Dead Rising

Reviewby Rich Hojnacki

CIS 487 Fall 06

• Developed and published by Capcom• Action game with elements from several genres

– Survival horror– Free-form “Grand Theft Auto”– Classic ‘campy’ zombie flicks– RPG-lite

• Single player• Developed for Xbox 360 platform• Requires means for a saved game• Requires display capable of 1280 x 720• Price - $59.99

• Main character is Frank West, freelance photojournalist • Small Colorado town by the name of Willamette is

quarantined by the National Guard without any explanation

• Frank West hires an independent helicopter pilot to scope out the town

• Willamette appears to be under a riot• Frank West is dropped off on a helipad at the Parkview

Mall and tells the pilot to pick him up again in exactly 72 hours

• Main storyline goal is to uncover the nature of the zombie outbreak and then escape

• Player must survive their 3 days in Parkview mall (1 real time hour = 1 day in-game).

• Player must complete ‘case files’ to receive pieces of information about the zombie outbreak

• A case file must be completed on time, or it disappears and the storyline is broken (‘bad’ ending)

• Case files occur at certain spots in the mall (not random)• Player must be at the predetermined spot, before the

time limit runs out• Case file usually involves a boss battle (psychopaths

which are not zombies) followed by a cut-scene with some info about the outbreak

• Frank’s stats are determined by his level– Max health level– Size of inventory– Ability to perform martial arts moves

• Prestige Points act as the XP– Killing a certain number of zombies (100, 500, 1000,

etc)– Leading survivors from various parts of the mall to a

safe room• Frank didn’t forget his camera!

– Earn massive prestige points for capturing interesting photos (survivor getting eaten)

• Wide array of weapons– Pipes– Boards– Sledgehammers– Lawnmowers– Chainsaws– CDs– Chairs– Firearms– Cars and trucks– Bowling balls

• Frank regains health by consuming food (food items can be mixed to produce various effects, example: zombie bait)

• Frank can wear outfits found in mall stores (yes, you can dress him up in women’s clothing)

• Free form gameplay; can go anywhere in the mall• Funky mall muzak to slaughter zombies by

• Strengths – Vast number of zombies (and methods to kill them)– “open ended”– Semi-interesting storyline

• Weaknesses– Virtually impossible to play in standard definition (480) due

to unreadable text– Forcing players to perform case files under a strict time

limit is unforgivable

• Closest genre is Action– Many more enemies than typical action game, more combat– Mostly free form, which is vastly different than most action

games

• Dead Rising is more enjoyable than the average action game for people that love horror

• Typically less intense and terrifying than a good survival horror game

• Audience is definitely 17 and older due to gore and violence

• One design mistake; total incompatibility with standard definition displays

• Improvement in several areas would be nice– More ‘side quests’– Don’t force player with strict time limits

• Worth the $60