12 years ago a videogame company by the name of Capcom released a game that practically invented the zombie horror genre. The game offered a barrage of intense gun battles, nail biting suspense and stomach churning gore to deliver an experience that game lovers around the world had never encountered before. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to Resident Evil 1. Two years later in 1998, due to the overwhelming success of the first Resident Evil they created Resident Evil 2, where a deadly virus had been unleashed in Raccoon City and you played as one of the two only known survivors. A year later they released their second sequel Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. This game gave gamers once again a new experience to be had as you were constantly chased by a giant deformed monster that could attack anytime, anywhere.
Capcom's next few forays into zombie horror weren't quite as popular with the possible exception of Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Then 5 years later they released Resident Evil 4. This revolutionized the zombie horror genre with some of the most intelligent AI ever seen in a game and as such, every survival horror lover and their dog went out to buy it.
And to this day it is said to be in most gaming magazines among the top five game's on each of the platforms it was released on. So you would assume most people loved it. Their dogs probably did too.
Their latest stab at zombie horror is Dead Rising. Dead Rising see's the player take control of dare devil journalist, Frank West, as he is flown into sleepy American town, Willamette to find out what the hell is going on and if the brutal atrocities he's been hearing about are really nothing more then riots. You get dropped on the helipad on top of the Willamette mall and Frank is given three days to survive the zombie outbreak, find out who started it and kill whoever's responsible. If I'm to be 'Frank' I'd say that Dead Risings storyline quite 'Frank'-ly has a plot that could be summed up as there is one bad guy who is hell bent on making the world suffer and when you do finally beat him some random person who looks like 'Frank'-einstein who you have never seen before comes out and says "Yeah actually it was me all along. This is entirely my fault. I did all of it. And if I had the chance, I'd do it again. Now let's rumble *****." But no, no I'm not complaining. I actually found the storyline to be quite intriguing with the occasional shocking development that really makes you want to play to the end, solve the mystery and slaughter which ever arse hole was responsible. But anyway enough about the plot, lets move on to the real reason we would play this game: to experience our own genocidal fantasies.
Dead Rising is a sand box free roaming game that takes place inside the Willamette mall. It's roughly about half the size of Acre from Assassins Creed and there are many shops and many hidden little goodies to seek out. The game's main feature I would say would be the promise of hundreds of zombies on screen at once and I must say, in this area it definitely delivers. You will be swarmed a huge hoards of zombies almost constantly that you must evade or kill to get to your destination. And I got to tell you there are a hell of a lot of ways to kill. I counted somewhere around sixty weapons and most of these are just criminally fun to use. Like, and I think everyone who has played the game will agree with me here, the lawnmower. You run this baby into a group of zombies and watch the limbs fly. You take out the majority of them and you see one zombie crawling towards you because you already taken off his legs. You roll over him and watch as his head splatter and cover Frank in blood. Then you smile with satisfaction and feel like a total bad ass. It is weapons like this as well as the chainsaw and the excavator that just make this game something else in the fun department and the gore department.
There was one thing that did piss me off and that was Otis. This burnt out old black man will call you every 2 minutes to talk about the mall or someone who's in danger or his feelings or something and once you do answer your completely vulnerable to any kind of attack. Probably the most annoying part is that if you do get grabbed while your listening to that twat rant on, your call wil be cut off. When you do eventually answer again he blames you for it. At least you got to kill him in overtime mode. That releived a lot of stress...
Most of the time you will be on foot but there are an assortment of vehicles scattered throughout the mall like the motorcycle, the truck, the car, the bike and the skateboard. They all handle pretty well and their size just allows you to clear huge paths and take out loads of zombies.
The missions are pretty much start here, go here, complete some task, kill the boss and come back. It's not as easy as it sound's though because you only have three days to get everything done and as a result you always have a time limit to get each of the story missions or "Case Files" completed. You will get the occasional break in between case files to do side quests or "scoops" as they are called here. These are missions that aren't compulsory but if you do complete them you will attain PP or prestige points. Acquire enough of these and Frank will go up a level, increasing your attack power, speed, throwing distance, total life or give you a new ability to further mutilate your enemies. The scoops usually involve escorting and saving one of the survivors but unfortunately the AI in this game is kind of dumb and your companions will often run off and attack zombies with their bare hands instead of obeying your commands.
It's a nice little touch and is helpful if you mess up your current game and have to start again as you will retain all the stats you have gained. The boss fights are ultra hard first time round and beginners will probably have to have a few tries to beat them. Put short, you probably won't finish the game first time.
The sound in the game is disturbingly realistic. The voice acting is okay for the most part but what really gets me is how authentic the weapons sound. I find myself questioning how they managed to get the sound of a fire axe cleaving through a skull or intestines being ripped out by hand so spot on. Overall the soundtrack is just awesome.
The character graphics are so-so but the gore that the game has is something else. The blood looks really, really cool and things like heads exploding and body parts flying around all look fantastic. I personally have not seen more violence in any game. Aside from possibly the manhunt games.
There isn't any online mode but there are downloadable content and leader boards. There are of course achievements and two extra modes to keep you playing: overtime mode, where you get to find out what really happened at the end and infinity mode where you just kill as much as you can and try to survive.
One of the most appealing aspects of this game is the psychological the developers have implemented. Hear me out. By making the zombies slowly shamble towards you it creates a sense of impending dread that no matter where you are, they're going to get you one way or another. This manages to really get inside your head and your constantly looking over your back to see if the horde of zombies you were running from has caught up on you.
