Dead Rising Reviews

• An exciting new genre for the 360, but plagued with old problems

  
  By AIXKMXT72E7S1 on 2006-08-24
  Although I prefer FPS (first person shooters) to the 3rd person adventure games, I loved the latest installments of the Lara Croft and the Hitman series games. As of this writing, I have completed Dead Rising in the 72 hour mode and am now replaying the game to try to earn all of the achievements.
  
  Dead Rising is a brand-new genre for the Xbox 360. It's closest cousin is Condemned, a first person horror adventure game but Dead Rising has a number of unique features that set it apart. First off, you can pick up just about anything in the area and use it as a weapon. Potted plants, lawnmowers and even an electric guitar are all at your disposal. There are easily hundreds of potential weapons in this game and part of the fun is discovering new ways to fight off zombies with what you have available at hand.
  
  Adding to the distinct style of Dead Rising is the ability to customize your character. As you make your way through the mall, you can try on new clothing available from the various shops. Cool suits, fashionable glasses and, yes, even women's and children's apparel is fair game to put on. Besides wearing it as you battle the zombies, your character will also appear as you have dressed him during the video cut-scenes, which is a nice extra touch I was delighted to see. Food has also been given special "abilities" in the game. For example, you might find a frozen or raw food somewhere in the mall. If you eat it, you earn one or two points of health. But pop it into an oven before you eat it, and it will completely fill your health meter. Likewise, you can mix certain fluids in a blender can make an extra powerful energy drink!
  
  If you can't tell by everything I've already mentioned, this game is deep. I've only touched the surface to avoid revealing any spoilers, but trust me when I say you can get totally wrapped up in this game. The plot, the game and every little thing (be sure to check out the bookstore!) in the vast mall has been developed with so much detail that you'll find yourself enthralled by it.
  
  However, when undertaking such an ambitious project, there have to be some downfalls. The absolutely worst is the save game methodology. The developers have decided that you must find a restroom or a couch to save. While this seemed cute and clever at first, it quickly became frustrating and enraging (when you couldn't find one right before you got forced into a boss fight). Every player on the planet will find this feature problematic, I guarantee.
  
  One thing that other reviewers haven't mentioned is that some of the level bosses (called "Psychopaths") are redundant or unfairly matched. For example, often you'll be faced with enemies with devastating long-range weapons when all you have is a knife or 2x4 to try and knock out your opponent with. In another boss attack, I literally started at a save point and had to go through two full levels to face a boss who would inevitably defeat me and then I'd have to start all over again. These opponents often have a move that will completely incapacitate you in a single swipe, even when you have full health. This, combined with the fact that you will often have to run halfway across the map (where your last game save was) to repeat the battle, makes the game incredibly annoying. If you could ammo up, then save right before the boss battle, the game would be considerably more enjoyable.
  
  Another item, although mentioned by others in a different light, is the text-based mission objectives. Many reviewers have stated that the text is almost unreadable on smaller, standard definition televisions. However, my biggest complaint in this area is that the text is used at all. This game, by its very nature, is immersive. When you're trapped in a mall and having to fight zillions of zombies, you shouldn't have to stop to read the text of another character. I honestly wish Capcom had spent a little extra time and money to change all of the text interactions to spoken instructions. Not only would this have solved their biggest technical problem with the game, it would have also helped keep the suspense.
  
  Finally, there's a lot of "load-screen-itis" in this game. And by that, I mean that you'll be seeing a lot of the loading screen. Granted, the mall is a huge environment, and the load times are a snappy 5-6 seconds, but it gets annoying when you walk into an elevator and wait, walk down a hallway and wait, turn left and wait... You get the picture.
  
  There is no online component to allow multiplayer (which would be awesome!) but Dead Rising does have downloadable content from Xbox Live. It was available just days after the game released and consists of eight "keys" which unlock several new outfits for the main character, available at no charge. As you'd expect, the game also supports Xbox Achievements, with 50 of them to earn, each worth 20 Gamerscore points. You'll have to spend hundreds (if not thousands!) of hours in this game trying to obtain all of these objectives and I don't consider many of them a "walk in the park."
  
  Honestly, it seems like I'm spending a lot of time picking on the problems of this game, but they will plague you as you try to play through the levels. But when it comes right down to it, this game has all 5 "Es" that make it a powerhouse: Exciting plot, Engaging environments, Enlightening characters, 360 Exclusivity and Encredible customization! (OK, that last one wasn't an "E" but you'll have to forgive me, just like you'll have to forgive certain flaws in this game!) In short, you should definitely pick this game up, but love it for everything it accomplishes while forgiving it for the technical problems that it has. I give it a solid 5 stars for fun, but a 3 star rating for the inherent problems.
  
  

• Expectations... Be aware of what to expect in Dead Rising

  
  By A2NNNAUZZIIVC6 on 2006-08-11
  Expectations can basically make or break this game. The problem I had w/ it and I think most others do is the fact we wanted to freely roam the mall while killing off as many zombies as we wanted with all the cool weapons avaliable. There would be a story to follow, but not in the annoying way it was implemented.
  
  What CAPCOM delivered is slighly different from what most expected. The game takes place over 3 days, and within those 3 days you have to follow the game's main storyline within set time limits. Let clarify on that... you MUST get to certain story events within a certain time or you will loose out on the main story of the game. Side quests are avaliable, but you must pick and choose a few to do here and there because if you spend too much time on them, you will end up missing the main story. The game is made in such a way to MAKE you replay it two or three times atleast if you want to explore all the side quests and try to find all the cool weapons and things to see.
  
  The issue with saving the game goes right along with the above... the developer didnt want you to be able to have multisaves and say take a different path or what not... they limited you to ONE save per XBOX360 profile. Everytime you save, you overwrite the last save. No other option. You can only save at the bathrooms and the safehouse. There is usually one save spot near each area, but it makes it a pain to save your progress.
  
  Escort missings are a pain aswell as the people you try to save are extremly stupid. They try to fight zombies (and usually loose) and take forever to get where you call them to. You have to call for them over and over to try to direct them to safety.. again not so much fun.
  
  The above reasons make you feel like the game is somewhat "job" like as it forces you to adhere to these requirements it has forcefully. It takes the edge off what could have been a five star game.
  
  Why is the game still great? Well, it's extremly fun to go around killing zombies w/ just about everything you find along the mall stores (hedge clippers, chainsaws, bats, purses, etc..) and the game runs fast and smooth w/ nice looking visuals. Going around killing batches after batches of zombies just doesn't get old! Facial expressions look great and the zombie/weapon/voice sounds are perfect for the game. The voice acting great too IMO... its a shame that the few people you see in the game dont talk, you simply recieve subtitles for them.
  
  I think the demo of the game also lead people to believe the game would be more free roaming that it actually is (fooled me) and that also plays a part in the initial dissapointment many are experiencing. Once you get over the fact that the you tied down by the clock and the subpar save system, you will enjoy the game though! Recommended!
  
  

• Great game, even with a few bumps...

  
  By AB3GQ74L3TKHH on 2006-08-15
  Well, I have been enjoying Dead Rising for a week now and I can't honestly think of a game out there that is more fun than this one. While I do agree with everone else that the small font puts a damper on the mood, I have just learned to move on with it. I can read it but it is tough on the old eyes. I have a standard def 36" WEGA and while it is small, it is legible. I will try it on my parents 61" Hidef this weekend to see any difference. I can only imagine what the graphics look like if they look this great on my standard def TV.
  
  This game is very deep. The save feature is disappointing and you will find that you will learn to constantly bring up the map to check for save points. After you play for a hour or more and die and have to replay through it, you quickly learn. Another thing I don't care for is having to restart the game if you miss a "scoop" and it throws the rest of the game out. You can still play and do the missions, atleast for a while but you can no longer find the truth. This happened to me twice. The first time, I just plain didn't realize that it would happen and did not do the scoop missions in a timely manner. The second time I played through it, I thought I was doing great time and kept checking the watch (another feature you learn to do quite often) and when it said my next mission would begin at 3:00, I noticed that when it turned to 4:00, the missions ended and once again I lost the remainder of the scoop missions. Learn to watch the scoop timelines. They will slowly count down and turn colors to warn you. I guess I just had too much fun whacking zombies and lost track of the in game time.
  
  The depth of this game comes from the many ways in which to dispose of zombies. You can pretty much use ANYTHING in the game to take them out. One spot had me pick up a power auger, which is used to dig post holes. I stuck a zombie and cranked the gas and watched him spin around. Then, I proceeded to walk through the crowd of zombies and take them out. In the process of this, the zombie spinning on my auger started to break apart. This was a great laugh. Again, you can use pretty much everything in the game and while most do eventually tear up, you can always find something else. Another fun part was walking to the other end of the mall through the Leisure Park and seeing a push mower/brushhog and mowing down the crowd of zombies.
  
