QuasidodoJr
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Originally posted at http://xbox.gamexc.com/modules.php?module=reviews&id=176
There’s possibly only one thing scarier than walking through a crowded mall - walking through a mall crowded with zombies; A concept first introduced by the master of the living dead himself, George A. Romero. Capcom’s latest 360 title, Dead Rising, traps you in a mall with a horde of the filthy undead and a slew of witless survivors that will need your help every step of the way. Previous zombie games, including those developed by Capcom, have been jump-fest horror entries, with limited weapons and health items, while emphasizing conservation and survival. In Dead Rising, the zombie game formula of old has been scrapped, as there’s no shortage of weapons or health items, and there’s definitely not a lack of zombies to smash, dismember and mutilate (or humiliate, depending on your tactics). This time around, instead of constantly worrying about your own survival, you’re tasked with preserving the safety of others. But, is Dead Rising the zombie game we’ve all been waiting for? I’d say yes!
You play as freelance photojournalist, Frank West, who heads out to a small city in Colorado, named Willamette, after the National Guard quarantines it and all communication is cut off. You fly in by helicopter to investigate the suspicious situation, only to find the entire city in disarray with what appears to be rioters all over the streets, killing one another. This instantly becomes a scoop that Frank doesn’t want to lose, so he has the pilot drop him onto the roof of the nearby Willamette City Mall. After a weird introduction by the man who initially contacted Frank about the disturbance in the first place, you find yourself stuck inside of a massive shopping mall with gangs of the undead, intent on chewing out your innards. As a journalist, Frank’s intuition is to figure out the story behind the zombie plague, and that’s just what you’ll try to accomplish.
As you move Frank around the mall, the camera is set in a third-person view that follows from behind at default, but players can move it around as desired with the right analog. Either making your way through the hordes of zombies by force, or with guile, is the name of the game. For the most part, the zombies are fairly slow, so dodging and weaving between them isn’t so much of a problem when you’re by yourself. If you’ve got other survivors moving with you, sometimes clearing a path is the only safe option. Making that hole for you and your trailing group won’t always be so difficult as you’ll quickly find out that just about everything you see lying around the environment can be picked up and used as a weapon. Wooden bench? Check! Garbage can? Check! Lead pipe? Check! Baseball bat? Check! Giant stuffed teddy bear? Odd, but yeah… check! Being resourceful plays a big role in yours and everyone else's survival, because every “weapon” you find has different ranges and purposes, as well as damage rates. Remembering hidden weapon locations can sometimes be the difference between life and death.
On top of dealing with droves of the mortally challenged, there’s also the occasional psychopath, and they assume the role of “boss” characters. These demented individuals have cracked under the pressure of the undead infestation and hence have become rather homicidal. You stumble across these lunatics the same way as possible survivors. Some of them will automatically be in certain places at certain times, while others will only appear if you’ve activated the Scoop, or mission, that pertains to them. To initiate these scoops, you’ll have to wait for a call from Otis in the Security Room. You then have to answer, and complete, the contact session. Otis will tell you if he’s seen anything suspicious in the monitors, such as a large, unfriendly looking man carrying a big knife, or a woman trapped in a clothing store. Players are then given a location and time limit to further investigate these occurrences. This same timed practice is also used with the game’s main story missions. The difference being, if you fail or miss one of the regular scoops, it’s just a boss or a survivor you’re missing out on. If it’s a main story scoop, that portion of the game ends right there.
When you take these possible missed scoop opportunities into consideration, you’re obviously not always going to get everything right, or even survive your first time through. While it doesn’t entirely get in the way, the game’s save system can be rather frustrating. You’re only allowed one save per memory source. So, if you have one save on your hard drive, and you want another one, you’ll need to purchase a separate memory card. On the other hand, at any time when you die, you have the option of saving your stats you’ve built up from your previous session and rolling them forward to your next game, or loading your last save. The positive side is that you can build up not only more health blocks, but increase the amount of damage you deal out, your overall movement, speed and even the amount of items you can carry in your inventory. The negative is that you have to play through portions of the game you’ve already been through. This can become slightly taxing on your fifth or sixth time through, and you’ve yet again come to a halt. But there’s something oddly amusing about waxing hordes of zombies with a chainsaw that seems to never lose its charm.
