Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9016 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Capcom
• Released on: 2006-09-08
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: Xbox 360

Amazon.co.uk Review:

In a nutshell:
Freelance photographer Frank West is stuck in a shopping centre full of zombies and he’s only got 72 hours to escape. How he manages that feat is entirely up to you, with his fate, that of dozens of other survivors and a legion of the walking dead entirely in your hands.

The lowdown:
Since this is basically an unofficial video game remake of Dawn of the Dead it tries to recreate all the major elements from the movie, including scenes with hundreds of zombies on screen at once. Given free reign in the shopping centre there are 250 different objects you can use to dispatch them but in the end escape is your own really option. The question is how you manage it and whether you properly investigate what’s going, try and help other survivors or photograph their demise in an attempt to win a Pulitzer. Although helping the survivors involves some fairly dull escort mission the only real flaw is the oddly strict save system which won’t let you save more than once. It’s not nearly enough to spoil the fun of a good zombie massacre though.

Most exciting moment:
Undoubtedly the best fun in the game is, much like Grand Theft Auto, not completing the missions but just mucking around – which inevitably involves attacking zombies with everything from a lawnmower to ladies’ handbags. Doing so with a cartoon head on and a pair of hotpants raises the level of surreal fun even further.

Since you ask:
Although officially the game is nothing to do with Resident Evil, the game contains a number of sly references to the series. One of the more subtle is the sandwich bar “Jill’s Sandwiches”, named after the famously awful line of dialogue in the original Resident Evil game.

The bottom line:
An action game with zombies, weapons and options by the hundreds.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
Dead Rising follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance photojournalist on the hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to a small suburban town only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. He escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety yet it turns out to be anything but. It will be a true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, but players will have full reign of a realistic shopping centre, utilizing anything they find to fight off the flesh-hungry mob and search for the truth behind the horrendous epidemic.

Dead Rising features an open level of freedom and offers a vast array of gameplay possibilities. As part of a real time system, time is dynamic in Dead Rising, marching on whether Frank is actively engaged or if simply stationary. Time also plays a role as zombies become more powerful when the sun goes down. Though they move slowly during the day, the zombies become stronger and faster at night, making it even more dangerous for players to survive. The unprecedented numbers of enemies come in never-ending waves and consist of a diverse population of former humans that have retained some memory of their previous lives, which is reflected in their behaviour and appearance. The variety of different stores in the mall offers players an endless supply of resources including vehicles, makeshift weapons and more. Players will also encounter other survivors along the way and by helping them can acquire valuable clues as to what has happened.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
'Dead Rising' for the Xbox 360 is the game that every fan of the zombie genre, whether it be films, books or games, has been waiting for. Unfortunately it didn't live up-to it's fairly high expectations.

The main objective of the game is to remain alive inside the zombie-infested mall for at least three days, after which help will arrive. In-game time runs twelve times faster than real-time, meaning one day in-game is exactly two hours in real time. Therefore, the game is automatically ended after six hours of gameplay, when the time runs out. You control the main character, Frank West. As a photojournalist, Frank has an interest in uncovering the truth behind the zombie epidemic through unlocking a series of "case files" that build upon the previous ones and reveal the central plot as the game clock progresses. Unlocking case files is accomplished primarily by completing tasks and being in the right place at the right time in order to view a cutscene that explains more of the story. Frank also carries a camera and can earn "Prestige Points" from photographing different situations.

You also can choose to rescue other survivors within the mall and battle the many psychopaths that get in your way. With over 80 shops and endless amounts of weapons where you can use pretty much anything from tools to toys, you'd think this game would be great fun, but after a few hours the action does get very repetitive and tedious and ends up being generally quite dull.

Basically this is "Dawn of the Dead: The Game". The graphics are brilliant (some of the best on the 360, especially in HD) and the scale of the mall and it's surroundings and the large amount of zombies on the screen at one time is extremely impressive, but due to the game's terrible save system and repetitive gameplay, this game really isn't as great as it should have been. It is definitely better to rent this game as it's lasting appeal wears off fairly quickly.

Looks Fantastic, the demo on Xbox Live is brilliant
As in the previous review, Im writing this before release. However, unlike the previous review Ive actually played the demo thats available to download on Xbox Live Marketplace. As for 50 zombies on-screen at once? Don't think so...try around 100! You start the demo in the middle of the shopping mall and for as far as you can see there's zombies EVERYWHERE.

Needless to say, this is an 18-rated game and rightly so. This game is incredibly violent so if youre thinking of buying this for your kid(s), think again.

There is a story to the game but from what ive seen (and played) you can have hours of fun just mashin up the living dead. Ive never had so much fun just maiming zombies with sledgehammers, plastic garden chairs, benches, shopping trolleys, cash registers, baseball bats, brooms, buckets, potted plants....the list goes on and on and on. Practically everything you see can be picked up and used as a weapon against the dead guys and gals. You can also change your clothes (you can wear highly stretched kids clothes if you want to!), your headwear, you can even wear glasses/sunglasses if you come across the right shop.

Its not just zombies in the mall though, there are survivors as well. Do you help them or let them die? You decide. Also in the mall are psychopaths that range from masked, hooded types to people who have gone crazy.

Capcom made the Resident Evil games as well, so they have a good track record of making zombie-infested games with a storyline. The story in this game looks to follow suit (EG. conspiracy behind whats gone on). However, due to one gaming session on this game lasting only around 3 hours (3 game days), youre not actually going to be able to interact with every character or see every bit of storyline...therefore the replyability is going to be high (high replayability = value for money).

The question that has plagued this game since it was announced is 'will it get boring quickly?', personally i dont think it will. This game is VERY tongue-in-cheek, put it this way...my girlfriend likes fluffy games like Sonic, Kameo, Animal Crossing and Viva Pinata. But since she's seen me playing the demo she wants to play the full-game as well. This is a funny game, but again, very violent and graphic.

Hope this helps.

More info on the game can be found at ign.com and gamespot.com

IN MY OPINION, ONE OF THE FINEST GAMES EVER MADE, BUT!!!!
I must admit to this bieng my favorite game ever, which is not counting the next Grand Theft Auto, BUT, the only reason i liked this game so much is that i am a massive gore/zombie film fan. And one of my favorite films, if my favorite film is Dawn of the Dead, which is basically what this film was based upon, even if the creators say otherwise.
And yes, this game can be a little frustrating sometimes as there is only one save game slot, so if you dont have enough weapons to get past a boss, then your basically buggerd and will probbaly have to start the whole game again.
But this game is more about the gore than the story, as the most fun and memorable experiences youll ever get from this game are where you are basically mowing down hundreds of zombies with a chainsaw or an axe or a bowling ball.
Which brings me down to one of the best and my personal favorite feature to this game, the massive veraity of weapons you can use to dispose of a random zombie. EVERYTHING from gardening tools to leasure equipment to toy light sabres. This film is jenually incredible in terms of fun.
Its only real let down is the fact that the the foirst and main mode doesnt last very long in game hours and like i said, it cane be very annoying at times.
But thats my warning, if your not the kind of person who would find kiling endless amounts of undead people fun, then this game will not be as good as it could be.