So, clearing through "my documents" i found a 'magazine style' review i did for English back in school like nearly 4 years ago i think!! and it made me want to go back and muck around with this game again and as it did all those years ago it never fails to put a smile on my face i don't know how i forgot how fun it was and maybe this will trigger your nostalgia to...
This is one of those games where the phrase "you really have to play it to understand" can't help but be used a lot. On paper the idea of a game that has you trapped in a mall with zombies sounds pretty sweet as it is, but in reality its soo much better then you ever imagined.
OK i just have to get this out the way before continuing, the characters are all a bit unlikeable (even the main protagonist) the controls are unusual, the text is too small and the save system is broken. This game has more design holes in it then your average collender when you sit down and think about it but while playing none of these things impair your enjoyment of the title as the gameplay and visuals are just so solid overall. For me one of the most impressive element was just how much choice it gives to you as the player, your pretty much in complete control of the story and how the game plays out, it's got replay value unparalleled to anything i've ever played, you can do the missions or you can save people OR you can kill psychos OR you can fight zombies OR simply go Achievement hunting. There's so many ways you can play it really puts most of today's games to shame with their linear levels, prescripted unchangeable storylines and inclosed gameplay.
Something else they've got spot on is the difficulty, it's never so hard that you'll want to stop but it's never so easy that it just becomes repetitive they've got it balanced just right so it's fun all the time if sometimes a little challenging. One more thing that's just a truly amazing accomplishment is how there can be soo many zombies on screen at once, you'll see hundreds of zombies stretching as far as the eye can see each moving independently and going about there own unique thing. Now to get through these hoards of the un dead your going to need some serious fire power.....or so you'd think!!
The weapon set is so diverse, being yet another area where the attention to detail has been the key area for them in development, each weapon will be used/effect on the enemy differently. Interestingly enough carrying guns isn't going to keep you alive, it's nice to see a game where you just expect it to be a normal shooter really bend the rules on how you defend yourself, the weapons also act as one of many gateways to the games underlying tone of humor as you can pick up the most stupidest things and kill with them (a plate,shower head, boomerang)
The humor i mentioned earlier makes the game stand out from the crowd on a whole different level, this is a game just meant for 'dicking about' in and you have a camera handy to snap all those comedy moments. Dead rising doesn't take itself too seriously and lets the player stray form its path and do what ever takes the players fancy, but when you do sit down and decide go for a straight run of the games story that will impress you just as much!! It's fairly well written and acted out, the objectives are fun and the whole thing is against the clock giving a sense or urgency to your actions which i expect you'd feel if a zombie outbreak really happened. Almost everything is just so well thought out, the zombies are really totally irrelevant to the game they are 'just there' as an inconvenience for you to play with if you so wish, so are the many survivors (which are an example of how not to program AI) you'll find along the way bringing out an interesting moral development of whether to help save people or just leave them to die(when you do choose to save them they repay you by being totally stupid and acting in a way as though they want to die and take you down with them)
I honestly could go on for a lot longer about this game, there's so much to say about it as there's so much to explore/do/discover in it's world. Its up there as one of my favourite games and i can't see it budging anytime soon. Any self respecting 360 owner just has to own this game let alone play it, it's a shame no online play is included but i expect you'll get so immersed in story that it won't bother you. Now all that's let to do is speculate on a sequel.
This is one of those games where the phrase "you really have to play it to understand" can't help but be used a lot. On paper the idea of a game that has you trapped in a mall with zombies sounds pretty sweet as it is, but in reality its soo much better then you ever imagined.
OK i just have to get this out the way before continuing, the characters are all a bit unlikeable (even the main protagonist) the controls are unusual, the text is too small and the save system is broken. This game has more design holes in it then your average collender when you sit down and think about it but while playing none of these things impair your enjoyment of the title as the gameplay and visuals are just so solid overall. For me one of the most impressive element was just how much choice it gives to you as the player, your pretty much in complete control of the story and how the game plays out, it's got replay value unparalleled to anything i've ever played, you can do the missions or you can save people OR you can kill psychos OR you can fight zombies OR simply go Achievement hunting. There's so many ways you can play it really puts most of today's games to shame with their linear levels, prescripted unchangeable storylines and inclosed gameplay.
Something else they've got spot on is the difficulty, it's never so hard that you'll want to stop but it's never so easy that it just becomes repetitive they've got it balanced just right so it's fun all the time if sometimes a little challenging. One more thing that's just a truly amazing accomplishment is how there can be soo many zombies on screen at once, you'll see hundreds of zombies stretching as far as the eye can see each moving independently and going about there own unique thing. Now to get through these hoards of the un dead your going to need some serious fire power.....or so you'd think!!
The weapon set is so diverse, being yet another area where the attention to detail has been the key area for them in development, each weapon will be used/effect on the enemy differently. Interestingly enough carrying guns isn't going to keep you alive, it's nice to see a game where you just expect it to be a normal shooter really bend the rules on how you defend yourself, the weapons also act as one of many gateways to the games underlying tone of humor as you can pick up the most stupidest things and kill with them (a plate,shower head, boomerang)
The humor i mentioned earlier makes the game stand out from the crowd on a whole different level, this is a game just meant for 'dicking about' in and you have a camera handy to snap all those comedy moments. Dead rising doesn't take itself too seriously and lets the player stray form its path and do what ever takes the players fancy, but when you do sit down and decide go for a straight run of the games story that will impress you just as much!! It's fairly well written and acted out, the objectives are fun and the whole thing is against the clock giving a sense or urgency to your actions which i expect you'd feel if a zombie outbreak really happened. Almost everything is just so well thought out, the zombies are really totally irrelevant to the game they are 'just there' as an inconvenience for you to play with if you so wish, so are the many survivors (which are an example of how not to program AI) you'll find along the way bringing out an interesting moral development of whether to help save people or just leave them to die(when you do choose to save them they repay you by being totally stupid and acting in a way as though they want to die and take you down with them)
I honestly could go on for a lot longer about this game, there's so much to say about it as there's so much to explore/do/discover in it's world. Its up there as one of my favourite games and i can't see it budging anytime soon. Any self respecting 360 owner just has to own this game let alone play it, it's a shame no online play is included but i expect you'll get so immersed in story that it won't bother you. Now all that's let to do is speculate on a sequel.