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				Graphics: 8.5 Gameplay: 7.5 Sound: 9.0 Control: 8.0 Replay Value: 8.0 Rating: 8.0 Publisher:  Capcom Developer:  Capcom Number Of Players:  1 Cheats Screenshots
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  Capcom’s Dead Rising is the stuff of nightmares, not only because of its creepy zombie-themed gameplay but also because of its frustrating design and low margin for error. The game requires more of a commitment than many will be willing to make, but the humor and semi-sandboxy action partially redeem it.

  The story

  Dead Rising has one of the richer stories among recent Xbox 360 releases. You are Frank West, a big lug of a freelance photographer who’s gotten word that something strange is happening in Willamette, Colo., which has been quarantined by military personnel. After shooting some aerial photos of the strange goings-on below, you have your chartered helicopter drop you atop a suburban shopping mall that has been infested with zombies, and you have three days to figure out what’s behind the attack. (The zombies-in-a-mall metaphor is not new; the game includes a disclaimer that it was not based on George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. It may, however, be based on my experience Christmas shopping last year.)

  During your three days in the mall, you’ll fight zombies, attempt to rescue and escort survivors and defeat human “psychopath” bosses in an effort to solve the mystery of the zombies and get an exclusive story. The mall environment is rich with weapons, food and goofy clothing that keeps the story from slipping into deadly serious survival horror territory a la Capcom’s other zombie series, Resident Evil.

  Gameplay

  Dead Rising is not for casual gamers and doesn’t lend itself to picking up and playing for a few minutes at a time. Despite the developers’ boasts of an open-ended exploratory experience, you will not complete the game successfully if you don’t stay on a fairly tight schedule.

  The game is mission-based, and Frank moves from one “case” to another to get closer to the truth. Between or even during missions, Frank can take side missions from Otis, the mall’s janitor, who keeps him informed of events via a walkie-talkie. The side missions are optional, though, and mostly involve getting survivors back to the security room used as a base. That’s a good thing, because Otis’ calls come at fairly inopportune times, and Frank can’t fight zombies and talk on the phone at the same time.

  The main obstacle to completing your missions: hordes and hordes of the walking undead. Luckily they don’t move very quickly and aren’t especially aggressive. While some players may enjoy splattering as many zombies as possible, they’re really best avoided. They exist more as an annoyance than real “enemies,” since the bosses in the game are humans who’ve cracked under the strain of the zombie attack. As long as you don’t allow yourself to get too outnumbered, the zombies aren’t much of a threat.

  But if you’re just into re-killing the undead, there’s plenty lying around to help you. Many items in the mall can be improvised weapons, from the usual suspects like baseball bats, swords and lead pipes to the not-so-obvious, like mannequins, large parasols and potted plants. You can even handicap the zombies by slapping traffic cones or large full head masks on them. The only thing dumber than a zombie is one blinded by a huge toy horse’s head.

  You can restore your health with the multiple food items available in the food court or grocery store, and certain combinations of foods give Frank special powers like super-speed. Books throughout the mall also enhance Frank’s abilities or the effectiveness of his weapons.

  Last but not least, Frank can change clothes in the many clothing stores throughout the mall, and he is not picky. For much of my time playing, Frank ran around in a small child’s shorts and t-shirt, his hairy belly on display for all. He’s also not opposed to a feminine yet tasteful women’s business suit and makeup. Frank West is truly a sensitive, New Age man.

  Rescuing survivors and taking high-value pictures of brutal, dramatic or erotic scenes earn you “prestige points,” and prestige points add up to increase killing efficiency and endurance and a larger inventory of weapons.

  There are multiple “endings” to the game, but only by completing the missions on time will you earn “overtime mode,” which gets you to the one true ending of the game. Beating overtime mode opens other game modes as well, such as a survival mode that consists only of staying alive and one step ahead of the zombie hordes.

  Beware the save system – or lack of it

  Because of some breathtakingly bad (but apparently intentional) design, it’s far too easy to lose all your progress in this game and get kicked back to the beginning to start all over, albeit with all the points you had the last time you left the game.

  I played the game for about an hour and a half and leveled up to Level 2, and then I saved my game in the bathroom, one of the only physical locations on the huge map where you can save your progress. I played a little while longer and was killed in the movie theater. At that point I was given the choice to load the game or to save my status and quit. Because I’d had enough at that point, I chose the latter.

  The next time I booted up the game, I had my level and my points, but I was right back in the helicopter where I’d started the game previously.

  There are some players who actually do this deliberately in order to earn points to level up and improve Frank’s speed and stamina for the missions, but it should be made far more clear that this will happen if one chooses to quit after dying.