  I was completely impressed with the graphics of this game. While the zombies do tend to look a lot alike, the environment is just gorgeous. Capcom did a great job to put so many of the zombies onscreen at once. Later through the game, you will encounter bosses that can be difficult to beat. Just be sure to save before you fight a boss, although the first time around it is hard because you don't know when you will fight a boss. You enter a store and then wham, you have a boss fight. As you play through the game, you are encouraged to take pictures and help escort people to the security room, which is basically your home base. You will see that if you can capture pictures that pick up on drama or horror or even erotica, among others, will get you more points and these points along with the points for saving people will get you to level up which will help you increase your life or the amount of things you can carry or unlock special moves.
  
  This is definitely not a game for the younger crowd as it is very gory. I think Capcom has a hit on their hands and hopefully they can work it into a sequel in some way with improvements to the aforementioned bumps but hopefully they will get a patch over Live to help correct the text problems. Most of the time during the normal text there is not much voice over work. During the cutscenes, which are nicely animated, there is no problem as their is good voice over acting, incredible good when compared to the Resident Evil series. You won't go wrong with this game. It is a great game to enjoy so long as you are old enough to understand that things that you can do in the game can't be done in real life. As dumb as that sounds, there are those out there who might want to recreate something they did in the game.
  
  Enjoy this game and know that you will die often and have to repeat things over again but for the majority, it isn't a problem as things aren't often the same way the second time around, except for cutscenes of course. That is another great thing about this game, the repayability is incredibly deep. Forgive the text, the dumb AI and the lousy save functions and enjoy the game for what it got right.
  
  

• AAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!! ALMOST perfect, but........

  
  By A2EAI4948TW53X on 2006-09-15
  I'm going to get straight to the point. This game rocks, but has a few SEVERE flaws. Really dissapointing becuase this COULD have been the greatest game ever made. Unfortunately, it falls short, yet i still recomend it. I'm sure you are reading a lot of negative press, maybe even a lot of positive too. So if you are trying to decide what to do, my opinion is despite all the problems, this is a must have game if...
  You like zombies (games, movies, etc)
  you like the resident evil series
  you want a fun game that will last you a long time
  
  Really, there is a lot of good, but i will actually cover the bad, i'm sure none of this will be new judging by other reviews but here we go!
  
  The VERY bad....
  
  1) Saves...???? what were they thinking? ONE spot? Come on, it's not a cartridge game for crying out loud! I don't want to start over and over and OVER again because the bosses are insanely hard.
  
  2) THAT STUPID CELL PHONE DOESN"T STOP RINGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  and it won't either until you answer it, THEIR IS NO HOPE SO JUST GIVE IN AND DO IT OR ELSE IT NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER stops ringing. I wish you could just kill otis and feed him to the zombies and keep ringing his phone while they eat him, see how he likes it. That is BY FAR the MOST ANNOYING aspect of the game, BY FAR
  
  3) The people you have to rescue are RETARDED! They DO NOT follow commands and it is EXTREMELY frustrating having to continuosly backtrack to rescure them from a swarm of zombies only to have the other person you are trying to rescue die because of it. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
  Why are they so stupid? Take my advice, never try to rescue more than 2 people at once. Forget it, just leave them to be zombie food. It's not worth it!
  
  4) I'm not wearing a telescope on my head, I am not a human magnifying lens, and I don't own a TV as big as a house so WHAT GIVES WITH THE SMALL SUBTITLES? Would it have killed you to spend five extra seconds working on it? This is a 360 not a NES, why not just have the characters voice it out? It's SUPPOSED to be a next generation game isn't it?
  
  5)Aiming with a handgun, or any gun for that matter...UNFORGIVABLE. What happened to the resdient evil auto aim?
  
  Despite these MAJOR flaws, which I guarantee will SEVERLY upset you and bring the overall experience down, I still highly recomend this game. It was my first 360 game and even though it needs work I love it.
  
  I'm sure with capcom this game was a "test run" for a new resident evil, but if you make a sequal PLEASE GET RID OF THAT STUPID PHONE, and be kind enough to fix the flaws. Remember, the consumer who buys this pays YOUR salary, so have a little consideration
  
  Now go out and get this game, don't be scared because of the flaws. You may end up liking it after all, I did. Still makes me mad though. ALMOST PERFECT!
  
  
  
  

• Zombies!

  
  By A2NHPCKUWZUFLM on 2006-08-13
  To paraphrase a Marine Corps saying: "Killing zombies is easy and fun". At least, it is when you're playing "Dead Rising", the latest zombie title from Capcom.
  
  But let me clarify the above point a bit. When I say "easy", I'm talking about dealing with individual zombies or small groups of them. As one character tells you in the beginning, "The good news is, zombies are slow and stupid!" The bad news is that what the shuffling undead lack in speed and smarts, they make up for in sheer numbers. Dealing with one zombie is easy, dealing with 20 is a whole other matter.
  
  "Dead Rising" puts you in the shoes of Frank West, a freelance photographer who gets wind of something going down in the secluded Colorado town of Willamette. After bypassing military roadblocks by hiring a helicopter to ferry you in, you touch down at the local mall to investigate.
  
  The early stage of the game is peppered with quite a few cutscenes, but they are surprisingly engaging and set up an intriguing storyline. The character models are alarmingly realistic, right down to those wispy hairs women have on their cheeks, but there are quite a few uncanny valley moments.
  
  As Frank explores the mall, you will discover vast array of zombie-killing implements, each with their own unique effects. In just an hour or so of play last night, I used a lead pipe, a 2x4, a baseball bat, a golf club, a cleaver, a sickle, and a pistol. The sickle was particularly satisfying. After Frank buries it in a zombie's neck, he dislodges it by bracing a foot against its chest and kicking it off, which has the effect of decapitating zombie in a gush of blood. I guess that why they say sickles really satisfy.
  
  But even zombie-hacking would get old after a while, and so it's to Capcom's credit that they've designed a deeper and more engaging game. Frank's real objective is not to mow down endless numbers of zombies, but rather to uncover what the hell has gone so horribly wrong in Willamette. He does this by tracking down survivors and piecing together information from a couple of apparent government agents also trapped in the mall.
  
  Frank also has to document what is happening by taking photos. The game walks you through a tutorial that instructs you on how to compose pictures with horrific, dramatic or erotic compositions. The more of those elements you can squeeze into a photo, the more "player points" you earn and the faster your skills improve.
  
  There are also plenty of side missions, from checking out mysterious developments to rescuing other characters and leading them to safety.
  
  I do, however, have two complaints. One is about the camera. Instead of staying right behind Frank all the time, he can rotate in your field of view so that what he's looking at isn't necessarily what you're looking. Sure, you can reorient the camera behind him with a click of the thumbstick, but it's still annoying, especialy when you're beset by a dozen zombies coming from all sides. It also makes it hard to use aimed weapons like the pistol.
  
  The other complaint is about the save system. Basically, you have one save slot, and you can only save at your "home base" of the security room, or in the mall's bathrooms. Unfortunately, you can find yourself quite a ways away from those places while carrying out a mission, and if you die, you've just lost a good chunk of progress. Also, from some of the reviews, the single save slot can also be problematic because many of the missions are timed, and if you save at the wrong point, you may not have enough time to complete the mission, requiring a total restart.
  
  Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to some good old-fashioned zombie bashing, with a bit o' "X-Files"-style conspiracy thrown in to boot. If you're antsy for some good 360 action during the summer lull, it'd be worth your time to check out "Dead Rising".
  
  
  
  
  
• Great Horror Fun for a Mature Gamer
  By A3V6Z4RCDGRC44 on 2006-10-06
  If you're a fan of horror movies, Dead Rising is probably right up your alley. You play a photojournalists trapped for 3 days in a suburban mall full of zombies.
  
  This game is a mixed blessing. Let's start with all the good aspects. The game is FUN. We've all seen the movies with zombies staggering around, and we've all hung out in malls, feeling bored. Put the two together, and voila! You can walk into any store and grab things to bash the zombies with. Run them over with a lawnmower! Pick up a piece of wood and start swinging! Or, my personal favorite, grab an electric guitar at the music store, whip it around like a fast-moving samurai sword, and hear the TWANG when you make contact!
  
  The food system actually makes sense here. You go into food court shops! If you find the food in its base form, it's mildly healthy. If you take the time to cook it, it's even better for you.
  
  There's an interesting plot to go with it too. I love that the various humans have names and that you actually learn about them, see their interactions and connect with them. You really care (or at least I do!) when you screw up and they get killed. It gives you a lot of incentive to replay the game to try to get everybody out. If you save a husband and his wife, they have a joyful reunion! It really draws you into the game.
  
  So there is definitely a lot going for this game. However, there are a few signs that the game could have used a few more months in testing before it was released. First, we have a large high def TV, so we don't have a problem "seeing things". However, I've heard from many of my site visitors that on smaller TVs it's nearly impossible to read words or to understand the text messages. That's just unfair. They should have made the game easily playable even on non-high-def or smaller TVs.
  
  Plus, why have to read dialogue at all in a horror game? That really interferes with the immersive quality. If you're knee deep in zombie fighting, you don't want to have to puzzle out what a victim is saying to you. They should just yell it out to you in real time so you can keep swinging while you listen.
  
  The real killer here, though, is the loading screen. You take 5 steps. LOADING. You turn around. LOADING. You go up the stairs. LOADING. Good God!! With all the other HUGE map games out on the market that load seamlessly, there is no reason that a mall-based game could not do the same. It might have taken a month of coding time to work that in but it would have been WELL worth it.
  
