Dead Rising (2006 Video Game) User Reviews (27)

Dead Rising... is it your kettle of fish?

[weresmurf · 9/10 · 25 September 2006]

Dead Rising, from Capcom, the masters of survival horror, is the first true Next Gen game for the xbox 360. Any other game out there, its questionable that they could've been done on a lesser console. This one however, is the first 'must buy' if you want to show off your consoles prowess.

The first time you run into the mall and see two hundred to three hundred zombies shambling around in front of you, your jaw will literally hit the ground... simply because the game does this with ease whilst keeping a truly solid frame rate and an excellent level of graphics.

The concept is shockingly simple. You're a journalist, dropped into a town overrun with zombies, specifically at the mall, you have to survive 3 days. Sounds easy right? Hell no.

Dead Rising is unfortunately going to draw comparisons between two properties. The first is George Romeros zombie movies, and fair enough, it does borrow the concept of the Dawn of the dead movie. The second, the Resident Evil games for some reason.

Let me assure you, the only thing Resident Evil 1 2 3 and 4 have in common with Dead Rising is that there's zombies. But in Dead Rising however, the zombies are much more threatening.

We're not talking modern day running zombies though, we've got the old style swarming zombies. Ever see a zombie movie and wonder 'How the hell did they get eaten? They could've just walked around them!' or something? Get your ass into the maintenance tunnels of Dead Rising, where literally hundreds of zombies pack the halls and you have to wade your way through.

The game play is third person above and behind, the controls are fluid and intuitive, response time from Frank, the journalist, is superb. Capcom have really outdone themselves. The controls are simple, not complicated and every time you get a new skill, it's something to add to your arsenal to turn Camera from Camera toting wimp into Zombie masher extraordinaire.

The weaponry in this game, is incredible. Every sound seems spot on for whatever you're using. You can use things from knives to katanas, pistols to 50. cal machine guns, from chainsaws to fence post hole diggers called Excavators. Each weapon affects the zombies in an individual way for the most part. The Katana will slice zombies in half with whatever angle it hits. It may be from the shoulder to the groin or the head to the leg, it doesn't matter, no hit seems to be exactly the same. The Excavator is just pure gold but I won't spoil that one, it's got to be seen to be fully believed.

Dead Risings only missteps, are minor ones. Well, maybe one major one and the rest are minor. So what are they? 1. People complain about the one save slot. However, Capcom ensure you'll never have to truly start again as any progress in a previous game, if you're killed, can be taken over into a new game. Personally I found a way around only one save slot. I use a memory card and a hard drive in conjunction with each other. This allows me essentially two.

2. No true Free roaming mode. There's a survival mode you can unlock and thats nice, but there doesn't seem to be a true 'free roam' mode as such. Not that that's such a bad thing. The game might get a tiny bit tedious if that was all you'd do...

3. Unforgiving plot. In this game, you have main cases and side cases. Side cases are optional, they're usually rescuing people or defeating psychopaths. Main missions are the ones you must do to progress. Miss one of these and you're done.

4. Time goes by way too fast. An hour goes past in 4 minutes roughly. The game lasts 72 hours, you're looking at between 5 - 6 hours game play. But thats a truly MINOR quibble. The game has that much re-playability it's not funny. If you can get through this, or even half way, in your first few days, I'll buy you a beer :D So to conclude. Dead Rising isn't without its faults. Pobodys Nerfect as they say. It's my cup of tea and then some, but it's not someone elses, but they're not writing this review. My recommendation is this... if you want a showpiece for your 360, a game that you can either stuff around in for hours or play seriously, if you want something that's surprisingly deep for such a shallow concept, check out Dead Rising, you won't be disappointed.

A bloody good time

[The_Light_Triton · 9/10 · 23 January 2014]

Capcom is one of the best, if not most popular 3rd party developers of all time. They've developed a lot of popular series and have created some interesting game characters, including the ones from street fighter, and resident evil.

But then comes Dead rising, which puts you in the shoes of a young freelance photographer looking for his big scoop to put his name into history. What he doesn't know is that for 3 days, from September 19th, to the 22nd in the year 2006, He's in for a blood-soaked, fear-inducing, adventure filled with excitement.

Frank West is tipped off about something big happening in Williamette, Colorado, a fictional town of about 50,000 people. He hires a low budget chopper pilot to fly him in so he can snap some pictures of the town. it's not long before the national guard come and chase the chopper away, but not before Frank is able to land on the mall's roof, and get in. He soon discovers that it's not a civil disturbance, but a zombie apocalypse. And for the next 72 hours, it's him, a few survivors, and nearly 50,000 blood-thirsty, flesh-starved zombies.

I got this one very late in the Xbox 360's lifespan, and i'm still not sure why I waited so long to pick this one up. It's a lot of fun and worth whatever you pay for it.