The only thing better than enjoying your time with a standout game, is when that game also delivers a standout presentation. Dead Rising definitely “rises” to the occasion! Not only does the entirety of the mall look spectacular, with every minute detail promptly in place, but it’s memorably designed. The different sections of the mall each jump off the screen with vibrant colors and wacky designs. Whether you initially take notice to it or not, it actually helps you remember your way around. The swarms of zombies that crowd the screen reach numbers up towards the 100’s, and all without any slowdown. You’ll see some repetition in character models for the undead, but there’s still such an immense variation that your first play through will keep you visually stunned. On top of all of that, the varying results from the multitude of weapons found lying around are horrifically displayed with gore (and laughs), aplenty for your visual delight.
In rare form for Capcom, the voice acting is completely spot-on throughout. Yes, some of the dialog is slightly corny here and there, but the competent actors do not let that slow them down. The smashing, slashing and blood splatter sound effects can be rather stomach-turning at times, so they will definitely do their part to nauseate those easily grossed out. Also, while it is rather unusual that the only music you’ll hear in Dead Rising is the “muzak” playing over the mall’s loud speakers, it actually strengthens the game’s uncanny atmosphere.
While your main purpose in Dead Rising is to uncover the truth, it’s not your only option. I've mentioned a multitude of aspects about the game, and I've still only barely scratched the surface. There are all sorts of food items that you can prepare or combine, a plethora of clothing options and even the entire photo-capturing system, with points you can earn or pictures you can take for laughs. Everything rests in your hands. Do you focus on the undead mystery, do you go on a zombie-killing rampage, do you try to reach sainthood by saving as many people as possible, or do you just try to survive for 72 hours until your rescue party arrives? That’s a big part of the game’s allure. There’s so many ways to play, and none of them are the wrong way. You’ll more often than not have an enjoyable experience, no matter which route is taken. Sure, you’ll want to uncover the mystery sooner or later, but players could spend a week with the game and not even pay attention to the main storyline and still have a blast with every minute spent. Got Dead Rising? If not… you should!
Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics: 8
Audio: 9
Worth: 9
Overall: 9
+ Zombie mutilation is really spiffy!
+ No wrong way to play
- Save system is kinda whack
- Replaying parts of the game over and over...
? Does milk do a zombie's body any good?
There’s possibly only one thing scarier than walking through a crowded mall - walking through a mall crowded with zombies; A concept first introduced by the master of the living dead himself, George A. Romero. Capcom’s latest 360 title, Dead Rising, traps you in a mall with a horde of the filthy undead and a slew of witless survivors that will need your help every step of the way. Previous zombie games, including those developed by Capcom, have been jump-fest horror entries, with limited weapons and health items, while emphasizing conservation and survival. In Dead Rising, the zombie game formula of old has been scrapped, as there’s no shortage of weapons or health items, and there’s definitely not a lack of zombies to smash, dismember and mutilate (or humiliate, depending on your tactics). This time around, instead of constantly worrying about your own survival, you’re tasked with preserving the safety of others. But, is Dead Rising the zombie game we’ve all been waiting for? I’d say yes!
You play as freelance photojournalist, Frank West, who heads out to a small city in Colorado, named Willamette, after the National Guard quarantines it and all communication is cut off. You fly in by helicopter to investigate the suspicious situation, only to find the entire city in disarray with what appears to be rioters all over the streets, killing one another. This instantly becomes a scoop that Frank doesn’t want to lose, so he has the pilot drop him onto the roof of the nearby Willamette City Mall. After a weird introduction by the man who initially contacted Frank about the disturbance in the first place, you find yourself stuck inside of a massive shopping mall with gangs of the undead, intent on chewing out your innards. As a journalist, Frank’s intuition is to figure out the story behind the zombie plague, and that’s just what you’ll try to accomplish.
As you move Frank around the mall, the camera is set in a third-person view that follows from behind at default, but players can move it around as desired with the right analog. Either making your way through the hordes of zombies by force, or with guile, is the name of the game. For the most part, the zombies are fairly slow, so dodging and weaving between them isn’t so much of a problem when you’re by yourself. If you’ve got other survivors moving with you, sometimes clearing a path is the only safe option. Making that hole for you and your trailing group won’t always be so difficult as you’ll quickly find out that just about everything you see lying around the environment can be picked up and used as a weapon. Wooden bench? Check! Garbage can? Check! Lead pipe? Check! Baseball bat? Check! Giant stuffed teddy bear? Odd, but yeah… check! Being resourceful plays a big role in yours and everyone else's survival, because every “weapon” you find has different ranges and purposes, as well as damage rates. Remembering hidden weapon locations can sometimes be the difference between life and death.