  Also, the save system is questionable. Only one save? One save at all? What if a friend comes over and wants to play forward for the weekend, but you want to be able to have your save spot for your own play after he leaves? You can't? Having just one save spot, in a world with a massive hard drive of storage, is nonsensical.
  
  Still, you can deal with those issues, and the game really is a lot of fun. Remember though that it is a MATURE game with zombies with exploding heads and a lot of gore. So if you're a mature gamer who enjoys horror, definitely pick this one up!
  
  
• Frustrating but fun.
  By APZC5PRJVM0PY on 2007-09-07
  I came late to the whole Xbox 360 scene and this is one of the titles that finally lured me in. I can't say that it was everything that I hoped for, but it wasn't a complete letdown either. The makings of a great game are there but the problem is that there are so many different facets of game play rolled into one game that it never satisfies fully in one area. On the one hand the game is open-ended and free form, but only if you don't care about the storyline. On the other hand, if you want the sense of accomplishment that you get when you truly complete a game then you will find Dead Rising a frustratingly mixed bag. The reason for this is that while the storyline is actually good and the time system is innovative (to a degree) it is also so hectic and unforgiving that you will find yourself constantly repeated large chunks of the game, at times even starting over from the beginning to get some extra levels under your belt. I think you would be hard pressed to finish this game start to finish without ever quitting and starting the game over from the beginning. Also, I don't think there is enough time in the game to complete every task (investigations, rescues and psychopaths to deal with) and stay on top of the cases (the events that propel the storyline and actually give you the "correct" ending. For me, this meant that I never felt a sense of complete accomplishment. I give the game 4 stars because despite its flaws it really is a very good game, just not perfect.
  
  The GOOD:
  - Despite being another zombie title from Capcom this game is much more in line with zombie pop-culture and more fun than the puzzle-driven and serious survival games like Resident Evil.
  - The mix of humor and horror in this game is perfect, at times I was laughing out loud only to be grimacing a moment later. The game retains a tongue-in-cheek vibe from start to finish that celebrates zombie pop-culture.
  - The game lets you dispatch zombies in any fashion you choose - literally I couldn't even imagine all the ways to kill zombies that exist in this game. Almost everything is a weapon with a surprising amount of versatility.
  - The mall is huge and very well detailed. I was very impressed with it and could imagine this being a real mall just down the street.
  - The voice acting and some of the cinematic sequences are great, but why can't the voices exist outside of the cut scenes? I'm sick of getting hounded by Otis on the transmitter every few minutes and having to pause to read what he has to say.
  - People have complained that the game demands a decent hi-def TV to fully enjoy and I agree that it does. However, I believe in creating a game that is a visual acheivement and meant to be cutting edge and not dulling it down to make it marginal so it could be played on lower-end technology. However, this does limit how many people will be able to enjoy the game. But it does look good.
  - Great and diverse sound effects.
  
  Now the BAD:
  - Time-based missions are too strict and hectic, and often times vague.
  - Difficult to feel a sense of accomplishment the first time through. this is further emphasized by the odd save system and the fact that the game designers expected you to have to restart the game several times from the beginning.
  - Controls for aiming are clunky and awkward. The aiming can be improved upon by changing the camera controls under settings though.
  - Survivor AI is poor, but they are hardy and can withstand a chewing on.
  - Doesn't put as much focus on killing zombies or survival as I'd have hoped for.
  - The voice acting is really well done but doesn't exist outside of cut scenes (instead you are hounded by moments when you have to pull up the transmitter, limiting your movement choices and killing your combat abilities, and while trying to keep Frank alive you have to read the on screen text).
  - Save system only allows 1 save slot per profile.
  - Plenty of save locations, but in the unforgiving chaotic timeline you are under it can take precious time to reach a safe point before and after ever major event and some events do not allow for a convenient save which is incredibly frustrating.
  - The constant loading screens get annoying.
  - The weapons have varying (and confusing) lifespans and damage output.
  - There is a variety of skills you can learn (martial arts style stuff) but they are hard to execute and don't work most of the time.
  
  
• Grand Theft Zombie and I Love Every Bloody Bit of It...
  By AGNHDK1POPTUY on 2007-03-28
  I don't quite understand people who think this game is lacking. I wonder if they've played it enough. Lets see, you got alot of zombies, of course, you can use just about everything as a weapon (including chainsaws, lawnmowers and of course gigantic teddy bears) along with various types of food and make mixtures of certain items to form some realistic like powerup. You gain points to eventually level up and get more moves, add more life, hold more weapons. become faster. Gigantic Mall inside, large area outside. Several Psychopaths who are smart and aren't slow. Rescue survivors, seems simple, unless they gotta battle there way through 500 zombies along with you. Then you got to protect them and yourself. Find survivors who don't want to be rescued and enter into little mini-games of varying degrees with them to get points. You've got missions to complete helping DHS Homeland Security Agents, if you don't, you can't win the game. You can drive vehicles when ever you can find them. You can take pictures, the better the picture (with more carnage) the more points. Also posters and other random items have stickers attached to them for even more points. Change your clothes and then rewatch the cut scenes in your new clothes (if seeing Frank with a megaman helmet on and kids clothes way too small for him while having a serious conversation with the Pilot doesn't make you laugh, your already dead). Oh yea and you gotta do all this in 72 hours. And don't forget, the lights go out at a certain time so, get ready to fight those zombies in the dark. Good luck. This is a really deep game, much deeper then anyone gives it credit for. I just wonder if naysayers dissing it's lack of depth have actually unlocked it's true potential. Graphically its very good, not the best, but solid next generation. Controls are also good and get better, as you level up. Sound is excellent and really captures the impending doom that anything with zombies should have. Gameplay like my entire review explains is much deeper then people give it credit for. Storyline is good and keeps you wondering like a good zombie game (or movie) should. The only flaw is the save system but thats not enough to stop you from buying this game. Let me also add that during cutscenes there is voice acting and the voice matches up to the lips very well. Its only during gameplay that you get text, rpg style. Something many games do, rpg or not. Its a truly great game and worth the money. Go For It. A++
  
  
• A slightly different zombie game from Capcom
  By A22Z1KC7QDS8IS on 2006-08-12
  Dead Rising does a lot right, and has a lot of unique things going for it. Yet, at the same time, it seems to do so many easy and fundamental things wrong that, at times, they make the game hair-pullingly annoying. While these problems don't kill Dead Rising, they do severely hinder what could have potentially been the game of the year.
  
  The graphics and sound in Dead Rising are both fantastic, even on an old CRT and 2.1 speakers. The characters look amazingly life-like, and the texturing on their clothing/hands etc. is absolutely fantastic. Light and shadows look very nice, and the game -- thankfully -- does not use over the top bloom effects. The sheer number of zombies on screen is a feat in and of itself, and they all look fantastic as well. Killing them makes them erupt in geysers of blood that are also quite nice looking (if that's at all possible). Occasionally, there are some problems with the frame rate -- usually with the baseball bat connecting with a large number of zombies at once -- and some clipping on a few costumes, but the game is pretty much glitch free. Oh, and the Havok physics make for some interesting zombie deaths. Naturally, the physics engine isn't that realistic, but it's still really neat to watch a zombie fly 15 feet after you nail him in the face with your Louisville Slugger.
  
  I won't ruin the story for anyone, but I can say that I throughly enjoyed it. It is serious, yet remains "tongue in cheek," never getting too melodramatic or anything of the sort, meaning it's quite entertaining. The voice acting is excellent across the board, which really adds to the game's story a lot. Some dialogue isn't voice acted, and instead pops up on screen as text, which is awful, since the font size is tiny, making it almost unreadable on non-HDTVs. Bad move by Capcom.
  
  The gameplay is refreshing, which is a surprise, considering that Dead Rising is essentially a beat 'em up. The main reason for this is because of the sheer number of items you can kill zombies with. Nothing says business more than a katana slicing three undead in half. Or shotgunning five zombies in the face, blowing off their heads. The list could go on nearly ad naseum, but needless to say, there's a lot of cool ways to kill zombies. Controls are mostly good, but the aiming system is kind of wonky for guns. It's fine if you aim using the right trigger, but if you don't, Frank seems to just fire in a random direction. I've also seen shotgun and handgun blasts go through zombies that were standing right next to me, which is a frustrating problem when you're trying to clear a path for yourself. These are minor gripes, however, and the number of different ways to kill your enemies ensures that the game remains entertaining throughout.
  
  So far, so good...right? Unfortunately, the design of Dead Rising is severely flawed. Interestingly enough, the problem is not so much the save system, which has been the bane of many a reviewer's existence. Rather, the problem is with the 72 hour mode. Capcom pushes the player from mission to mission, rarely giving them the chance to go and do anything else. For a game touted as having so many possibilities/things to do, it's ridiculous that you can't do even a quarter of them in a playthrough. There simply isn't time to go and save more than 15 (maybe 20, if you're really good or lucky) survivors, or track down and kill all of the psychopaths. Especially towards the end of the game (third day), the game is brutally unforgiving. In a way, this adds to the game's atmosphere, making it more tense and exciting. But all of that excitement dies hard when you fail a mission simply because you don't have enough time to make your way across the mall within the time limit the game bestows upon you. It makes for a frustrating trial and error experience.
  