The main idea of Dead rising is to collect as many Prestige points (PP) as you can, while helping 2 particular people discover why the zombies have risen up in the first place. You collect prestige points by using your camera to take photographs of people, zombies, anything that's happening in the disaster zone of Williamette. You also collect points by killing zombies with whatever is at your disposal, including knives, sporting goods, tools, Electronics, and my personal favorite so far, the Chainsaw. You get the biggest PP boost by rescuing survivors and guiding them to the only sanctuary left - The security room.

The best part of the game, is the fact that you have a lot of freedom. for 72 hours, you can do whatever you please. Want to be a zombie-killing machine with whatever is at your disposal? You can. Do you want to rescue survivors? you can. Do you want to take pictures for your big story? do it. And are you sure you want to know why the zombie apocalypse is happening in the first place? stay close to 2 particular people, stay alive, and you might just learn exactly why there is a zombie apocalypse in the first place.

For anyone who hasn't picked up a copy of Dead rising yet, I strongly suggest you do so. The replay value is great.

9/10

Not a bad game

[theluger58 · 8/10 · 23 September 2006]

Overall this game was rather fun and had a lot of great and memorable moments. Each time you play through it you are very likely to come across a cut scene or new character you haven't seen before. The graphics, music, and voice acting were all top notch and added to the feeling of actually being in a real living environment with real characters, rather than just a couple of areas and people thrown together. Killing the same zombies over and over again, however, does tend to get alittle old after a few times, which leads to the one main gripe of this game...the game saving. Saving can only be done in certain specific areas of the mall with only one slot for saving, which guarantees you will have to start from the beginning at least a few times. On the plus side, you are able to keep the skills and experience you accumulated during the way making it that much easier the next time around. Definitely worth the money.

I loved it

[Flameshadow · 10/10 · 7 January 2007]

Actually i thought it was a great game, The story was captivating ,the characters were interesting, and the zombie killing was highly satisfying. Everything you can pick up can be used as a weapon, but somethings are more useful than others (a katana is a better zombie killing implement than a cardboard box).

Sure, the targeting system is a little annoying at first, but it gets easier as you play on.

The only thing that I found to be a problem and made me want to throw my controller was the camera controls. Trying to take pictures of the zombies makes me glad that I can kill them afterward to relieve the frustration.

And frequent saving can alleviate the "Starting over when you die" problem. Y'see when you die (and you will die) you are given two options, you may either "save and exit" which will save Frank's stats and skills, and exit the game (thus making you start the game over from the beginning. OR you can choose the "load last save" option, which will take you back to the last time you saved.

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who loves zombie movies

Dead Rising

[mesasupertrooper · 10/10 · 17 January 2007]

Dead rising is by far the best Xbox 360 game to be released yet. Dead Rising is a fresh and creative game that finally brings a zombie game to life in a entirely interactive mall. I highly suggest buying this game if you own a 360. You are Frank West, Photojournalist, the place? Willmete Colorado, the mall. Your mall, your actions, you decide the way the story goes, each action has a consequence.

As Frank West your goal is to stay alive three days until the chopper gets back and get a story. Use virtually anything to kill zombies, including but not limited to: televisions, two by fours, guns, chainsaws, propane tanks, saw blades, baseball bats, soccer balls, cardboard boxes, Shower heads and many many more.

Wear anything from suits, to children's clothes, dresses, Teddy bear masks, Horse heads, and sports clothes. Use other weapons for pure fun, such as: Light up swords, make up displays such as lipstick, and anything that you can find that you know wouldn't kill anyone.

Drive vehicles such as a red car and a motorcycle resembling a Harley Davidson Fat Boy.

Overall this game is fresh, creative, and excels expectations.

This is the greatest zombie game... PERIOD!

[Infest0125 · 10/10 · 2 May 2007]

This is definitely a great game. It leaves you with anything as a weapon, and swarms of zombies waiting to have the faces bashed in or sliced in two. The graphics definitely are amazing, and so are the blood effects, and when you kill an enemy, their blood goes all over you and if you walk through blood there are bloody footprints. The game has a ton of twists, lots of places to go, and a lot of bosses and weapon choices. The voice acting is absolutely incredible, yet the AI needs a little work. The game has a surprisingly amazing plot, an amazing soundtrack, and also has very interesting cut scenes, like the one at the end of the game... which i don't want to reveal and spoil the game.

scale of 1-10... 100!

An enjoyable bloodbath

[chaos_wolf_021 · 8/10 · 30 January 2007]

When I picked up Dead Rising at the local video game retailer I expected a pure and simple zombie bashing game. As a fan of the zombie genre, that was what I had wanted as well. While the game delivered the buckets of blood and pointless killing that I had craved at the time it also supplied a little more.

There is an actual plot line that involves multiple endings for the player to unlock. Of course the player can ignore the story which constricts them to a strict time track to stay on top of in order to complete each of the missions arrayed. Ignoring the plot line does not detract from the game as it lets the player simply run through the mall killing at will, or having a more noble streak and rescuing survivors.

