Dead Rising

Frank West is an independent photo journalist who has gained world reknown for the photos and stories he has given to the world. His instincts are what have given him the fame that he has, but it also gets him into trouble. Frank enters the town of Willamette, Colorado via helicopter. While in the air he spots military barricades that have blocked off the road and have jammed any transmissions from going in or out of the city. While snapping photos, he notices something that he can’t explain. Why are people killing each other? On top of the local mall is a helipad where he forces the pilot to land. “Come back for in 72 hours”, he says as they synchronize watches. Little does Frank know that three days in hell can feel like an eternity.

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Now if you are blessed to own a 360 and are not still entranced by the sheer size of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, then you should pick up Dead Rising. Now our hero Frank West is a man who is real. He is here to get the story and that story is the zombie apocalypse. You can choose whether you want to save people or not. In a lot of cases, you can even set people up for disaster just so you can get the photo op. All of the characters are like this. There Federal agents inside the mall searching for an old man, the reason is beyond you, and they use your small bit of kindness to the point of no return. There is also a mysterious man and woman inside the mall with you who you come across from time to time. Right off the bat you learn that no one can be trusted and the only predictable thing in this mall is the zombies. And there are a lot of them. There can be up to 1000 zombies on the screen at once. And trust me if you see that many, you are probably going to die.
This is the first game in which everything is a weapon. EVERYTHING. Now I know that there are skeptics out in internet land who got here and haven’t read a thing of mine before saying, “That’s not true. I played it. Not everything is a weapon.”. You people obviously didn’t try using everything. If I can pick up a coat hanger and throw it at the zombies, then this game found everything that could be a weapon and made it a weapon. Lawnmower, weapon. Giant Patio Umbrella, weapon. Soccer ball, weapon. For god sake I can fire a Staple gun like a gun and take out a zombie. This game thought of it all when it comes to weapons and I applaud it. Also you can change outfits at different stores. You can fight zombies in a style’n white tux, or take pictures in an undersized boy scout’s uniform. It’s all free and who is going to stop you…other than the zombies.

The one thing that no one really knew about this game before it came out was the depth it actually had. It isn’t all hack up all of the rotting flesh before they kill you. The game has a very good story line. There is a lot going on. The affect of the zombies taking over, really messes some people up. They become the biggest threat in the mall and there are a lot of them. Also the game sport a simple role playing aspect to it that surprised the hell out this reviewer. As you take photos that are worthy of the being any magazine across the country, and decimating your undead foes, you gain Prestige Points (PP). The more you get the more abilities, item slots, and health you gain. The abilities are very important as you work through the game. If a horde surrounds you and you have the ability, you can pick up the cadaver of a fallen foe, and grab by the legs and start spinning. You take out everything around and make some room to make you escape.

Now I did have a few problems with the game. The Cases (Mandatory Events) are good, but I wish there was some more free roaming. Every time you go to have some fun destroying the zombie mass, you get a Game Over screen (The Worst Sight Ever) saying that you missed your deadline for one of the cases. This is not helped by the nearly illegible script that shows up at the bottom of the screen to help you. It shows you the missions that you have and how long you have to get to them. The big problem is that you need a 72” screen just to be able to read it.

This game is a wonder to the zombie game type. It goes up there with Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame as one of the most innovative survival horror games out there. Like I said, if you have a 360 and enjoy all things zombie, pick it up. If you get and hate the story, graphics, characters, and the box it came in, at least you will be able to say that you survived 1000 zombies on the screen at once.

P.S.- This is an old review that I wrote a few years ago that never got posted on the old site.

This game is available on the Xbox 360 and is rated M for Mature