  The other major problem stems with the surivor escort missions. These make up the bulk of the side missions (probably about 90%, the other 10% or so being "defeat the psychopath (boss)" affairs). The survivor AI is, in a word, broken. They will stop in the middle of a pack of zombies and try to punch them. They won't follow you when you call them with the Y button. Sometimes they won't move at all, and simply just stand still as they are eaten alive. Even if you make it to the zombie free rooftop, you're not homefree. To get into the security room (which is the destination point), you must climb over a ledge. The survivors oftentimes will not climb the ledge, instead choosing to run back and forth in front of it. Now, remember, you're on a strict time limit, so spending a minute or two trying to coax them up is just impossible. And if you leave them on the roof (which has no zombies on it), they'll die. I had to leave two people I had brought from the opposite end of the mall, simply because they couldn't get on the ledge. The AI is completely and utterly busted, with not one iota of intelligence.
  
  The boss fights range from cool to mind-bendingly cheap. Oftentimes, they [virtually] require you to have a firearm, which is not always possible, given the time limit in the game. A lot of boss fights devolve into trying to find a place where the AI cannot hit you, and then cheaply taking pot shots at them with a ranged weapon. It's too bad, since the bosses are pretty interesting characters in themselves -- it's a shame that they aren't more fun to fight. Once you level up enough, the boss fights become a lot easier and less long-winded, which is a big plus.
  
  The game becomes significantly more fun after you hit level 20 or so. At this point, you can kill zombies in one or two hits from most melee weapons, and you have enough health to make it across the map and back without dying. You also have some useful hand to hand moves, which can mow down lots of zombies at once. These are especially helpful, since items break waaaaay too easily. You can only kill 20 or so zombies with a katana (and most any other melee weapon) before it snaps, leaving you with whatever other weapons you have.
  
  Dead Rising features some other novel gameplay elements, most notable of which are the food and photography. You can mix together drinks to form super smoothies of sorts, which give you various abilities, including upping your running speed, temporary invincibilty and more. The photography is more of a gimmick than anything else, but you can take some really cool pictures, and get experience points for them to boot.
  
  If Capcom had made an untimed story mode, with the 72 hour mode an unlockable challenge, Zombie Revenge would easily be one of the best games of the year. Hell, even if they had been more forgiving in the 72 hour mode, allowing players to explore et al., the game would be close to being the game of the year. Unfortunately, Dead Rising stands as a prime example of getting all of the little things wrong. Great graphics, great gameplay, great sound, great story, great level design, great characters...and an absolutely horrible mode that makes the game much more difficult, annoying and exasperating than it needs to be. Overall, while Dead Rising remains fun to play -- a testament to how GOOD much of the game is -- it is nearly undone by how excrutiatingly bad the time limit makes the game.
  
  7.5/10
  
  
• Zombies + Mall + mayhem & carnage = bloody fun time
  By A19VMQDCB4HZ9P on 2006-08-16
  Capcom's Dead Rising stands as one of the most fun titles to come out for the Xbox 360 since its initial release in late 2005. From the makers of the Resident Evil series for past console systems, Capcom has taken a new approach in adding to their growing library of zombie titles. Dead Rising is a semi-freeroaming action-horror game which takes the classic premise of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead --- survivors trapped in the mall teeming with flesh-eating zombies --- and makes a fun and exciting game.
  
  The game takes place Willamette, Colorado, population 53,594 where nothing exciting happens in town outside of visiting the local mega-mall which seems to dominate the entire town. Dead Rising uses a time-based mission system and the intro cutscene in the beginning of the game hints at this. You play as freelance photojournalist Frank West, who never fails to mention that he's covered riots, wars, and all sorts of dangerous events, who gets a tip from an unknown source that something big is happening in little old Willamette. The intro both introduces Frank West, flying over the town to bypass the military blockade and cordon of the town, and the controls for the photography mechanics of the gameplay. It's in this hands-on tutorial part of the intro that we see a bird's eye view of the crisis that has befallen Willamette. From there you're dropped onto the roof of the Willamette Mall where you meet one of the few survivors of the town. The rest of the game moves on from there at a very frantic pace.
  
  It's the game itself that shines for Dead Rising. Despite a save system that could've been done much better (more on that later), Dead Rising's gameplay mechanics has quite abit in common with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto games. From the get-go the player as Frank can just go down into the mall and begin killing zombies left and right, and everyway from Monday through Sunday. All manner of items stocked in the mall walkways and stores can be picked up and used either as a weapon, a change in clothing attire, and/or food. This is where Dead Rising will get most of its mention for being fun. When Capcom programmers decided to allow the player to use anything that could be picked up as a weapon they meant it. It's been reported in many sites and gaming publications that there's over 250 useable items to be picked up as a weapon. These items range from the gore-inducing lawnmower (an homage to Peter Jackson's Dead Alive zombie film), chainsaws, and excavators (a garden tool that has one of the bloodiest and funniest killing animation) to the ridiculously funny use for CDs, shower-heads, novelty masks, teddy bears and skateboards. There's also the more traditional weapons such as a pistol, shotgun, submachine gun, machine-gun, swords and axes. Being a game developed by Capcom, Dead Rising has more than a few wink-wink acknowledgement to other Capcom games such as Mega Man and Resident Evil.
  
  One could spend all their time just killing zombies, but the strict time-based missions in the game might make zombie-killing take a backseat to actually solving the mystery of whats caused the zombie outbreak in the town. There's two types of missions Frank could try solving. There's the mandatory Case missions which deal directly with him trying to solve the mystery with-in the 72-hour time limit. Each case mission must be solved in a linear order to open up the next case. The second set of missions are named Scoops and act more as sub-missions that can be taken on and accomplished or ignored. They really don't affect the availability of further case missions. What they do give Frank are prestige points that can go a long way to levelling him up to gain more skills and abilities. Most scoop missions usually entail finding scattered survivors within the mall and leading them back to the safety of the security office near the roof. Some survivors could be armed with extra weapons Frank carries and defend themselves when attacked, and some survivors are so incapacitated that Frank must carry them to safety. While carrying a survivor Frank will be unable to use a weapon so this type of mission usually takes several tries before the player figures out the best path to safety. Like most game AI, the survivors need abit of constant attention from the player to make sure they're actually following you and not stopping every second to fight the closest zombie. It's not a gamebreaker but the survivor AI could've used abit more tweaking to make them follow much better.
  
  As mentioned above Frank can level up to a level cap of 50 by acquiring prestige points (called PP in the game). Prestige points can be acquired through many different ways within the game. Taking pictures of different nature and quality will give Frank prestige points as high as several tens of thousand. Shots with poses that follow a certain genre gives more points than those that are just generic poses. Such genres that shots can be taken of are shots of burtality, horror, outtakes, drama and erotica. Erotica shots are pretty much just photographs taken of survivors and zombies (abit creepy) in sexually-suggestive poses. Brutality shots are usually pictures where extreme violence and fighting poses are framed and photographed. Horror is pretty much self-explanatory. Drama shots usually involve pictures with survivors and main npc characters in dramatic poses. Outtakes usually entail photographs taken of survivors and zombies involved in any sort of funny situations. Usually them slipping and falling down or wandering around aimlessly with novelty masks over their heads.
  
  Other ways to gain prestige points will be to finish case missions and scoop missions. The PP reward for finishing part or all of each mission usually range from several thousand to as high as 50,000 PP. The high amount of PP reward for taking on and accomplishing these two types of missions go a long way to levelling up Frank. The most fun way of getting PP, though not as much and takes a long time, will be to kill zombies. For every 50 zombies killed Frank gets 500 PP and everytime Frank reaches 1000 zombies killed he gains 20,000 PP. It's a much slower path to gaining PP but it's surely the most fun of the three ways.
  
  The main storyline in Dead Rising was actually a very good one. Like most games outside of the role-playing game genre, storylines were usually the weakest of all the games had to offer. In Dead Rising, Capcom was able to create an intriguing storyline that didn't rip-off the Dawn of the Dead story that the game was usually compared to. There's conspiracies, betrayals and just outright weirdness to help tie together the mystery of why Willamette, Colorado has suddenly gone zombiefied and why the U.S. military and government were quick to quarantine the whole area. There's not much that could be said as scary about Dead Rising. The game itself leans more towards comedic horror than outright horror. There were some cutscenes and plot developments that were downright creepy and scary, but most of the time you'll just laugh in glee at all the carnage you're causing within the mall. The characters of Frank West and those npcs he has to deal with in the context of the case missions were pretty well drawn both in animation and personality. As the game progressed and certain characters were put in danger it was hard not to feel saddened by such tragic events. It helps that the voice-acting in Dead Rising was pretty high quality. The spoken dialogue during the cutscenes were pretty well done and one could sense that Capcom wanted to really capture the cinematic tone they were going for with Dead Rising.
  