The mall itself holds plenty of weapons to use, food to regenerate health, and clothes to change into. The graphics are well done, featuring great sound effects (especially the blood splatters), and some great killing moves.

The game also features some small RPG elements which allow your character to upgrade and gain more health, stronger attacks, and some new hand-to-hand attack moves to use against the zombie horde.

The only true gripe I have with the game is with the difficulty one can have with non-zombie enemies, and with the saving system, which requires you to run out of your way in order to find a save point which are scarce and scattered.

The game also only lets one keep one profile, which I believe makes it easier as you really only have one game to worry about, and lets you keep a single character which transfers from game to game so you don't have to start with a wimpy character like you do when you first pick up the game.

Overall I believe Dead Rising was an enjoyable zombie romp for those who enjoy the zombie genre. However if you are completely impatient, loath difficulty, and feel the developers must make a game comfortably around your own little mold that you have in your head, don't pick it up because you will merely get frustrated and annoyed.

A unique and fun game

[bighaben · 7/10 · 9 August 2006]

The idea is great. Go around kill zombies in massive numbers, and do whatever you want. Sounds like fun? It is, but it could be so much better, and the errors are so glaringly obvious that the game developers could in no way miss them. It makes you wonder, but that's okay it's still a great game.

The problems are numerous, the only thing the game does completely right is with combat and the shear amount of zombies. Everything else is need of fixing. The first problem is the fact that you only get one save file, but that isn't too bad, seeing as you can start the game over and over again with the same file. But the save system is weird at best, and is a tad annoying. Save points are hidden away, and can be hard to find, especially since you'll want to save often, as the game is quite difficult and you can easily find your self playing an hours worth of game play over again. Save often! The main problem with the game is the lack of any originality with missions, their either main missions, called case files, or escort missions, tons of escort missions. But thank god they are skip-able, you don't have to rescue a single person if you don't want to, however if you want to level up fast you may want to check them out. Also the case files must be done before a certain time in the 72 hour period your there, if you miss one it's game over, but you start with all you skills and abilities. The game isn't actually 72 hours, the time is accelerated.

There is also the fact that you have to unlock the mode that I was most looking forward to, complete freedom, you don't get that when you have to do a case file. That annoys me, as sometimes I just want to go around and just have fun. You'll have plenty of time to do it, but you're always worrying about how much time you have left. Also if you decide to do this you miss out on those annoying escort missions.

Weapons are fun and intuitive, they make the sounds they are supposed to make when you hit them, and killing the zombies never seems to wear, although you could theoretically get through the whole game without hitting a single one. The game is hilarious! It's not going to scare you, it's going to make you fun. This is a casual game, I just wish some parts of the game were made to fit the casualness of the rest of game.

The photo part of the game can net you some cool pictures to show to your friends but that's about it. And it feels rather useless. Their are a few other problems that I noticed but nothing major, a few collision problems, and there is a minor amount of repetitiveness. Also the text is freakishly small. But all the problems are out done by how much fun you are going to have. If you are looking for a good fun game, this game is for you, but it will annoy some, make some extremely angry, and give everything others wanted. If the developers are going to make a sequel, they better fix some things, it's the only thing holding it back from greatness.

AMAZING game in every aspect, ESPECIALLY for SIX YEARS AGO!

[doggod2010 · 10/10 · 24 February 2012]

This game is a triumph of all. I'll begin with the graphics. Lets see, um, how do I put this..... AMAZING! For six years ago, this still looks fairly up to date. Detail, textures, all that jazz. There are a few pop-ins though but with such a massive game, that's understandable. The sound is pretty intense at all times, with the grunts, groans, and growls of thousands of infected. Gameplay is a little edgy and not so fluid but it doesn't take anything away from the game. What stunned me was the fact that there were literally THOUSANDS of infected on-screen at any given time, and the vast mall that you can explore, and interact with (my personal favorite, the grocery store). All in all, this is a must buy for free-roaming, zombie loving photojournalists.

A fun game, but WAY to demanding.

[Margera4445 · 7/10 · 28 October 2008]

*-Dead Rising-* Rated: M for Mature Released by: Capcom

Dead Rising is a sandbox game released by the zombie masters of gaming, Capcom. It's also ONE of the reasons I got an Xbox 360. When I heard they came out with a different brand of zombie game that let you kill them at your own pace, I was ecstatic. And sure, they let me kill some zombies, but the "at your own pace" was a particularly hard concept to find in this game.

The game places you in the shoes of freelance photojournalist Frank West as he travels through a Colorado shopping mall infested with the undead inhabitants of the small fictional town of Willamet. As you land on the roof of the shopping mall from a helicopter, you're met by a man that says that you've found your way into "hell" and indeed you have. You must hack, slash, smash, maim, gouge, and hop your way through a sea of swarming zombies while completing different goals to get the full case (or story) on what EXACTLY is going on in this village before 72 hours is up. If you don't, you're cursed to spend eternity in the evil shopping mall.

