Frustrated at the tiny text on my standard television set, I initially shelved Capcom’s Dead Rising in 2006. A year later, equipped with a forty-some inch HD set, I tackled the dead, saved survivors, took some pictures, and finally knew what the hell I was doing. Dead Rising grabbed the consumer and screamed “HIGH DEF GAMING IS THE ONLY WAY TO PLAY!”

Set up like a George Romero film, your character, photojournalist Frank West, finds himself trapped in a zombie-infested mall. Your task is to stay alive and, as any journalist would, discover the truth behind the zombie invasion. The appeal, for most players, was that virtually any object in the environment was a potential weapon against the walking corpses. From baseball bats to bowling balls, Frank’s zombie slaughter could be endless fun.

The weapons of the game are scattered throughout the inside and outside of the mall. Much of the time spent in Dead Rising will be using a variety of items to kill your zombie friends. From popping heads off with a scythe or sending bodies flying with a 2×4, you’ll notice that the weapons will deteriorate in time and fall apart switching your weapon to the next one in your reserve.

Several things might put off a player when they first attempt Dead Rising. As mentioned in the introduction, the words are TINY. Even on an HD set, one might have difficulties reading the mission and side-quest texts. The other big turn-off players have with this game is the save system. Not only are the save points few and far between, you can only have one save per profile forcing you to take some sort of responsibility for your actions and decisions. God, this is a game, right?

The main task of the game is to survive seventy-two hours. Though many sidequests and storyline quests are present, they are not required to “beat” the game. These quests include escorting survivors and dealing with psychopaths, who end up being the storyline bosses. If you die you can choose to start from your last save or start over keeping your stats. Choose wisely…decisions are final.

Other than living, Dead Rising is full of fun activities. For one, mall shopping is an interesting diversion from the zombie killing. Shopping for new clothes, costumes, new weapons, and food bring about the awesomeness that comes from having the setting in a mall. Another aspect of the game that was exciting for me was photography. Frank gains experience, thus increasing offensive and defensive abilities, by taking pictures. The worth of the picture is determined by the subject matter and quality of the picture.

Dead Rising was my first now-generation disappointment, but, with the right television and the acceptance that this is more than a game (my choices MATTER dammit) it was also my first gaming experience that was more than a graphical upgrade of a PS2/XBox/Gamecube game. This was what it was like to be gaming in the next-gen.

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Tags: Dead Rising, Spawn Kill Favorites, Xbox 360, Zombies

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Editorials, Spawn Kill Favorites, Xbox 360. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.