Dead Rising is a game I’d been wanting to check out for a while, and I wasn’t disappointed

There’s…a lot to unpack with Dead Rising

The game features journalist Frank West-he’s insane; upon hearing of a zombie outbreak in a Colorado city, he has a chopper land him on the roof of the city mall, to pick him back up in 72 hours

He’s most preoccupied with getting good photos, than trying to save survivors

The mall has numerous mechanics; the player is free to explore all the different stores, picking up different objects that can be used to kill the zombies

All of the items have different pros and cons-
Weaker objects can be kept in inventory
Large sticks can break easily
Big objects pack a punch but slow you down
Guns can only be fired standing still
Chainsaws can’t kill in one hit
Even cars eventually run out of gas

Frank can also whip his camera out and photograph the zombies, different actions, closeups, and tons of zombies in a picture can get you more points a la Pokemon Snap

Good pictures and murdering zombies gives you experience points, which improve stats such as health

The game can be saved in bathrooms, and Frank has to find food to replenish energy and change camera batteries

Secret objects like skateboards can speed up walking distance but are fragile

Dead Rising is mainly a nonlinear sandbox, but there are objectives to complete

The player can explore anywhere from the start, but this is generally unintuitive

The different areas of the mall are split between a large plaza, which is mobbed with zombies; it’s possible to escape them, but between large walking distances and hostile NPCs; it’s best to try to get to quests

Frank can help survivors and unlock shortcuts by finding keys, he can also mess around dressing up and skateboarding

Dead Rising is pretty difficult; the zombies can be stunned but still drain health, and save points are pretty far between

The game’s open-ended scope is fantastic and it’s a fun game to mess around in, with crazy characters and crazy action

I love the game’s creativity, it’s a very surreal game, with a unique setting, games with suburban settings are an interesting concept, making up gameplay from everyday objects, and the mall is so highly detailed

In terms of graphics, Dead Rising was a very early Xbox 360 game, while it makes good use of the technology with the multitude of zombie models and objects, the game certainly has uncanny character models and noisy textures, but here’s the thing-due to the mall setting, the game forgoes the brown visual style prevalent at the time for a more bright and colourful style that actually still looks pretty good

Overall, I recommend

Reviewed on Jan 01, 2023


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