for you to help if you feel like being the good guy. This would be all well and good if it wasn't for one crucial flaw. Zombies like brains right? Well there's no danger for these guys, the A.I on survivors isn't that great. Often they pick a more awkward path through or decide to stop and fight zombies (and inevitably die), even though Frank is yelling 'follow me!' More entertaining however are the few pychopaths in the game- human survivors that have gone a little, insane. They are dead fun to kill though, the clown especially providing a few laughs.

The scoops are provided by a dashing fellow named Otis, the mall's janitor who stays in the safe room, watching the C.C.T.V cameras for any activity. He can be a real annoying git though, as he often pages you at the most 'shit, I'm getting eaten by zombies' of times.

The game also supports a leveling system for Frank. As you take photo's, kill zombies etc- you get player points which enable Frank to learn new skills and get certain features like your health bar upgraded- which is a nice touch. Using Frank's camera you can take pictures of 'key moments' to gain player points towards Frank's level, or just prat around taking funky pictures! There's also a quirky Japanese sense of humour within the picture taking system such as if you take a picture of certain areas of female survivor's body or the 'sexy' zombies, you get an erotica bonus on your picture! However there's never really any manditory feeling to talking photos, so it could have been better implemented.

So you didn't think you'd just have the camera did you? This is no Fatal Frame you know! One of the greatest and most hilarious features of Dead Rising is the weapons. There are 150 weapons within the game ranging from standard pistols and shotguns to HDTVs, light swords, and shopping trolleys! You really can use anything!

The real impressive thing is graphically how detailed the game looks (however survivors don't seem as detailed as core characters) and the animation of the zombies is superb- much more belivable than Resident Evil 4 for instance. Another thing is that there is a good variety of zombies and you never see the same zombie model too often.

A potential problem with the game that I've heard some gamers complain about is the save system. It only gives you 1 slot to save your game, so save in a bad spot and it's tough luck. Luckily the game does give you the option to restart with all of Frank's skills and level intact. Although I never had a problem with the save system and it makes the survival element of the game feel more realistic.

Overall I had a lot of fun with Dead Rising. If the Dawn of the Dead movie appealed to you, so will this.

Gameplay: 8 (Fun, addictive and smooth.)
Design: 8 (Fantastic animation, although save system is a pain for some players.)
Graphics: 8 (Detailed, impressive aswell due to how many zombies there are on screen.)
Sound: 8 (Great zombie effects, all as it should be.)
Controls: 8 (Easy to use and smooth, though the guns could control a little better.)
Replayability: 9 (New modes/costumes to unlock, lots to explore.)

Overall: 8

Agree/disagree with this score? Leave a comment.