If I'm to sum Dead Rising up I'd say it's a serial killers playground offering hundreds of ways to kill people all the while giving you missions to complete and an interesting storyline to unravel. If you were a fan of the previous resident evil games or survival horror this game is for you. It's a nice little time waster that will divert your attention until Resident Evil 5. Funny, action packed, gory, exhilarating and amusing.
Overall-9.0
And I'm so sorry for the 'Frank' puns but I just couldn't resist.
'Till next time!
Capcom's next few forays into zombie horror weren't quite as popular with the possible exception of Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Then 5 years later they released Resident Evil 4. This revolutionized the zombie horror genre with some of the most intelligent AI ever seen in a game and as such, every survival horror lover and their dog went out to buy it.
And to this day it is said to be in most gaming magazines among the top five game's on each of the platforms it was released on. So you would assume most people loved it. Their dogs probably did too.
Their latest stab at zombie horror is Dead Rising. Dead Rising see's the player take control of dare devil journalist, Frank West, as he is flown into sleepy American town, Willamette to find out what the hell is going on and if the brutal atrocities he's been hearing about are really nothing more then riots. You get dropped on the helipad on top of the Willamette mall and Frank is given three days to survive the zombie outbreak, find out who started it and kill whoever's responsible. If I'm to be 'Frank' I'd say that Dead Risings storyline quite 'Frank'-ly has a plot that could be summed up as there is one bad guy who is hell bent on making the world suffer and when you do finally beat him some random person who looks like 'Frank'-einstein who you have never seen before comes out and says "Yeah actually it was me all along. This is entirely my fault. I did all of it. And if I had the chance, I'd do it again. Now let's rumble *****." But no, no I'm not complaining. I actually found the storyline to be quite intriguing with the occasional shocking development that really makes you want to play to the end, solve the mystery and slaughter which ever arse hole was responsible. But anyway enough about the plot, lets move on to the real reason we would play this game: to experience our own genocidal fantasies.
Dead Rising is a sand box free roaming game that takes place inside the Willamette mall. It's roughly about half the size of Acre from Assassins Creed and there are many shops and many hidden little goodies to seek out. The game's main feature I would say would be the promise of hundreds of zombies on screen at once and I must say, in this area it definitely delivers. You will be swarmed a huge hoards of zombies almost constantly that you must evade or kill to get to your destination. And I got to tell you there are a hell of a lot of ways to kill. I counted somewhere around sixty weapons and most of these are just criminally fun to use. Like, and I think everyone who has played the game will agree with me here, the lawnmower. You run this baby into a group of zombies and watch the limbs fly. You take out the majority of them and you see one zombie crawling towards you because you already taken off his legs. You roll over him and watch as his head splatter and cover Frank in blood. Then you smile with satisfaction and feel like a total bad ass. It is weapons like this as well as the chainsaw and the excavator that just make this game something else in the fun department and the gore department.
There was one thing that did piss me off and that was Otis. This burnt out old black man will call you every 2 minutes to talk about the mall or someone who's in danger or his feelings or something and once you do answer your completely vulnerable to any kind of attack. Probably the most annoying part is that if you do get grabbed while your listening to that twat rant on, your call wil be cut off. When you do eventually answer again he blames you for it. At least you got to kill him in overtime mode. That releived a lot of stress...
Most of the time you will be on foot but there are an assortment of vehicles scattered throughout the mall like the motorcycle, the truck, the car, the bike and the skateboard. They all handle pretty well and their size just allows you to clear huge paths and take out loads of zombies.
The missions are pretty much start here, go here, complete some task, kill the boss and come back. It's not as easy as it sound's though because you only have three days to get everything done and as a result you always have a time limit to get each of the story missions or "Case Files" completed. You will get the occasional break in between case files to do side quests or "scoops" as they are called here. These are missions that aren't compulsory but if you do complete them you will attain PP or prestige points. Acquire enough of these and Frank will go up a level, increasing your attack power, speed, throwing distance, total life or give you a new ability to further mutilate your enemies. The scoops usually involve escorting and saving one of the survivors but unfortunately the AI in this game is kind of dumb and your companions will often run off and attack zombies with their bare hands instead of obeying your commands.
It's a nice little touch and is helpful if you mess up your current game and have to start again as you will retain all the stats you have gained. The boss fights are ultra hard first time round and beginners will probably have to have a few tries to beat them. Put short, you probably won't finish the game first time.
The sound in the game is disturbingly realistic. The voice acting is okay for the most part but what really gets me is how authentic the weapons sound. I find myself questioning how they managed to get the sound of a fire axe cleaving through a skull or intestines being ripped out by hand so spot on. Overall the soundtrack is just awesome.
The character graphics are so-so but the gore that the game has is something else. The blood looks really, really cool and things like heads exploding and body parts flying around all look fantastic. I personally have not seen more violence in any game. Aside from possibly the manhunt games.
There isn't any online mode but there are downloadable content and leader boards. There are of course achievements and two extra modes to keep you playing: overtime mode, where you get to find out what really happened at the end and infinity mode where you just kill as much as you can and try to survive.
One of the most appealing aspects of this game is the psychological the developers have implemented. Hear me out. By making the zombies slowly shamble towards you it creates a sense of impending dread that no matter where you are, they're going to get you one way or another. This manages to really get inside your head and your constantly looking over your back to see if the horde of zombies you were running from has caught up on you.
If I'm to sum Dead Rising up I'd say it's a serial killers playground offering hundreds of ways to kill people all the while giving you missions to complete and an interesting storyline to unravel. If you were a fan of the previous resident evil games or survival horror this game is for you. It's a nice little time waster that will divert your attention until Resident Evil 5. Funny, action packed, gory, exhilarating and amusing.
Overall-9.0
And I'm so sorry for the 'Frank' puns but I just couldn't resist.
'Till next time!