  Now to the one glaring negative in Dead Rising. The save system in this game could be called unforgiving and that's saying it lightly. The game only allows for one save per memory unit. This means that you can only save the game once if you only have the 360 HDD as your memory unit. This means that once you save over a previous save then thats it. If you're current save doesn't give you the chance to finish your current case mission then you pretty much have to start the game over. This would sound terrible if not for one saving grace. Dead Rising allows the player to start the game over with all skills, abilities, levels and PP acquired to be transferred over to the new game. This lessens the impact of having to start the game over. It also helps in power-levelling Frank to a level high enough that you can breeze through the case missions. Starting the game over and over with stats and skills included also gives the player a chance to try different methods of solving a case until finding the one thats easiest to do. I know of players who have done nothing but just kill zombies and try on a few case and scoop missions to gain PP to level up then start the game over then repeat the cycle again. This makes the game much easier in the long run, but also takes time.
  
  The graphics in Dead Rising is top-notch and really makes use of the 360's graphical power to put as many zombies on the screen as possible. There's barely any slowdown in frame-rate as the action on the screen gets heavy and crowded. The animation is not on the same level as Bethesda's Oblivion and Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4, but what lacks in near, photorealistic graphics it more than makes up for the high level of figures on-screen. The look of the mall itself was also well done. Each store and utilitarian room has their own unique look with most items rendered with enough detail to be recognized as either weapon, sustenance, etc...Dead Rising looks great when played on a HDTV-capable TV or computer monitor. The game itself utilizes Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and each sound has a distinct quality to them that you can tell the difference between an acoustic guitar smashing noisily a zombies head into pulp to one where you use an electric guitar instead. The sound effects of zombie-killing makes great use of all the squishy, gooey, and splatter noise effects horror movies have been well-known for.
  
  Overall, Capcom has created a great game with their action-horror/comedy Dead Rising. With a choice to either play the game in the free-roaming style of Grand Theft Auto to a more time-based, linear mission-style of an action game this game more than makes up for unforgiving save system its developers decided to give it. With summer time being the dead zone of new game releases, it's been a breath of fresh air to have a game like Dead Rising to play and take up hours of time before the start of the holiday season. Outside of the save system which keeps this game from reaching excellent status, Dead Rising is a great and fun game that should remain fun to pick up long after the player has finished its main mission.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By A3HTENIRP7D2YO on 2008-07-12
  I was very exciting for 'Dead Rising' after seeing some gameplay videos online. Unfortunately, I have yet to and likely never will complete this once promising title.
  
  First, the good. The graphics, in terms of level and character design, are very good, stylized and effective. The gameplay is great, dropping you in the middle of (literally) hundreds of zombies without a hiccup in framerate, to slice and bash away with any makeshift weapon of choice. It's open ended, ensuring no two playthroughs are the same. It has dozens of characters and missions. It is fun to play, for a while.
  
  Unfortunately, the bad more than outweighs the good, and you may never see much of the story. There are a number of issues that, alone wouldn't be so bad, and might even enhance the experience positively (with one glaring, unforgivable exception), but combined cripple any progress past the first hour or two of the game. The inventory system is very limited; weapons, health, and booster items all use the same set of 6 or so 'slots', severely limiting the overall number of items you can carry. This would be fine, if player and weapon health were better. Unfortunately, most weapons will break or run out of ammo after a dozen or so uses, and player health depletes rapidly, so you'll want to carry a lot of health (in the form of foods) and/or weapons at once. This would be fine, if not for 'Dead Rising's unforgivable save system, requiring the player to use specific save locations that are few and far between. The level design is confusing and repetitive, further complicating the ordeal of locating a save point. Dying could set you back several hours of gameplay. It also features a "replay plus" system, where you can choose to save your character progress, level, skills, etc, but restart the story mode. You might want to do this a few times starting out, so you can make better progress with a stronger character.
  
  Boss fights are truly terrifying, as most greatly outmatch the player, and each hit does at least 1 damage (out of <10 health). Some use ranged weapons or vehicles (or in once case, both), and firearms can be difficult to find, making these battles almost impossible without several tries. But with the broken save system, you may only get one shot.
  
  The objective system is also weak, with several "calls" every few minutes, frequently when fighting hordes of undead. You can either answer, which makes you unable to fight, or ignore the call, in which case you are penalized. Each mission is timed, so you may have to chose which to do (not negative). Each is assigned with a text message, but the text is very small and difficult to read. Luckily, the objective selection system is intuitive, allowing you to choose which to pursue, and showing the time on each.
  
  
• A great concept with some unforgiveable flaws
  By A1VBYS3G8NQUY1 on 2007-01-04
  Being a fan of Zombie flicks and the "Resident Evil" francise I naturally thought "dead Rising" would be a great game to pick up. It turns out that in essence I was right. Dead Rising is driven by a classic plot, numerous and humorous ways to dispose of your undead foes, and enough quests to keep you playing. But unfortunately I've never played a game that showed so much promise yet be so riddled with problems. First, If you don't own an HDTV you're out of luck. The text is so tiny that you won't be abble to read anything unless you have a 100x microscope. The problem is, alot of the plot and directions to quests are convaied though the text. If you can't read it then you just might be SOL. The biggest problem is the save system. To save your game you have to go to a bathroom or find a place to sleep. In the whole mall there are maybe five or six of these places, each of them considerable(Zombie infested) distances from each other. The quests are also timed. If you start a quest and you're really far a away form it or can't find it on time. You're doomed. If you miss a main quest the game ends and you need to start all over. Even if you're about to finish the game you have to start from the beginning. The basics are in place for a great game but the mechanics are horrible. Rent it. Don't buy it.
  
  
• What a letdown
  By A388EIYRYOXR6H on 2006-08-11
  J.W. Mullins' review is dead-on; this game is a massive letdown. Instead of being a virtual sandbox, the game is over scheduled and overly difficult. Really, if your idea of fun is "being on time," then this is the game for you. The only thing missing is an in-game virtual wife to follow you around reminding you about your honey-do list.
  
  That said, the game is to some extent still open-ended. Weapon variety is very entertaining, and you are free to just explore, though once you miss a storyline mission, the remainder of the storyline is closed off to you.
  
  In summary, there's still some fun to be had killing zombies, but the game is a great disappointment overall. Games shouldn't feel like work; this one does.
  
  
• Unplayable on most TVs and sucks anyway.
  By A139RGON786TGU on 2006-08-27
  First off, as many other reviews have noted, the game text is unreadable due to its small size unless you have an HDTV. Perhaps Capcom will offer a patch via Live, but until then the game is largely unplayable.
  
  And, even though it's a lot of fun to kill zombies with random stuff, the game sucks anyway. The save system is worse than Resident Evil, the time constraints pretty much kill off your ability to explore what would otherwise be an interesting environment and the gameplay is lousy.
  
  I'd advise most people to just rent the game, have fun killing zombies until that gets old, and save about $50. If you really must buy it, you can probably just wait a few weeks and it'll be $25 for a used copy at EB/Gamestop since so many people bought it and can't play it.
  
  UPDATE: Capcom will not be patching this game (9/13/2006).
  
  
• Just what the XBOX 360 needed
  By A3TS9IDXZMTOWW on 2006-08-10
  Disclaimer: I must admit this review may be a little bias, I absolutely love this genre, and third person action adventure games are my first love (RPG and 1st person shooters, 2nd/3rd). With that said lets get into the review:
  
  Dead rising is the story of a photojournalist dropped off in a mall full of zombies trying to get the story of his life, but gets way more than he bargain for.
  
  I will admit I started not to buy this game because I thought it was a mindless run around and beat'em up kind of game, until I played the demo, which in turn prompted me to purchase this game.
  
  Genre/Gameplay - 9.5/10 if you like third person action adventure/RPG games you will love this game. It has a GTA type mission factor complete with side quests; you also get to level up RPG style so the more ZOMBIES you kill the more you level up. There are also side quest and picture taking that can earn you more points towards your next level. Gameplay smooth, easy learning curve, and extremely fun. A thing that wouldn't allow me to give the game play a straight 10 was the saving feature, while it is original isn't very user friendly. You can only save the game in bathrooms and on Couches (yep a sofa) that is it, no auto saving before going into a boss battle, you had just better find a bathroom close to your objective and save there. This wasn't too much of a problem though. Also the weapons (just guns) used are a little difficult to aim, in first person (by holding the R Trigger) it works but with out going to first person aiming and hitting your target can be frustrating. Also not much of a problem since using guns in this game is extremely boring. Being able to pick up absolutely anything (I mean anything) you see and kill a zombie with it is this games defining charm. Absolutely fun game!!!
  
  Graphics - 8/10 I play all my 360 games on a Samsung 32 inch HD TV and the graphics in this game are definitely not Next Gen (not like say fight night) until of course you see 100's of zombies on the screen at once then you see the 360 power but character models and scenery are only slightly better than that of the original XBOX. The graphics are good enough though and in NO WAY hamper the playing experience.
  
  Sounds - 9.7/10 Sounds to me are pretty much as good as it gets, scary zombie noises and screams accompanied by great background music. The Voiceovers are great!
  
  Overall I would give this game a 9.5/10 (not an average) it's replay value seems like it would be pretty good, but since I haven't beaten the game yet, only 95% done, I cant really tell yet.. But it does seem as though there will be other modes once you beat it and I am very anxious to see what they are.
  
