Age Rating: 18 (BBFC)
What is it?
You, evil zombies, a photographer named Frank, and a mall full of wonderful toys.
Is it fun?
Oh yes. Brilliant game, if you like a bit of zombie violence.
Is it worth £39.99?
Yes.
Normally I’d say no on principle. You can get a lot of good stuff for forty quid but in this case there’s enough replayability to justify the price tag.
Why?
Run around a mall killing zombies with everything that comes to hand. Kill a wide variety of psychopaths. Save some hapless victims on the way. Sound like fun?
Damn right.
Dead Rising is a great game. Highlights include watching zombies stagger around with traffic cones on their heads, facing off against a maniac clown and walking on the shoulders of zombies. It has well-known flaws but if you’re lucky enough to access a big HD screen then Dead Rising is bloody fantastic. Provided you get the hang of its freaky-ass save system, that is.
This needs a bit of background so: In Dead Rising there are two ways to play the game. You can go for the Truth, follow the story arc and investigate just what happened to Wilamette Parkview Mall… or you can run around for hours hitting zombies with baseball bats and saving all the survivors. If you want to do the former you need to do the casefile tasks before their timers run out. If you want save people, you have a walkie-talkie that will bleep to tell you about new survivors.
Here’s the crucial bit they left out of the manual: You CANNOT DO BOTH in a single play-through.
Dead Rising limits you to one gameplay save slot. If you’re trying to find the ‘True Ending’ it’s easy to get caught up in a survivor-scenario because the walkie-talkie is almost impossible to ignore. It bleeps constantly and the temptation is so strong to pick up a survivor that happens to be on the way to your destination. Don’t give in to it!
The single save slot means that it’s very, very easy to save the game only to find out that you haven’t enough time left to complete the next phase of the story arc. Once you’ve missed a deadline, the truth is gone and it ain’t coming back. No problem, if you’re near the beginning. Bloody outrageous if you’re halfway through the game. If you want to know the truth you’re just gonna have to play through all those case files again.
Everyone I know has been forced to kill Carlito in the food court at least three times due to this particular design feature. It’s stupidly frustrating.
All that aside, once you realise (or admit) that you can’t solve the case files and save all the survivors in the same game, the save system works very well. You can’t create multiple save files all over the place so the sense of loss when you fail to rescue a survivor is all the more palpable. When you do die, you can save your character’s state and start from the beginning with all the skills and strength that you gained previously, so it doesn’t feel like a complete waste of time.
If the thought of zombie lawn-mowing, zombie-pin bowling and zombie hedge clippers is amusing to you then buy this game. But get a HD television first.
Links:
Official Capcom Dead Rising site
Screenshots:
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:23 pm
This is one of the games that made me buy a 360 – yet I don’t own Dead Rising yet. I know I can get it for £30 at Game I think, so that’s not too bad. However, I love the idea of just wandering around smashing the zombies up, after a first play through to find the Truth.
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:08 pm
£30 at GAME? Which one? My local is still selling at £40 last I checked.
You really should get it. It’s sooooo relaxing. Escapism at its finest.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
As it turns out I did get it in the end – but from HMV – along with Test Drive Unlimited. £25 each, but only available as £50 for the pair. Both great games. I’ll tell you why Dead Rising is frustrating, and it’s the simple reason that Frank simply isn’t good enough on the first play through to actually manage the Truth Quest as I called it.
The best thing to do is to have a mess about on the first play through and basically try to level up as much as possible. On the second play through, do the same, but then let yourself die when you’re at a decent level. Then save but start a new game so your level is kept, then you should find doing the Truth Quest much easier.
It’s stupid but not too frustrating as you have fun most of the way through. However waiting for the copter even for a rubbish ending as the mall gets quiet and even the psychos leave is pretty depressing. It makes you want to see a ’speed up time’ button.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
omg. Best game EVER!
January 5th, 2008 at 3:42 am
A tip for fighting Cletus:
Ok well. Dead Rising is pretty much my favorite game at the moment. Other than Tom Clancy. Have you all gotten to the gun shop with Cletus? If you have, go get an uzi before hand. There is one in Al Fresca Plaza (Or whatever you call it). It is located in the fountain surrounded by all of the zombies. Take this uzi to Cletus` shop, (Always keep 2 cartons of OJ with you at all times!) open the doors, and fire away. He might get a couple of shots off on you but thats ok. You always have OJ.
A tip for fighting the Inmates:
You know the crazed inmates? Well, to beat them, get a katana, an uzi, the sniper rifle, or an ol` fashioned chainsaw. When they run into a tree, run at them, but dont run in a straight line. The man in the back with the .50 cal will shoot you. In order to avoid this, run in a zig-zag (Just like running away from an alligator). Once you kill the .50 cal shooter, take the gun, shoot the driver. If you succeed to get this far, and you have killed two men, kill the other one. (Common sense). And like I said earlier, TAKE 2 CARTONS OF OJ WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES.