CONCEPT - 10/10 - granted that a sandbox zombie game is probably the best thing since sliced peanut butter and jam, the concept is amazing. You can hack and slash your way through different parts of the mall and even take pictures of the undead denizens of Willamet. Just beware, your weapon could break at any time or run out at any time.

IN GAME SYSTEMS - 7/10 - By in game systems, I mean the inventory, saving and timing systems. The entire game is based on how much time you have left, which is bad for me and the rest of anyone who just wants to explore things at their own pace. The saving system is bleh...while it offers the ability to start a new game with the same level and inventory slots as you had your last save, there is no autosaving, and dying in the game is not that hard, making saving and fighting a hassle. You also have to writhe and twist your way through massive hoards of zombie menaces and random survivor/psychopath encounters making time not only a virtue, but a burden. A good thing about this game is, if you manage to find yourself facing the last remaining seconds of an important time-based game-moving goal, you can always let it go, go into free roam mode, fight off some zombies with no interruptions and gain more level points, only one problem - Saves are shut off during this time, making item collection crucial. The game modes seem to be way too demanding and in game tasks are a little on the hard side.

ACTING - 9/10 - The acting is OK. But I feel as though the voices were dubbed in American without any attention payed to the mouths making it seem a little unrealistic. Then again, this is a zombie game, so what am I complaining about? :P

OVERALL - 7/10 - Again, this game is an awesome step up from the normal "run and gun" zombie game, but the enemies are a little too hard to battle, combat is a tad bit flaky and tasks are just too demanding. I like the direction this is going though, and I feel that a sandbox zombie game in which you must survive and fight your way through to live withOUT difficult and demanding tasks may be in the immediate future. For now, I think I'll stick with Resident Evil.

From the Reviewer's Square JP

Awesome

[Emark17 · 9/10 · 13 January 2007]

Don't listen to the guy who posted before me, this game is awesome. The guy before me who says you have to start all over is COMPLETELY false, he/she is just didn't know that you can save by using the sleeping couch or the bathroom stalls. This game is almost perfect, the only problem i had with it is that you could not crouch and that you do not need to reload, but besides that this game is awesome. The amount of zombies on screen is surreal, the Graphics are awesome, and the game play is unique. This is my favorite game that i have for my Xbox 360 and it was worth every cent. The story is also very well told through wonderful cinematics and you can actually take the story seriously. Get this game, you will not regret it.

It's the best and annoying...

[DcheatB · 6/10 · 14 January 2008]

I have to say that Dead rising is one of the best games of 2006, With the characters being a lot of fun, the Sandbox thing, and the Pyshopaths being crazy at there best, It makes you almost forget the fact that it has got to be the most ANYOYING GAME IN HISTORY! Let's start off with the save thing, a big hit to the Game score. I once tried to save a bunch of survivors and made it out and saved in the security room...but I missed a case and I went to the case and I when I defeated the phycho path It said that ' the truth will be lost forever', SPOOKY!( Sacrastic humor). There's also the 72 hour thing...it takes 6 hours in real just to get through that no matter how fast you play and it makes me want to puke if I that Otis Guy call's me and say's' Save this dude who will not even thank you and probably revolt against you later, but save them anyway because your a good guy right?'. The zombies are actually more smarter then the survivors and I would rather have the zombies as friends because they do more damage then the humans. And let's not forget the constant grabbing of zombies that they should have called this game ' Being a Zombie prositute' and let's forget every time you get caught by the Swat team or the Masked freaks you will be in your underwear...creepy. The game with it's Weapon system and it's great scoring system and huge envorment( and let's face it...we love to Kill Zombies!) is the savior from it being another game I regret getting. But I hope that the sequel will be better...and hopefully doesn't have Otis.

Survivor A.I.

[Snowy_Hawk · 5/10 · 23 September 2007]

For all the praise Dead Rising has gotten there is The Major Flaw. The survivors seem to be more brain-dead then the Zombies. When a survivor is following you it takes roughly 5 seconds before the survivor moves with you, or follows an instruction given. Another survivor flaw is their priorities, when following the player in a straight, non-zombie path the will become sidetracked and run into a mob of zombies and attempt to fight their way out, this proves difficult as effective weapons to kill the zombies do more damage to the Survivor. Other flaw is the ledge before the air duct n the roof of the mall, the only entrance to the safety of the Security Room. I had somehow managed to rescue and lead seven survivors to this part of the journey and spent another 5 minutes to get them up onto the ledge as none of them seem to have the manners to let someone else go first. The reason of this flaw is that survivors can only climb up on section of the ledge, and each try to run to the section at the same time, the result is that you have 5 survivors running into each other.

Being on the Xbox 360, you would think that Capcom would release an update or patch to allow these survivors to possess a basic High School education, however it has been a year and no update has been announced or released.

Zombie orgasm!