On top of dealing with droves of the mortally challenged, there’s also the occasional psychopath, and they assume the role of “boss” characters. These demented individuals have cracked under the pressure of the undead infestation and hence have become rather homicidal. You stumble across these lunatics the same way as possible survivors. Some of them will automatically be in certain places at certain times, while others will only appear if you’ve activated the Scoop, or mission, that pertains to them. To initiate these scoops, you’ll have to wait for a call from Otis in the Security Room. You then have to answer, and complete, the contact session. Otis will tell you if he’s seen anything suspicious in the monitors, such as a large, unfriendly looking man carrying a big knife, or a woman trapped in a clothing store. Players are then given a location and time limit to further investigate these occurrences. This same timed practice is also used with the game’s main story missions. The difference being, if you fail or miss one of the regular scoops, it’s just a boss or a survivor you’re missing out on. If it’s a main story scoop, that portion of the game ends right there.
When you take these possible missed scoop opportunities into consideration, you’re obviously not always going to get everything right, or even survive your first time through. While it doesn’t entirely get in the way, the game’s save system can be rather frustrating. You’re only allowed one save per memory source. So, if you have one save on your hard drive, and you want another one, you’ll need to purchase a separate memory card. On the other hand, at any time when you die, you have the option of saving your stats you’ve built up from your previous session and rolling them forward to your next game, or loading your last save. The positive side is that you can build up not only more health blocks, but increase the amount of damage you deal out, your overall movement, speed and even the amount of items you can carry in your inventory. The negative is that you have to play through portions of the game you’ve already been through. This can become slightly taxing on your fifth or sixth time through, and you’ve yet again come to a halt. But there’s something oddly amusing about waxing hordes of zombies with a chainsaw that seems to never lose its charm.
The only thing better than enjoying your time with a standout game, is when that game also delivers a standout presentation. Dead Rising definitely “rises” to the occasion! Not only does the entirety of the mall look spectacular, with every minute detail promptly in place, but it’s memorably designed. The different sections of the mall each jump off the screen with vibrant colors and wacky designs. Whether you initially take notice to it or not, it actually helps you remember your way around. The swarms of zombies that crowd the screen reach numbers up towards the 100’s, and all without any slowdown. You’ll see some repetition in character models for the undead, but there’s still such an immense variation that your first play through will keep you visually stunned. On top of all of that, the varying results from the multitude of weapons found lying around are horrifically displayed with gore (and laughs), aplenty for your visual delight.
In rare form for Capcom, the voice acting is completely spot-on throughout. Yes, some of the dialog is slightly corny here and there, but the competent actors do not let that slow them down. The smashing, slashing and blood splatter sound effects can be rather stomach-turning at times, so they will definitely do their part to nauseate those easily grossed out. Also, while it is rather unusual that the only music you’ll hear in Dead Rising is the “muzak” playing over the mall’s loud speakers, it actually strengthens the game’s uncanny atmosphere.
While your main purpose in Dead Rising is to uncover the truth, it’s not your only option. I've mentioned a multitude of aspects about the game, and I've still only barely scratched the surface. There are all sorts of food items that you can prepare or combine, a plethora of clothing options and even the entire photo-capturing system, with points you can earn or pictures you can take for laughs. Everything rests in your hands. Do you focus on the undead mystery, do you go on a zombie-killing rampage, do you try to reach sainthood by saving as many people as possible, or do you just try to survive for 72 hours until your rescue party arrives? That’s a big part of the game’s allure. There’s so many ways to play, and none of them are the wrong way. You’ll more often than not have an enjoyable experience, no matter which route is taken. Sure, you’ll want to uncover the mystery sooner or later, but players could spend a week with the game and not even pay attention to the main storyline and still have a blast with every minute spent. Got Dead Rising? If not… you should!
Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics: 8
Audio: 9
Worth: 9
Overall: 9
+ Zombie mutilation is really spiffy!
+ No wrong way to play
- Save system is kinda whack
- Replaying parts of the game over and over...
? Does milk do a zombie's body any good?