A tip for fighting the crazy-ass clown:
Ok well, you all know what to do when a crazy-ass clown comes at you with two chainsaws, Right? Run away, and shoot like crazy. If you get this far, and he hasnt hurt you yet, take out any firearm, and shoot him. This might not succeed at the first couple of hours. If this doesnt help, run away. He will be filling up balloons once you get far away from him. Shoot these balloons. Shoot them like crazy. Once he ducks down, you will need to charge at him with some sort of blade. I chose the katana. This usually works. If you dont get him on the first couple of blows, then run back fast and keep shooting the balloons.
I will be posing some new tips some other time. If you need help on Dead Rising, notify me.
Billy_Romweber@hotmail.com
January 5th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Oh shit, I totally forgot another crutial tip.
A tip for fighting the raincoat cult:
When you see these sinister men standing in their cute lil` raincoats, you get to wondering: Geez, I hope i`m on their good side. To fight these men, you will probably be best off using a fast weapon, or a firearm. If found out that the .50 cal works the best. (You get the .50 cal off of the inmates hummer). The second best thing that works on them is probably the sniper rifle. If you are in the main plaza, or whatever you want to call it, (It has the fountains), go up on the platforms that are in the first fountain you see. You will see these platforms if you walk in STRAIGHT FROM THE COURTYARD. NO WHERE ELSE. Get up on these platforms, and aim your scope. Once you get it there, shoot away.
A tip for fighting the raincoat cult when getting caught:
Geez, the first time I got caught, I was scared shitless. But after about 2 times, I beat them all. First of all, you will need to sneak to the wall. DO NOT GO AROUND THE CORNER. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL DEFINITELY GET KILLED BEFORE READING THIS. If you get the cardboard box, pick it up, run back to your crate, and slam it to the wall. It will drop some sort of item. You will want to use that as much as you can. WHEN YOU RUN PAST THE RAINCOAT CULT, BE SURE. AND I MEAN BE SURE TO RUN TO THE RED EYE!!!!! It has a big-ass sword lying on the ground. If you use this right away, you are stupid. (I used it right away, and used its powers up. Therefore, I had to use a stepladder to kill them, and yes, im calling myself stupid). If you get to the last few and have no more weapons, no more life, and you are limping around like a wet noodle, just use the jump kick. If they get you cornered, well youre pretty much screwed. (I tried spitting on them and got stabbed. That shows my intelligence). If you manage to kill them all, you will get a passcode. Go back to your crate, turn right and you will see a door. Put the passcode into the door, and you will be in the courtyard.
Youre done!
If you need help, add my msn or just email me.
Billy_Romweber@hotmail.com
I should be able to answer your questions, knowing that im in full megaman suit with a level 56 on my head.
January 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Sweet tips. Thanks, Billy. I’ve been neglecting this game for a long time, so only just reached the part where you get captured by the raincoat cultists. Will definitely try this next time.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
i got good tips aswell like if u get to over time mode u hav to fight brock
1st hes in a tank shoot anythin he throws at u.wen the targerter on the top comes out shoot it.wen u fight him on the tank hes solid took me 3 trys to do it.this is how i did it wen hes on the top bit of the tank u go to the bottm not off it but lowa u will need the double lariat to k.o him basiclly if u do tht hes.left right goodnight!
the puffs in the coats are easy with the clever as well.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
o ye billy u lier the highest lvl is 50 i am with the real mega blaster and special 4cers cloths
and 58% of the acievments done.
o ye conatact me on ma msn as well csldm@hotmail.co.uk
March 17th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Yeah I know dead risin fan 2k8. Im a level 50 haha.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
And also, no problem Weefz. If you need any other tips, just email me or add me on msn.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 am
i got a limited edition one with assasins creed for 30quid
June 26th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Yo, this is Billy again, I neglected this game for a while.
Now I regret it. I am playing it a whole lot more.
Got some more tips for ya.
For doin the yellow jumpsuit guys, alls you gotta do is get the blue chainsaw that the clown drops. Its that easy.
To get the chainsaw, refer back to my posted tips. They make it pretty clear how to get them.
Then, theres gonna be three books.
There should be all three in the Paradise Plaza bookstores.
Alls you gotta do is pick one up, if the chainsaw has a pink book by it, then keep the book.
If it doesnt, throw it away.
Thanks everyone.
Email me if you need anything.
Billy_Romweber@hotmail.com
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
okay so what if you dont get a carboard box then what am i pretty much screwed then….