Dead Rising

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Dead Rising; Xbox 360
Topic Started: Dec 16 2007, 10:12 PM (110 Views)
Deleted User	Dec 16 2007, 10:12 PM Post #1
Deleted User	[size=7]DEAD RISING review by alxbly[/size] After being accused of moving away from survival horror with 2005's Resident Evil 4, Capcom decided to reinvent it in 2006. The result was Dead Rising; a combination of sandbox and survival horror gameplay, and so much more... Dead Rising is very obviously influenced by the film "Dawn of the Dead". You start off the game as a freelance journalist who is investigating unusual occurances in the town of Williamette. After photographing some very disturbing sights on route, you are dropped off on the roof of the shopping mall. A short while after you enter the mall it gets overrun by the undead. Your main task in the game is to uncover as much about the truth of this outbreak of zombies as you can, and you do this mainly by rescuing survivors and photographing "the truth" about the zombie outbreak. The mission structure is completely open; you choose who you save, you choose how you want to progress. From the start the mall is also open for you to explore, and as you progress through the game new routes are opened to the different areas. You're unlikely to get bored as the mall is huge, with hundreds of different types of stores, restaurants, even a rollercoaster. In the middle of the the mall is a huge park complete with a lake, picnic tables and a car park. But there is a downside to explorations and it's this... Almost every area is densely populated with zombies and literally hundreds of them appear on screen at once. The last generation of consoles simply couldn't have this many enemies on screen, let alone hundeds of enemies that all look this good and behave in a realistic manner (for zombies). The sheer number is frightening enough, but these zombies can move quickly when they want to and usually when you least expect it! It's here that your survival horror instinct will kick in. Until you find some good weapons it's wise to stay away from the undead hordes... That said, going on a killing spree is great fun, especially with the sheer amount of zombies and the huge variety of items that you can use as weapons. Guns do feature but the majority of the time you'll use items that you've found. This helps to conserve ammo for when you most need it... and you will need it... Potential weapons include scythes, baseball bats, nail guns, trash cans, shower heads, frying pans, giants lipsticks, CD's, cans of juice... anything you can pick up can be used to club or throw at your enemy. Because ammo for weapons can be scarce, it's often best to use makeshift weapons if you run into trouble. This way you can save ammo for your next mission. The weapons are all a pleasure to use and the guns and swords are especially messy, enabling gruesome headshots or slicing zombies into pieces! My personal favorite is the shower head, which has a great comic effect death for any zombie. Your tasks see you helping a small group of survivors and missions are radioed to you from the base of operations within the mall. The group can see what's happening in the mall with CCTV and they will contact you if they spot a survivor... or anything unusual. You can accept missions whenever you wish, but most need to be started within a specific time period after you have been contacted. You can see how much time you have left to start a mission by looking at your watch. If you leave a mission too long, the event will pass or the survivor will be eaten by zombies. There are so many missions that you simply can't complete them all in the given time, and this makes replaying the game a pleasure as you take on new tasks. The main story of the game can be experienced in one playthough, but all those side missions expand the story as well as offering unique weapons or items. During some tasks you will encounter boss characters that will need more than a few shots to take them down. The bosses are all excellent, there's plenty of them and most need to be defeated in a different way. This usually depends upon your surroundings, for example; do you take cover and shoot from a distance or do you storm in and melee them with chainsaws? Different strategies work better on some than others. Another mojor aspect of the game is photography; you must photograph as many survivors, key events and bosses as possible, and each photo contributes towards the experience you build up by killing the undead. When your experience reaches a certain point you level up and can unlock new abilities such as new melee moves, more health or the ability to run faster. Not only do you get all of this but Dead Rising also manages to throw in costume customisation, vehicles, Capcom humour and multiple endings. The few downsides of the game are that the controls can feel slightly clunky (you can't move whilst shooting, for example) and there's no multiplayer. That said, it's a really excellent game and a must for any survival horror fan. 9/10
Deleted User


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