  Bottom line: Go get this game!!! The 360 doesn't have many games like this out, (3rd person action) with the exception of Tomb Raider which is more of a plat former. So whether you like this genre or not you WILL enjoy this game.
  
  
  
• Achievement Unlocked!
  By A2ZVGF6Z31VWX6 on 2007-04-24
  As I write this review, I have just finished my final achievement in the game, and let me say this: it was worth every minute spent.
  
  Dead Rising is THE quintessential zombie game. You are Frank West, a freelance photojournalist who's looking for his next big story. And that story just happens to take place in the confined (and zombie-infested)space of Willamette Mall. After a rather long fly-by over town that introduces you to the mechanics of your camera, a helicopter convienently drops you off on the roof of the mall, (where one of the main protagonists ominously greets you with the proclamation 'This, my friend, is hell') and there your 72 hour journey begins.
  
  And that's where the genius that is Dead Rising begins. From here on out YOU have total control over how you want Frank to spend his next three days. You can follow the Cases that appear (there are 8 of them spanning the three days) and unlock the main storyline and the truth behind the zombie outbreak. OR you can spend the three days rescuing survivors and fighting some of the games 11 PsychoPaths (which are arguably more terrifying and creepy than the zombies themselves). Or you can simply spend your time killing zombies and leveling up, ad nauseum. And for some of the game's 50 achievements, youi'll be doing all three more than once. That's the beauty of a sandbox game; there's nothing linear telling you what you have to do next. For 72 hours, everything's up to you.
  
  Of course, the game is not without its flaws. There is only one save file per game, (which other people seem to have an issue with but frankly worked just fine for me). My biggest issue with the game was the survivor AI. Some of the people I was trying to rescue were just downright STUPID. Escorting one or two wasn't bad; the crippling came when herding large groups of people (you can escort a maximum of 8 people at any given time). Some of the survivors actually died because they were either too busy fighting each other rather than the zombies trying to eat them, or else they were dumb enough to just run straight through the middle of a zombie horde.
  
  Still, the game is an amazing gem to own. Two modes open up upon completion of the game: Overtime Mode and Infinite Mode. Overtime Mode grants you an extra 24 hours to reveal the truth behind the outbreak. Beating this unlocks the true core of Dead Rising: Infinite Mode. Infinite Mode is zombie survival at its finest. This mode is all about endurance. Food no longer respawns in the mall, everyone is out to kill you (including the survivors), your health continually degenerates and the save function has been disabled. It's just you, what meager supplies you can gather, and your wits against a mall full of zombies and psychopaths.
  
  There are a total of 50 Achievements worth 1000 Gamer Points, everything from trying on all the clothes in the mall to killing all the psychopaths to eating every different type of food you come across. But the crowning achievement to get is, by far, the Zombie Genocider. If you manage to kill 53,694 zombies (the exact population of Willamette, coincidentally) you can access to the uber-powerful Mega Buster Cannon. That's right. Now you too can blow away zombies with MegaMan's classic arm cannon! It's these kinds of nods from Capcom that makes playing Dead Rising over and over so much fun.
  
  All in all this is a must own for any 360 owner. If you are comtemplating buying this game I would say go for it. If you are a fan of horror games (and zombies!) you won't be disappointed.
  
  
  
  
• frustrating bosses almost destroy an amazing experience
  By A2OR09N5HH20PY on 2007-07-14
  From the time you start a new game on Dead Rising, you see the cinematic camera angles and great voice acting, you know they put some time into this one. the game controls like any third person action game. the left stick is for character movement, and the right controls your camera. i just wish jumping and attacks weren't so sluggish. im not sure if its supposed to be realistic or what, but its annoying when you're being surrounded by hourdes of zombies, only to take to long to knock them back, resulting in being eaten alive. everything is very solid and controls well other than that. as you explore the mall, so many things can be used as a weapon, its unreal. i have used anything from sledge hammers and lawn mowers to shotguns and soccer balls to a shopping cart and a pair of hedge clippers. every character you encounter has a unique and relatively memorable personality. you can find countless hours of fun just exploring the mall and hacking away at the undead, especially because you gain experiance which causes you to level up RPG style similar to Crackdown. and believe me, to finish this game, most of you will need to start over a few times and build up your level before farther in the story (your stats carry over to a new game) The photography section adds some more variety to the game, given the countless things to take pictures of, which also adds to your level building. This game was designed for multiple playthroughs (i have started a new game 4 times now without ever finishing the story) its near impossible, if not completely impossible, to do everything in this game in one playthrough.
  
  but while all this is great fun, this game can be very frustrating at the same time. trying to help navigate survivors to the safety areas can be a pain as they are quite stupid. they tend to stand there and try to fight off zombies instead of running with you're character as you call out. which to me is frustration due to some bad game design and stupid AI, and not extremely difficult gameplay. The bosses, on the other hand, are some of the most annoying and unforgiving things ive ever seen in a game. you thought the bosses in Devil May Cry 3 were tough? you havent seen anything yet. dont get me wrong, this game is really fun, its a game everyone should experience, but its deffinitely no walk in the park.
  
  
• This game is AWESOME!
  By AHRUY8G69L9L on 2007-01-31
  Okay, first you can totally believe the hype that surrounds this game!
  If you like horror based games (RE, AITD, etc...) this is a great game for you, but even if you don't like horror games, you will find plenty to challenge and thrill yourself with while playing through this game.
  The mall and surrounding area that you can explore is huge, which is where it seems games are going (Huge maps, lots to explore, tons of enemies, hundreds of weapons - we've seen it before, but not quite like this).
  The battle axe, shotgun, chainsaws, and katana are the best weapons in the game. I also like the idea of being a journalist and having to take pictures. It's fun to look back at the the photos and reflect on things that you did in the game that you snapped pictures of. I love this concept, but sometimes I get so into what I'm doing I forget to snap pictures.
  It would be interesting to see other games using the journalist/camera/take pictures idea.
  Maybe a crime scene investigator or something like that. Imagine a creepier version of Seven (the movie) in a video game, that would rock!
  I've even read online that if you kill the population of this town (53,000-ish) you unlock a tank!
  I'm almost through the game, and I've spent plenty of time killing zombies, but I'm barely hitting the 4,000 mark.
  (!)
  To kill 53,000 would take a while and probably be boring to accomplish, but hey, you do get a frickin tank!
  The replay value is extremely high, alternate endings, different outcomes, unlockables, etc... (Thanks Capcom!)
  There are missions and survivors to rescue, but there's also tons of fun areas to explore and plenty of time to fart around the mall.
  Walking between stores and dressing your character as a child or a woman is fun at first, but once this game grips you, you'll forget about shopping and you'll get locked into an addictive game that you'll be thinking about and planning what to do next, even when you're not playing it.
  I've caught myself at work thinking about where to go, who to rescue, etc...
  Also, if you're a horror fan like me (I love the Romero movies, and zombie movies in general), you'll find yourself getting hooked from the start, with plenty of surprises around the corners.
  I've noticed that during intense sequences, my heartrate goes up, my hands get sweaty, and sometimes I found myself standing in the middle of a sea of zombies armed with only one baseball bat, when it finally breaks and there's nothing around the immediate area to defend yourself with, I usually started running and squirming like a little school girl to get away from the zombies, fleeing to a nearby sporting good store for a fresh baseball bat or the nickknack shop for a sword or axe.
  Once I'm armed again, it's back to slaying zombies. FUN!
  Great game!
  I also like the idea of using time and having to check your wristwatch, it kind of drives the whole game and makes you have to hurry to the next area or safe zone to see what happens next. Great concept!
  You won't be let down, it's fun, addictive, and best of all creepy.
  YES, thank you Capcom, may I have another?
  Bring on the horror games and more zombies please!
  RE5 is going to be so awesome, I can't wait!
  Dead Rising is simply an amazing game!
  Worth every penny of $60.
  But it now, you can thank me and Capcom later...
  
  
  
• Dead Rising
  By A5CQ66NQ3ZYUC on 2006-11-09
  In Dead Rising, you play the role of Frank West, a photo-journalist with a death wish. Frank received an anonymous tip that something big was going to happen in the small town of Willamette, Colorado. He flies into the town by helicopter and he notices military barricades on the roads on his way in. It appears to be a large riot, except one problem...it's too quiet. When the military comes in to escort Frank's helicopter out of town, he jumps out on to the roof of the Willamette shopping mall and tells the pilot to return in 3 days. Frank must survive a zombie uprising for 3 days.
  
  Dead Rising is a survival horror game by Capcom only for the Xbox360. The game breaks out of the traditional survival horror game and includes a substantial amount of humor. The player can rotate the camera a full 360 degrees, unlike in many horror games, such as the Resident Evil series, that rely on camera angles to increase suspense. While the game is about a zombie uprising, the zombies don't pose a great threat to the player - they're fodder to be mowed down by the plethora of weapons that can be found in the mall. The real challenge is in missions.
  