[insomniac_rod · 9/10 · 8 May 2010]

Quick! If you are a die hard fan of George A. Romero's trilogy, specially the glorious bloodfeast that "Dawn of the Dead" represents; please, please! get this game! It's one of the most disgusting, fun, exciting, bloody experiences. It's like being a part of "Dawn of the Dead".

As a video game, it's perfect. It's fun, has plenty of action, excellent plot situations, great variety of scenarios and weapons. It's an experience like none other.

For sure, one of the most entertaining games ever to grace the xbox 360 platform. I played it for many hours and kept thinking about how a Horror fan should try it.

This is exclusive for zombie cinema and zombies fanatics overall. Let this dead that rose from the grave suck out your brains!

Fun and gory as hell.

[johnnymacbest · 9/10 · 25 November 2010]

It's really refreshing sometimes to play a game that doesn't take itself too seriously nor does it provide any philosophical, deep, moral messages or even thought-provoking. What it does is entertains and sometimes that's all you want.

Inspired by the likes of the George Romero zombie flicks of yore, Dead Rising tells the tale of Frank West, a no-nonsense photographer who has landed, quite literally, into a living hell of a story. And that hell comes from the mindless hordes of zombies that seek to devour nothing but human flesh as well as generally moaning and groaning. He gets more than what he bargained for as he uncovers a conspiracy that goes far deeper than he has expected.

With that premise in mind, it's easy to see the parallels to past zombie flicks and here it works really well. The Resident Evil games without a doubt are MUCH more intense than this game, but Dead Rising spices things up by game-play variety. Not only do you get to take pictures, but you also must time them right to get the perfect shot which earns you points that level up your character. You can also take on side missions ranging from rescuing civilians and killing bosses. And man, some of the boss fights are really good and inventive with a wide assortment of lunatics to defeat and once you defeat them, you get rewards like key cards and even new weapons. Some of the weapons are really cool; especially the ones that impales zombies and have them spinning around and around are darkly humorous and you can even use a lawn mower!!! Add to the fact that you can drive vehicles to mow down zombies and you have yourself one entertaining game.

The controls are tight and sound effects are top-notch, crisp and clear. Nothing is more pleasing than bashing the living daylights out of zombies with the sound of gushing blood and it helps to have a rocking sound system that adds to the experience. And it looks really good too; with detailed graphics that are so real looking, you'll be left agape with mouth in tow. As for the story, I thought it was pretty good although it doesn't really offer anything new in terms of plot, but the character development got me invested in the proceedings as things went along. There are some hilarious moments, though not in a lighthearted sense. All in all, stellar production values make this one a treat.

However, the biggest flaw in this game is the save system. Simply put, it is not well-developed or though out in any way shape or form. You can't save anywhere nor are there any multiple save slots for saved games; I found myself very frustrated by not being able to save anywhere. There are some moments where the game saves automatically and it lessens the frustration somewhat, but the save system really sucks the life out of this otherwise stellar game. I also found it rather short. I beat it in a couple of hours which is a little disappointing but the amount of variety in zombie disposal makes up for this in some ways than one.

So is Dead Rising the best zombie game? it's quite close but Resident Evil is much better. However, If all you want is a nice, entertaining zombie game that doesn't take itself too seriously, isn't very deep and offers a variety of killing zombies, then get this game. Just don't expect Resident Evil-like quality and you're all good.

This is a very great game.

[pyro_sr · 10/10 · 26 January 2007]

I mainly wrote this to concur on what the person that hated this game. First of all to make sure that you are buying a game that you will enjoy you read every review you can. If you really didn't know this game had multi player and you bought it because you thought the game had it. Well it sucks to be you. Or if you read every review you could and still bought it even though those reviews told you again and again that there was no multi player and you were arrogant enough to buy it. WOW you are dumb. Im not saying that guy didn't know or read any thing to confirm it. But any ways your really supposed to make sure that it, or anything that you wanted to know about said game is true by reading any good trustworthy gaming site for its opinion.

I was very psyched for this game as for every person that loves the zombie genre. I mainly got my 360 for dead rising and of course halo 3. But if you were mad just because there was no multi player. You have some issues. For those blind of no multi player be ashamed very ashamed. This is a great game. Comon a whole mall full of zombies for your killing.

About that guy i mentioned if you die in the game. Pay close attention. He didn't when you die its almost like a trick question. But after you save and you go right ahead and click quit. Well good luck getting back where you were. But on the other hand some people do this as a somewhat good strategy. But most times if you really don't want to start the game again. Pay attention. And for the guy that got blown to bits by the convicts. Well seriously who would run out in the middle of zombies and very dangerous convicts with some heavy artillery. Don't go in the middle of the mall. Unless you have some spare submachine guns or shotguns. Well if he was a beginner in this game. I might feel little sympathy.But if he complains about this or in any game for general he is no gamer at all. If you wine thought every hard game you come across without any thought of beating said game you shouldn't even bother playing video games at all.