  In fact, the only way to quit the game in the traditional way without losing progress is to find a save point (a restroom or a security area) and then use the guide button to go to the dashboard. This is the only game I’ve ever played that required a workaround just to get out of it. If you quit immediately after dying, your latest save dies with you.

  It would be slightly less annoying if you weren’t forced to play the introductory shooting-pictures-from-the-helicopter mission every time you restart. It takes an awful long time, and a lot of cutscenes, to get into the game proper.

  On the bright side, Frank starts the game pretty weak and would have little change of accomplishing more than a couple of missions without leveling up anyway. You really need to be at Level 10 or so to have much hope of bashing your way out of the occasional unavoidable zombie horde you’ll encounter.

  Annoying controls

  Dead Rising’s control layout isn’t intuitive and takes a good deal of practice before it becomes natural. Frank doesn’t attack with either of the triggers; the “X” button attacks. The left trigger aims Frank’s camera, and the right trigger aims guns and throwing weapons. The “B” button operates doors and picks up items. The “A” button is for jumping. The analog sticks control Frank’s movement and the game camera.

  The shoulder buttons cycle through Frank’s available weapons. The D-pad pulls up the Frank’s watch (you’re always on a timer, remember) and mission objectives. Combinations of the left stick and the face buttons execute special moves that Frank learns as he levels up, but most of them are too complicated to be worth the effort.

  One buggy annoyance is the aiming system. If Frank is facing an enemy, he should be able to aim at that enemy instantly with either of the triggers. However, often when aiming, you will be facing the wrong way entirely, wasting precious seconds trying to find your target. This can often mean the difference between a successful takedown and having your brains served as a zombie mid-afternoon snack.

  Well-done graphics and sound

  Dead Rising is not stunningly beautiful, but it does a good job of evoking an abandoned shopping mall. The environments look reasonably true to life rather than cartoony, and they are huge. The mall itself must be a couple of miles around, so it was obviously a lot of work to fill it with stores containing useful items.

  Character faces are a little out of proportion, but movement is very realistic, as though Capcom put a lot of actors through extensive motion-capture. The attention to realism is especially evident in cutscenes, which are almost cinematic. Capcom also paid attention to little details, like what Frank is wearing. Cutscenes render Frank with whatever outfit he had on during the previous in-game action.

  The zombies look a bit same-y after a while. It’s hard to tell how many separate character models Capcom bothered with for the zombies, but with a couple hundred on screen at any given time, you’re going to see sets of triplets frequently.

  Speaking of zombies on the screen, there’s a lot of pop-in of zombies and scenery in the larger environments, like the large park situated in the center of the circular mall. All too frequently, you’ll choose a route you believe will be smooth sailing only to have a large group of zombies pop into view like a heat mirage as you get closer. Even with the processing power of the 360, apparently it was too difficult for Capcom to get a longer draw distance on large groups of zombies.

  The game is optimized for wide-screen HD displays; apparently there have been a lot of complaints from consumers with SD televisions who have trouble reading text on the screen.

  That text is pretty critical, because most of the “conversations” you’ll have with NPCs are, inexplicably, text-based instead of spoken. It’s unclear why Capcom chose to go this route, but it’s a shame, because the voice acting in the game is uniformly excellent in the cutscenes.

  Sound effects are varied and effective as well. Let’s face it – a lead pipe to a zombified skull is going to sound different than a baseball bat, and you can hear the difference in the game. The surround effects help you avoid the moaning, hissing zombies sneaking up on you.

  Tons of replay – like you have a choice?

  If you try to perform every main and side mission in the game, Dead Rising will keep you busier than a one-armed paper-hanger. You’ll have to replay it in order to do everything and perhaps even to get to the one “correct” ending.

  That’s no small task. Five minutes of real time equals an hour in game time, and you only have 72 game hours to finish all the missions. So each time through the game will take about six hours minimum. There’s a lot of game here for the money; it’s just too bad that the replay value comes at least partly from poor design.

  The bottom line

  Dead Rising truly is a mixed bag. It’s obvious a lot of thought and care went into every element of its design, from the graphics to the story to the structure. But it’s really only suitable for the hardest of hard-core gamers who don’t mind a punishing initiation and a lot of trial and error with a character that’s no match for the game before some serious leveling up.

  And here’s hoping the inevitable sequel will incorporate Live play – having some buddies alongside to help you plow through zombies or accomplish multiple missions simultaneously would be quite a hoot.

  Until then, it’s just you, an underpowered character and a long, hard slog. Good luck. As a good friend of mine says, “Brains -- it’s what’s for dinner.”

9/12/2006  Tracey 'Jerri Blank' McCartney