  First, the missions are timed - which makes the game very difficult for the first time player. Second, some of the missions involve rescuing survivors. This is made challenging by the poor decisions of the survivors' artificial intelligence, such as not avoiding zombies. Dead Rising also has boss fights. However, the bosses aren't undead - they're psychotic survivors with superior health, equipment and abilities.
  
  However, Dead Rising is not without flaws. The save-game system only allows one saved game per gamer profile. This does not work well with timed missions. Saving with not enough time left to complete a mission condemns the player to failure. This is somewhat remedied by allowing the player to restart at the beginning with their stats from when they died. Dead Rising was designed for HDTVs, and the game's text is almost impossible to read without one. The AI has some quirks as the survivors don't avoid zombies that are slowly shambling in their direction. Survivors inside the mall can also get stuck on the outside of the mall. When the player is near a boss with a gun and the boss can't get line of sight, the AI oscillates between states and doesn't attack.
  
  Despite its flaws, Dead Rising is an entertaining game. It may even be the game that gets me to purchase an Xbox360.
  
  
• Best Zombie game since Resident Evil 4
  By ARE80OMRD5I1N on 2006-11-09
  I love zombie movies and I love zombie games and this is awesome. It is pretty much Dawn of the Dead, but I guess they didn't have the license.
  
  I never got tired of finding new ways to kill zombies and the replay value is high. I actually restarted the games 3 times just to do things better and quicker once I got the hang of it.
  
  This is the first 360 game I haven't sold back to buy a new one. I will keep this gem.
  
  
• Great concept ruined by terrible programing.
  By A30EWJCVP9P6ZG on 2006-08-11
  Like most others here I bought the game in the hopes of a GTA-esque style zombie game but was sorely dissapointed. It was a great concept with lots of potential ruined by whatever moron programmed it.
  
  First the good
  
  Graphics are stunning and as close as realistic as I have seen. This is a good show of what the 360 has to offer graphically.
  
  Gameplay is awesome using everything as a weapon is really fun.
  
  And thats really it. Kinda sad huh?
  
  The bad
  
  The save feature. I don't care what some people are saying, it's broken. I got this game and played for 4 hours and got pretty far. I got to a boss battle and died and decided to rest and try again later. when i came back I had no continue point. Instead I had to start from the begining. Not the begining of the stage the begining of the entire game. Oh but I got to keep all my stats from before (sarcasm here). Like that makes up for 4 hours of gameplay I can't get back.
  
  Another issue is when you do get guns you have to stop to aim. There is no reticle for running and gunning so to speak. So in a game where you have to constantly be on the move so zombies don't kill you you have to stop to actually aim.
  
  Along with ridiculous time limits and a very linear story this game falls ridiculously short of expectaitons and is only worth a rent or borrow.
  
  The odd
  
  I wonder why unless it is a cut scene they didn't put in voice acting. When I went up to talk to some one there was a subtitle screen.
  
  You can't store ammo, only guns, so in order to carry 60 handgun bullets I need 2 handguns which takes up valuable space in my inventory that could be used for other items.
  
  The walkie talkie goes off way too much and never has useful info like "zombies ahead of you" only more tedious missions. Plus when you answer it you can't fight any zombies you're left vulnerable.
  
  So that's my review. A great premise with extremely poor execution. If you're a huge fan of the zombie genre you may like this if you're looking for a GTA meet Dawn of the Dead (to steal a fellow reviewers phrase)look elsewhere or play GTA cause this ain't it.
  
  
• Killing Zombies was never so much fun
  By AY3Y9ROK6LRPI on 2006-12-11
  Dead Rising - Circa 2006
  
  
  GOOD:
  - Use anything as a weapon, never before has this been truly done or done right in a video game, and when I say use anything as a weapon I truly mean it, from Frying Pans to Chainsaws and Hangers to Battleaxes you really have anything in the entire mall as a weapon, there are thousands of items you can use and that is not including your regular video game type of weapons like guns and swords.
  - Zombies, lots of Zombies and their all as dumb/deadly as you might hope for, although there more like the Night of the Living dead slow moving type of Zombies and not the 28 Days Later running at you screaming type of Zombies. Also note there are a bunch of crazies/terrorist running around causing havoc as well.
  - Lot's enemy's on screen with no real slowdown, wait till you get to the underground parking garage and you can literally run over hundreds and hundreds of Zombies with a car with no slowdown.
  - Lots of costume/clothing options, so you can make the main character (Frank) look like whatever you like, also note you can download even more costume/clothing options from Xbox Live.
  - This game also has a pretty good/original story and even multiple endings.
  - The voice acting is also pretty good.
  
  
  BAD:
  - Replaying the main game a few times just to level up and beat it is really not for everyone, and in order to complete the main game your more then likely to have save your stats and restart the game a few times.
  - Some might consider the plot underwhelming.
  - Shooting and aiming is bad I mean you can aim your shots, but your aim is soooo slow you will more then likely get eaten before you shoot anyone correctly. Now you can shoot without aiming (using the auto-aim), which is like throwing down, a pair of dice and hoping you gets 12 every time, needless to say your better off using one of the thousand of non shooting type of weapons. Also note that once you get the machine gun shooting and aiming is not as bad since you can throw-up a wall of lead and not worry about your target(s).
  - No online play, or any multiplayer, this is a single player game only.
  - Game should be considered short, unless you factor in the amount of times you have to replay it.
  - Most of the main game is spent saving survivors, which can be annoying because most of the survivors are as dumb as the Zombies they are trying to escape, luckily you can carry/pull-along most of them and if not you can always give them a weapon (to defend themselves) or even food (to heal them).
  - Text is almost impossible to read without an HDTV, which really sucks because most of the missions are giving to you in a text format.
  
  IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
  - For people who really like replaying their games and getting the most out of there gaming experience.
  - This game is not really meant for kids or the immature, this game is pretty gory/bloody/violent and even has a few foul words.
  - Game has an oddball sense of humor, like the movie Sean of the Dead.
  - Game plays mostly like a non-liner version of a beat-em-up type of game (see Streets of Rage or Fighting Force).
  - The Mall of Dead Rising is pretty big which is good because, you never really get to leave it.
  - Killing lots of Zombies with countless weapons (fun!) and playing escort to dumb as dirt survivors (not so fun).
  
  GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
  - Resident Evil (for the Zombie action)
  - Power Stone (For using almost anything as a weapon)
  
  ADDITIONAL NOTES:
  - Beating the main game (and getting the best ending) will unlock Overtime mode and beating that (with the best ending) will unlock a free play type of mode called Infinite mode.
  - When playing the game you can find the costume parts and also unlock the "buster/arm cannon" so you can make your character (Frank) look and shoot like Mega Man.
  - Right now there is talk about a Platinum Edition of this game coming for Xbox 360 that will come with a "NEW" Co-op mode, people who own the original copy of the game could also then download this new mode in XBL Marketplace, when the Platinum Edition is out.
  
  
• capcom doesn't throw a bone to the masses
  By A188ZYOYCZHJ7R on 2006-09-06
  i honestly don't know what capcom was thinking. this game is basically made to be played on HDTVs. if you don't have one, you might as well rent this game, kill some zombies and return it.
  
  i basically bought a 360 for this game only to realize i just wasted $500. in order to actually be able to play this game the way it was meant to be played, i'd have to drop another $1,000 on an HDTV.
  
  i understand things are being geared more towards the high definition, but we're years away from living in a society where the MAJORITY owns one. they're still way too expensive. with that being said, it blows my mind that capcom made a game that could only truly be played by a small minority of people.
  
  plain and simple: the text can't be read. not even on my brand new 36 inch sony flat screen.
  
  the fact that text is included in this game is crap anyway. it really takes away from the story line... not to mention squinting at a speach bubble for two minutes is incredibally hard when you've got 500 zombies walking around you.
  
  as mentioned countless other times, the save system sucks as well. there's nothing more infuriating than dying after a solid two hours of playing only to have to replay everything just to get back to where you were when you died. i frequently found myself turning the game off at this point.
  
  because of the way saves are set up (single slot only), and because this "free-roam" game actually follows a very strict timed series of events, it's very easy to "save" yourself in to a corner, forcing you to start over from the beginning if you don't give yourself enough time.
  
  there's nothing worse than being 2/3 of the way through a video game before you realize you haven't given yourself enough time to get to your next mission.
  
  then there's the frequently mentioned AI. it's terrible. the people you are suppose to save have IQs in the single digits. they get caught up on chairs and walk in to large groupings of zombies... only to call for your help.
  
  there's also your walkie talkie. when you get a message, it will ring every few seconds until you answer it. this is highly annoying as there are very few places in the game where you have enough privacy to actual use it. what's worse is that when on your walkie talkie, you can't do anything else. you're basically zombait.
  
  the way your inventory is stored is equally as frustrating. your health is stored along side your weaponry and when weapons break, they automatically switch to the next item in your inventory. hence, you're fighting a dozen zombies and your baseball bat breaks... the next thing you know, you're drinking a gallon of orange juice (health).
  
  firing weapons are also too few and far between... especially when taking boss fights in to consideration. i can't count the number of times i had to go in to a psychopath battle armed with only a shower head and a 2x4.
  
  ahhh!!!!
  
  this game can be quite enjoyable, but it's overshadowed but some pretty major flaws.
  