If your not a sissy and you like zombies. Buy this game.

Awesome! Best game I've seen yet!

[deadrisingrocks · 10/10 · 23 August 2006]

Dead Rising- even the name is cool. Unfortunately i haven't played it yet (Godam English release dates!!!) but what I've seen and read for the last few days have had give me and obsession for the game. Until i actually have the game there's nothing more i can say. But what I've seen it looks excellent! I thought the Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion looked good, but Dead rising seems to be my favourite 360 game so far! I like the idea of just smashing zombies apart with various weapons, or just hiding in a closet!

I have an idea what my favourite weapon already is- The Chainsaw! i just like that image of a chainsaw riping through dead flesh with its metal teeth of death!!

I've heard about a mode which offers unlimited time or something of the like. so you can just kill zombies all the time and don't have to worry about the 72 hour limit thing (i think) i believe this mode is unlocked by finding the true ending to the game, may prove challenging.

Ill post more when i play it! Cheers!

"i've covered wars, you know"

[decj-kerray · 7/10 · 27 May 2014]

zombies has always and will always be a strong and overly entertaining Genre in the video game world. games like resident evil showed us the terror of what video games can be along with many others but dead rising just shows you the sheer fun of slicing and dicing zombies.

you play as photojournalist, Frank West who, just like every paparazzi wants pictures, names, details, secrets, lies, truth etc and he will even put himself through a mall full of zombies. yes we all know the first thing that you think of but forget it. Frank West is a pretty funny character but relying on a camera and being a bit of a douche can get annoying at times. other characters you will meet are the DHS agents or psychopaths. the psychopaths are a brilliant aspect for this game because it is possibly one of the things you are going to run into most often. some of the psychos are funny, some are weird and some are just plain creepy.

this is a game that makes you work a little bit because it is like every game made, you will start out as completely nothing but the more survivors you save the more PP you will get and the more your health will go up and your speed, attack, item stock and special moves will upgrade. because you can go to your status screen you know when something is fully upgraded and when it's not so you will want to see what it is like to have all upgrades. from start of this game you only have three life bars which if you are starting from scratch will be almost impossible to beat because by the time you meet the first psychopaths (which is either Carlito, Adam the clown or the convicts)you will only have about four life bars by then and that makes this game really hard but that is what cap com does, they give you a challenge.

but the game is not all slice and dice you can rescue survivors as well as but survivors are all over the mall so you could be miles away from the security room (that you can only access through the air ducts)but escorting these survivors is one of the most annoying things to do in video game history because they are absolutely useless, you need to pretty much baby them. they won't use weapons when necessary they will stop move randomly and they will run into a crowd of zombies even if you have cleared a path for them. but if you do succeed in taking about four survivors back to the security room you will feel pretty good about yourself.

the game play itself is pretty good but it does get really annoying when you can't move while aiming. in a world where pretty much anything can be used as a weapon you can still find the time for other stuff such as changing clothes or doing survivor missions. the game has several endings and the story is broken into case files that have specific time limits. you don't need to do them but if you don't that's when you can try and save survivors because if you try and do it during story mode you need to keep track of time and you won't be able to help them if you are late for a case file but you can save survivors but i wouldn't suggest trying to save survivors on the third day while you are doing the story, because by then Zombies are shoulder to shoulder in the mall.

all and all dead rising is a very fun game, it has loads to look at and loads to find, the game play is a little stale but we forgive that when we get used to it.

awesome game

[benday990 · 10/10 · 12 April 2007]

i had an xbox 360 with several games and the whole lot got stolen. dead rising is the only one of all 5 games that i will re-buy. dead rising is truly the first next gen game and being made for hi def widescreen TV is where its all headed. i do not have a HDTV but i got over the small writing. it ain't even that small. and anyone who cannot stand the save system isn't that good a gamer because there is one in every single part of the mall. its not that hard to realise your low on health and go save. the game is awesome and its different every time making it very good game to replay. whoever it was that criticized the game because he had to restart over and over probably should get a wii because it might be easier for a one handed gamer. unless you are just plain crap at it. and the aiming is perfect, by perfect i mean if you want to aim somewhere it isn't hard to do it. i am disappointed with the people who give it a low ranking because it is a superb game, even if the story line may be boring the sheer amount of ways to kill shits all over any minor problems this game may have.

Hack'em and slash'em folks!!

[Jakethemuss · 8/10 · 5 November 2007]

Upon reading the basic plot for this genre I was intrigued, and thought how can you go wrong with a game based on a mall full of zombies with well over 150 weapons at your disposal? Upon actually playing it, I admit to being impressed as there is much to see and do in the game. It pays homage to the famous "Dawn of the Dead", but is not an exact copy, only the scenario is the same.

