Dead Rising Review (X360)

Minor Complaints - What It Could Have Been

Dead Rising is far from perfect and there are a lot of things that could have been done to make the game better. The extra modes, Overtime and Infinite, aren’t so hot and don’t really deliver what people wanted out of them. If you want to just kill zombies and not worry about stuff, intentionally fail a case file and you can do whatever you want until the helicopter comes to pick you up.

Another complaint is that some obvious modes have been left out. A co-op mode would have been absolutely perfect for Dead Rising, but there is none to be found. In fact, there is no multiplayer at all which is a bummer. Also, after playing the demo about 20 times I was really hoping for a time attack mode of some sort where you would have 15 minutes in each section of the mall to rack up as many kills and PP as possible. I see the demo as a sort of a Katamari Damacy-like experience. In KD you have to find the best way through each level to build up your katamari as fast as possible. In Dead Rising you would have to find your way to the best weapons and food as fast as possible to get a high score. It would have been crazy addictive and fun but, alas, it was not to be.

Why It All Works Out In The End

In spite of some limitations and the feeling in the back your mind that it could have been better, Dead Rising still manages to be amazingly addictive and fun and completely wonderful. For zombie fans, there is nothing better than just kicking back and hacking through a few thousand zombies. Dead Rising also has a bit of a different overall horror element with the psychopaths you have to fight. Crazy cult leaders, chainsaw wielding clowns, escaped convicts, deranged butchers – all of them have their own motivation and backstory and it is pretty interesting to experience some genuine insanity and horror (they tickle the same part of me that loves movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Devil’s Rejects) in the midst of all of the zombie killing. I’m also thankful that Capcom didn’t insert giant spiders or mutants or something stupid like that and let the zombies be the focus for most of the game. The overall gameplay is simple and a little mindless, but Capcom nailed all of the little details that make zombies and horror movies so good and I can’t help but love Dead Rising because of it.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, Dead Rising looks pretty good. The zombies aren’t all the sharpest looking characters ever to grace a videogame, but at least there is quite a bit of variety to them and there are hundreds onscreen at once so you can’t really complain too much. The mall itself is absolutely stunning and very, very sharp looking. My only complaint with the graphics is that the text is surprisingly small. When Otis the janitor calls you on the radio the information is presented in text at the bottom of the screen. On my HDTV it is small but readable, but people with standard TV’s have complained that the text is blurry and impossible to read. Until Capcom patches the game and fixes this issue, SDTV owners might want to hold off on a purchase.

The sound is also very good overall. The moans and groans of zombies are absolutely perfect and each weapon makes a unique and distinct sound that is music to the ears of horror fans. For the most part, the voice acting is well done and helps immerse you into the story. The music is also fairly well done. Typical mall muzak most of the time, but during boss fights the music is really good. I especially like the music during the fight with the convicts outside.

Bottom Line

Overall, Dead Rising is exactly the game that Xbox 360 fans have been waiting for. It looks and sounds great, plays like a dream, tells an interesting story, and you’ll only find it on Xbox 360. There are some issues and it is far from perfect, but it is so unbelievably fun that it is easy to overlook the flaws. Use a chainsaw or lawn mower or drive a car around in the zombie filled maintenance tunnels and I guarantee you’ll have a smile on your face the entire time. There is a ton of stuff to do and a ton of ways to do everything and the mall is big enough and filled with little nooks and crannies to explore which makes the replay value absolutely astronomical. I’ll repeat what I said at the top of the article: Recommending Dead Rising is easy based on your reaction to the following statement: All you do in Dead Rising is run around a mall and kill thousands of zombies in hundreds of different ways. If you first thought is “Wow, that will get repetitive after a while”, you should probably rent it. If, however, your first thought is “That is everything I ever dreamed of and wished for in a zombie game”, then Dead Rising is worth a purchase. I love it and I highly recommend it for horror fans.