  
• **CAUTION** only for gamers who own HDTVs
  By A3AW7VXHVCSQJP on 2006-09-16
  this game could have been so much more than it is. It's really a shame that some simple issues that should've been addressed in testing, managed to ruin this game.
  
  I just want to make it clear to people who own standard definition tvs (which is most of us), you've been alientaed by capcom and they have no interest in meeting your standards. The text is so small and blurry that its impossible to read on a sdtv. the game is optimised for hdtv, and capcom has no plans on releaseing a patch to address the issue. the text is a big part of the game. the text tells you where to go, what to do, what to expect and just gives you usefull information. if you have a sdtv, you will not be able to read the text and will just wander around aimlessly with no idea where to go or what to do. I beat the game, but i missed out on a lot of extras simply because i cant read the text. everytime someone talks to you, youre gonna have no idea whats being said.
  
  its also impossible to unlock certain achievements, such as saving all survivors. since you cant read the text, you dont know what survivors to go for and which to ignore cause youve already saved them.
  
  i just want buyers to know that theres a good chance youre gonna miss out on a lot of the story and extras, and its gonna cause you a great deal of stress and many headaches cause you cant fully enjoy the game because of the text.
  
  the text is my main complaint, but the game is also filled with tons of load screens, literally load screens every 2 minutes. terrible ai. the survivors will constantly walk into crowds of zombies after youve just cleared a path. the game also lacks in game modes, its missing what everyone really wants, which is a free play mode. i just wanna run around and kill zombies and explore, theres a ton to explore but the game always pressures you with a constricting time limit.
  
  Rent it, borrow it but i highly suggest that you dont pay full price for this game, especially if you have a sdtv cause for those of us who have sdtv, its an unfinished game. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AT FULL PRICE!!! youve been warned.
  
  
• Spent many, many hours playing this game.
  By A2FQW5Q8MWQLFG on 2010-02-07
  This game has its faults - but it's amazing.
  
  It begins with 72 Hour Mode. This features the main storyline with side missions mixed throughout. Most of the objectives are called in from "Otis" the groundskeeper. Or janitor. Whatever he is, you may grow to loath this man. He calls you on the radio an annoying number of times. Exploring these missions you will encounter people that you may choose to save. Sometimes you will stumble on someone randomly. Rescuing survivors gives you a lot of experience points, so it's a good idea. There are 50 experience levels the main character must go through to achieve a proper measure of bad ass. As you level up your health bars increase, as well as your inventory, and you learn new zombie destruction moves. The number of zombies is pretty amazing. Especially if you get down in to the parking structure/tunnels. There are so many weapons to use in this game it's sort of ridiculous. Some of them do way more damage than they should. Still - it's awesome taking out hordes of the undead by hurling diamonds and other fine stones at them. Beating folks with a guitar, unlocking and using the Mega-Man gun, the bowling ball head crusher. The soccer ball is insanely funny especially when you use it on a group of survivors that you are escorting.
  
  There are multiple different endings to this game. I believe there are five, but could be remembering incorrectly. Once you've done the Main ending the storyline will continue with "Overtime Mode". Without spoilers - In this mode you run around the mall seeking out certain items of the utmost importance. This time zombies are not the biggest threat.
  
  Once you've completed Overtime Mode and seen the true ending you will have unlocked "Infinity Mode". Who knows how many days I've logged on this game, but wanting the achievements will require a lot of hours. One of the reasons being that in Infinity Mode - you cannot save... ever. 2 hours real time is 24 hours in-game time. For the "7 Day Survivor" achievement your Xbox will be on for a minimum of 14 hours. In this mode your health drains constantly and you must roam the mall seeking out other survivors to destroy them and steal their supplies! Getting the correct books from the bookstores will allow you to maximize the effectiveness of health items. You must eat every 15 - 20 minutes or you die. There are also books that prevent weapons from breaking quickly which you will need if you're going to go Rambo on zomboids as I do.
  
  As far as gripes, I have 3:
  
  1. The load screens. There are quite a few of them. Though they load quickly - it's noticeable to a fault in a few parts when you have to jump between areas.
  
  2. The save system. Dear goodness - probably the scariest thing in this game. You can only save by traveling to either a bathroom - or to the Security Room. Overtime Mode has a different save point. Infinity Mode offers NO SAVE POINTS. To unlock one of the best weapons in the game - The Lightsaber - you need the "7 Day Survivor" achievement.
  
  3. Otis. I wish that it would allow you to just murder him right when the game starts, or at least steal the batteries from his radio. He calls you so many times! So, so many times.
  _______________________
  
  In the end, beyond the gripes and groans, this game has become one of my all-time favorites. In a way it's like playing out your own twisted version of Dawn of the Dead. If Zombies are your thing, check out this game and go medieval.
  
  
• Great Concept, Poor Execution
  By A2B5QDF9OW5JPO on 2009-06-22
  Dead Rising is particularly dissapointing because its a game of great promise that is soured by strange choices made during development. The first of these is a nearly non-functional save feature that can only save a single game at once in what is effectively a single location. Second the game which encourages a sandbox type play simultaneously tries desperately to punish players who just want to kill zombies. You can only get most the achievements and see the storyline if you very carefully manage your limited timing to be in the right place for the right event at the right time. Similarly until certain events pass areas of the mall are completely inaccessible or extremely difficult to get to. Finally the game uses a strange rpg style twist where your player's experience is cumultive across games in an attempt to encourage replayability of what is a relatively short game if you simply play the game start to finish. However all the events that reveal the storyline are balanced around an advanced character. To be able to experience them the game requires a character with progressed stats from a good deal of failed games. Also to be even partially successful in witnessing the storyline of the game a player must develop a strong understanding of what events will happen and when so they can manage the frustrating save system and time progression of events.
  
  I'd strongly recommend most players avoid this game, especially survival horror fans. While the game's concept is wonderful the execution is so poor it is virtually unplayable.
  
  
• The dead
  By A2MELCUM8FBCQV on 2007-11-25
  ok i was reading the reviews of why this game is poorly made.
  
  this game is about a year old, and still fun. the whole game is about this guy named Frank West. and he is also a reporter. He's in a helicopter and sees a mob in the city. eventually he decides to go inside a mall. once he lands on the rooftop, he tells the pilot to come back for 3 days. thats when the nightmare begins.
  
  -learn several moves to kill zombies
  -save survivors
  -discover the truth
  -RE4 fans will love this
  -kill phycopaths
  -and KILL ZOMBIES
  
  
• Excellent and unique
  By ARXFJU6YJNCWS on 2007-07-10
  This really is a fantastic game. The graphics aren't quite photo-real, but they are spectacular; the locations in the mall are surprisingly varied. If you want to jump right in and finish the storyline on the first play-through, my condolences: The game is extremely difficult starting off. It's probably best at first to focus on leveling your character up (plenty of advice online for how best to accomplish that) and exploring the mall, then save your status, restart, and try the story once you've increased your stats and gained some more abilities. I happen to love killing zombies, so it wasn't a problem, but I can see where this sort of gameplay would frustrate plenty of gamers (the game definitely misses 5 stars because leveling up sometimes involves lame treadmilling).
  
  Most people lobby the same complaints against Dead Rising: Text too small, save system a mess, lack of mission variety. I have a 27" TV (standard def, obviously), and while the text doesn't jump off the screen, it's certainly readable. Anything important is marked on the map anyway, so you shouldn't lose sleep over that end. The one important thing is to set the Xbox to Widescreen Mode, even if your TV isn't widescreen: It makes the text bigger.
  
  As for the save system, it's not half as bad as people make it out to be. There is a save point in every section of the mall; you just have to be conscious of the need to save. Occasionally that means letting a survivor die, but it's just a game. If you're cautious - meaning you don't save when you're almost dead and there's a psychopath chasing you - you should only need one save slot.
  
  The missions are almost exclusively escort-based, but what are you going to do? It's in keeping with the zombie genre that there's not much to do besides rescue or battle other non-zombies, and there is some variability in the missions (one survivor will shoot himself if you give him a gun, for instance).
  
  Anyway, you can read the other reviews for itemized lists of the game's many, many merits. Just don't pay too much attention to the moaners.
  
  
• Not gonna write a full review, 'cuz you already have 148 of those. Just my $ .02...
  By A38FCK2UEHF6AF on 2007-06-29
  Put simply, this game is brilliant. Its gameplay is in line with classic non-stop action games, and it has a revamped old-school feel that we haven't really seen except in Ninja Gaiden (though this plays nothing like Ninja Gaiden.) While the basic gameplay always comes back to "kill zombies, progress through story, repeat," this formula has enough variations to maintain intensity throughout.
  
  What it all comes down to is this: This past winter, my whole dorm was snowed in for a few days. We killed most of that time taking turns playing Dead Rising. It's playable. If you're actually reading this to decide whether or not to buy it, just do it. it's well worth the $30 used you can have it for now.
  
  
• Amazing
  By A36WPYKP8AEJBJ on 2007-06-18
  Replay value is infinite. This game is just too great. I hope they make a sequel set somewhere else. This game is seriously engrossing, so watch out if you don't already have a lot of time on your hands!
  
  

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