There are different ways to go about this game. You play as Frank West, a freelance photographer who is dropped off a small town mall on midday, and have 72 hours in the game (which translates to around 10.3 hours real time) before the chopper returns to collect you. In this time, you can either follow the story, and complete the set missions, or just go berserk with whatever weapon you can find on a mindless zombie rampage. As far as weapons go, they range from the brutal and devastating such as the small chainsaw, shotgun, katana, machine gun...to the downright useless and comical items like teddy bears water pistols, dinner plates and CD's! The more effective the weapon, the more satisfying the zombie death, ermm "re-death?" is. Alongside the vast range of weapons available, there are a series of hand to hand moves Frank can master upon levelling up. Levelling up happens when you collect enough points to progress to the next level, which is always rewarded with with an extra health bar, an extra inventory bar, or a skill. Best thing is, you can carry your skill onto the next game, so don't worry about not reaching level 50 as you can simply start again and continue building.

I find this game super addictive with massive replay value, as you can never get bored of laying into the hordes of literally never ending undead with your insane arsenal of grizzly tools. The zombies re spawn constantly and in the same numbers, so don't be shocked when you re-enter a room to find it packed wall to wall with zombies after clearing it out afew minutes before. If the walking corpses aren't enough, you have human dangers to deal with. Whether its felons tearing round on a armed jeep, a Vietnam vet with a machete, a disgruntled food store owner with a spiked shopping trolley or much worse...they are just around the corner. Survival takes a new meaning in this game, as there are very and I repeat VERY few places you can let your guard down. There are human survivors around the mall, who have to be not only located, but persuaded to come back to the security room and then escorted. Escorting survivors can be very irritating, as many are slow at moving and just run into crowds of zombies, meaning you have to keep going back to rescue them.

You are given time limits for everything; psychos, missions, survivors etc. You can easily check when the cut-off line is for each objective by checking your watch, you will need to do this in order to plan out an order of tasks, starting with most urgent.

All in all, an immersive, blood soaked, no holds barred rampage worthy of its 18 certificate. Just remember to get hold of Adam's chainsaw and the 3 books which boost its impact if you REALLY want to do some crowd controlling.

Going against the flow here, but this zombie game left me dead.

[Aaron1375 · 4/10 · 6 February 2011]

I bought this game when it first came out and never really got very far. I tried to play it again recently and now I know why, the game is incredibly difficult. The game features you as a photojournalist going to a town because he smells a story. What he finds when he arrives is a town under assault from the undead. He soon gets on the roof of a mall and then must look for survivors and uncover the truth. I would say more, but I could not get very far in this game, suffice to say anyone who can get far without becoming angry and cussing I salute you. I literally have to stop playing as it makes me so mad. The game has a good premise, as it would be a delightful game if it were simplified a bit, but to often your character is killed because of horrible controls. Right near the start you are forced to help some dude take out another guy in the food court and this gunfight was ridiculous. During said fight I kept getting messages from the janitor Otis about other missions and such while I am shooting this guy multiple times with a gun. Seriously, the zombies die if you kick a soccer ball at them, this guy withstood multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The game would be great if only they had not been so focused on all these missions, I am a person that likes to get all the stuff done so I am trying to escort two losers back to the security room and I am being attacked on all fronts by zombies, the arrow keeps leading me further into a mission, and the map is about as useless as an actual mall map. Meanwhile, I can not find a save point anywhere so I end up getting overpowered by zombies my character having consumed all the wine I had stocked up to give him health cause he kept dropping the attacking weapon and as soon as he would the wine takes its place and he drinks it and I am out a super health resource. Meanwhile, Otis the friendly janitor is telling me someone is trapped here, something strange is going on there as zombies are surrounding me on all sides. It was just maddening, I would much rather they have scaled the story back a bit, had fewer escort missions as nothing is more annoying than trying to get a non-player character somewhere and make it so you can find the way back easier and the save points too. Nothing quite so annoying as having to start all over again because they decide they do not want you to be able to save easily and make it so you have to rely on a map that sucks. They could have at least superimposed the map on the screen so you could see where the heck you were going. Had potential for me, but I just do not care for it. Like I said anyone who can play through this one is awesome.

Dead Rising. Good idea...good game

[mikeybowers999 · 9/10 · 1 September 2007]

First off, this review contains no spoilers. The game play is nice. The controls need a lot of getting used to. X will attack, hold R trigger to aim with a gun or aim to throw a mele weapon. And there are a lot of weapons. While only around 6 guns, you will find a lot of mele weapons. Around 300 actually. Its a big mall, you will be able to enter every store and take any object that isn't bolted to the ground. And you may even be able to take a few things that are bolted to the ground. The game is very very VERY gory are I could not EVER tell anyone under 17 or that has a weak stomach to ever play this game. You can take off your enemy's heads and be rewarded with a river of spurting blood everywhere. Arms,legs,eyes and guts will fly everywhere. I swear I saw brains go all over the wall after I sniped the head off a zombie. The game is on a set time limit so everyone will beat the game in the very same time. Free Roaming the mall is one the greatest video game moments ever created. The game is very fun and I would say anyone that fits the age limit or just wants to have heck of fun killing zombies should pick it up. You will not be disappointed. You should love every second of this gory,fun, action packed adventure through the shops of this mall.

It's a love/hate relationship.

[chimera-4 · 5/10 · 7 April 2007]

This game should have been so much better. Well, no, thats not really fair because actually the game has it's moments it's just a shame that it's ruined by a few niggly things that could have easily been fixed.

As mentioned by many other reviews the save system is stupid. You only get one save slot and there are no checkpoints in the game. If you spend hours on a specific mission and then screw it up then it's back to your previously saved game. Likewise if you save when there isn't enough time left to complete a case then you've buggered it again. It's ridiculously punishing and unnecessary. The game would have been fine without this stupid flaw and indeed it feels like the designers have made it this way on purpose just to p*ss gamers off.

Shooting is also not as user friendly as it should have been. You can't even strafe for crying out loud. The game gets stupidly hard later on and just becomes too frustrating to be any fun. I for one am not in the habit of shelling out cash to be frequently p*ssed off and frustrated so I am seriously thinking about trading this game in for something a little more balanced and rewarding.

You do get the odd period where you spend a little bit of enjoyable time wasting Zombies by the bucketload and you can do this without playing any of the story missions until your 72 hours are up if you want but without and end goal (other than lasting through the time limit) you'll get bored pretty quick.

Seriously, who'd have thought you could screw up a game that has zombies by the thousands, THE THOUSANDS, and a variety of weapons to match for you to take them out with.

Well done to Capcom, they did it with relish....

What a let down.

[DrGigglesX · 2/10 · 7 February 2007]

I'm sad to say, I had high hopes for this game, I mean, Capcom adapting an old horror movie plot to make a game, what could possibly go wrong? Well for starters, you have to have a HDTV to enjoy this game, as Capcom being careless put in the smallest of text, I bet though even if I had a HDTV, I don't think I could read the text it goes so fast.

I would also be able to enjoy this game if Otis didn't call like every two seconds, seriously, they let you kill everyone EXCEPT him, its like that freaking radio on Metal Gear Solid, only this happens every two seconds, and it won't stop either till you answer it, so if you're in the middle of fighting a boss, mute your TV, because if you answer, you won't be able to use any weapons, making you a sitting duck, oh and what gets me, when you hang up, he calls back, and says "Don't hang up on me like that, its rude!" well what do you expect Frank to do when hes fighting off a mall full of zombies, chainsaw wielding Clowns, Crazed Market owners chasing you down with rigged up shopping carts, when hes the one calling us distracting us, and he calls us rude?! Some of the missions are stupid, I mean really, Oh, were in a mall full of zombies, what will we do? Oh I know, lets act like we're playing Pokemon snap! Seriously, whose bright idea was that? This could've been a good game if there we're a few less annoying things, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the next Dead Rising is better, mainly for us poor people that can't afford a HDTV.

The Good: Zombies and gore, can't go wrong with that, and all of the references to other Capcom games.

The Bad: Everything else.

Overall grade: D- Final thoughts: I suddenly want to buy a Burger from Jill's sandwiches.

VERY disappointing

[kcfan-3 · 1/10 · 29 December 2006]

I bought this game today after all the hype and all the recommendations. Having just signed up to XBox Live I was looking forward not only to going through the game and having a lot of fun butchering the undead, but also to some great multiplayer action online.

The beginning is very long and drawn out, with the player given the gripping assignment of taking photographs as his first task. After a long, boring and frankly pointless introduction I found myself inside the mall, and after battling a few zombies I lost a life. I expected, as you do, to retry the mission but unfortunately the game took me right back to the beginning and I had to start all over again from scratch. I rebooted my 360 and tried to load up the game and was taken right back to the beginning once again where, of course, the player is forced to do the same old boring thing he's been doing all afternoon.

I eventually got to the stage where I had to help one of the humans in the mall avoid a mad gunman, but I found the targeting system incomprehensible. I found it impossible to set my sights on the gunman and shoot at him and, predictably, for my trouble I was shot into tiny pieces.

To cut a very long story short, this is the biggest waste of £50 I've ever spent in my entire life. NO multiplayer option to start with. The perpetual "go right back to the beginning and do it again" problem makes this a turn-off for me. I won't be playing it again. In fact, in the morning I'm taking it back to Blockbuster and trading it in for a game that is more user-friendly and doesn't make you go through the same monotonous process every time you lose a life or try to pick up where you left off.

I know, I know. I haven't gone through the whole game and experience the so-called wonderful gameplay that everybody gushes about, but frankly I don't have any desire to. A major disappointment and I truly wonder why the programmers bothered to put a useless piece of trash like this game on the market.

Regrettably, IMDb does not provide the function for its users to give a mark of zero, otherwise I would have done so. A mark of one is much too generous for this waste of time, effort and money.

Avoid. Please.