Dead Rising (XBOX 360)

SYNOPSIS:
Taking the role of Photojournalist Frank West, gamers are allowed to eat, shop and kill their way through the infested Willamette Mall. Players try to capture all the carnage and drama on film while guiding the remaining survivors safely through the swarm of zombies. It could take weeks to slaughter, save and uncover everything to solve this mystery. You have 72 hours.
FEATURE LIST
The list of features as supplied by the manufacturer:

* Massive Enemy Armies : Boasting over 800 characters on the screen at the same time.
* Weapons Galore : Use anything and everything to fight through the zombie horde.
* 1080i : Experience zombies like never before in 1080i
* Innovative Real-time gaming : Control Frank West in his time, wether killing zombies or helping survivors, the clock is ticking.

GRAPHICS
Dead Rising puts other 360 games to shame, by putting an obscene amount of unique characters on the screen simultaneously. With an outrageous amount of detail put in to every item, store and character, you will be hard pressed to find another game with this much personality and attention to detail.
SOUND
The soundtrack flows seamlessly with the game, putting the perfect spin on the strange and disturbing atmosphere. The sound effects are what I would imagine as realistic. How they came up with these sounds is beyond my grasp, but what they managed to do is take obscure things and make them sound flawless. I have never personally taken a bowling ball and rolled it through four hundred zombies, but now I have a good idea of what it would sound like.
GAME PLAY
Dead Rising grabs you, shakes you and won’t let you go from the moment it enters your 360. Taking the role of a photojournalist has never been so outrageous. Right at the outset, you are thrown into the mall with nothing but a map and a transceiver to communicate to Otis. As you go about your zombie slaying, Otis will periodically call you at the worst moment possible, tell you that he has found yet another survivor and that you must help. Whether you choose to help anyone is up to you, with its open ended gameplay you write the story. As you delve deeper into the game, Frank gets hell-bent on finding the cause of the outbreak, but it will be up to you to help him solve it.

Capcom’s attention to detail is amazing, not only do they give you one of the best settings to run freely around in, but they also have made the most extreme and disturbing enemies ever to grace the television screen. The zombies are great but the psychopaths are unbelievable. It doesn’t matter if they are carrying cleavers, shotguns or juggling chainsaws, each psycho has his own story and qualities that make them all worthy competitors. With such great gameplay it isn’t a surprise that the achievements are also top notch. Capcom decided to go with fifty achievements for Dead Rising with thirty of them being fun stuff to do to zombies, while the other twenty seem to be a little more obscure and skill based. This mix makes working through the achievements entertaining instead of just another Gamerscore grind.

ONLINE / MULTIPLAYER
* Longevity:

There's a nice replayability with Dead Rising due to the massive amounts of things to do in the game … you'll want to take better photographs, kill zombies in new and exciting ways using hilarious "weapons" , and really get a kick out of things you might have missed the first time around. The longevity factor of Dead Rising gets great marks for replayability

OVERALL IMPRESSION
If there is one quality that outshines all the others, it’s the originality. Capcom managed to merge together the humor of a B-rated horror film and the intensity of Resident Evil 4, making a perfect balance. Add in the freedom of Grand Theft Auto and a persona all its own, and you have one of the best 360 games to date.

I haven’t had a gaming session like this in a long time. It’s one you kick the roommates off of the TV for or call in sick to work for. BMG in no way expected Dead Rising to be this good, but it is. With the freedom to use anything as a weapon and the expandability of the story, it’s impossible to let the controller down. This game has weeks of content packed into it and after you finish the first serving there are two other unlockable modes that will keep you entertained for months and months to come. Games like this are too far and few between, so buy Dead Rising.

SYNOPSIS:

Taking the role of Photojournalist Frank West, gamers are allowed to eat, shop and kill their way through the infested Willamette Mall. Players try to capture all the carnage and drama on film while guiding the remaining survivors safely through the swarm of zombies. It could take weeks to slaughter, save and uncover everything to solve this mystery. You have 72 hours.

FEATURE LIST

The list of features as supplied by the manufacturer:

* Massive Enemy Armies : Boasting over 800 characters on the screen at the same time.
* Weapons Galore : Use anything and everything to fight through the zombie horde.
* 1080i : Experience zombies like never before in 1080i
* Innovative Real-time gaming : Control Frank West in his time, wether killing zombies or helping survivors, the clock is ticking.

GRAPHICS

Dead Rising puts other 360 games to shame, by putting an obscene amount of unique characters on the screen simultaneously. With an outrageous amount of detail put in to every item, store and character, you will be hard pressed to find another game with this much personality and attention to detail.

SOUND

The soundtrack flows seamlessly with the game, putting the perfect spin on the strange and disturbing atmosphere. The sound effects are what I would imagine as realistic. How they came up with these sounds is beyond my grasp, but what they managed to do is take obscure things and make them sound flawless. I have never personally taken a bowling ball and rolled it through four hundred zombies, but now I have a good idea of what it would sound like.

GAME PLAY

Dead Rising grabs you, shakes you and won’t let you go from the moment it enters your 360. Taking the role of a photojournalist has never been so outrageous. Right at the outset, you are thrown into the mall with nothing but a map and a transceiver to communicate to Otis. As you go about your zombie slaying, Otis will periodically call you at the worst moment possible, tell you that he has found yet another survivor and that you must help. Whether you choose to help anyone is up to you, with its open ended gameplay you write the story. As you delve deeper into the game, Frank gets hell-bent on finding the cause of the outbreak, but it will be up to you to help him solve it.

Capcom’s attention to detail is amazing, not only do they give you one of the best settings to run freely around in, but they also have made the most extreme and disturbing enemies ever to grace the television screen. The zombies are great but the psychopaths are unbelievable. It doesn’t matter if they are carrying cleavers, shotguns or juggling chainsaws, each psycho has his own story and qualities that make them all worthy competitors. With such great gameplay it isn’t a surprise that the achievements are also top notch. Capcom decided to go with fifty achievements for Dead Rising with thirty of them being fun stuff to do to zombies, while the other twenty seem to be a little more obscure and skill based. This mix makes working through the achievements entertaining instead of just another Gamerscore grind.

ONLINE / MULTIPLAYER

* Longevity:

There's a nice replayability with Dead Rising due to the massive amounts of things to do in the game … you'll want to take better photographs, kill zombies in new and exciting ways using hilarious "weapons" , and really get a kick out of things you might have missed the first time around. The longevity factor of Dead Rising gets great marks for replayability

OVERALL IMPRESSION

If there is one quality that outshines all the others, it’s the originality. Capcom managed to merge together the humor of a B-rated horror film and the intensity of Resident Evil 4, making a perfect balance. Add in the freedom of Grand Theft Auto and a persona all its own, and you have one of the best 360 games to date.

I haven’t had a gaming session like this in a long time. It’s one you kick the roommates off of the TV for or call in sick to work for. BMG in no way expected Dead Rising to be this good, but it is. With the freedom to use anything as a weapon and the expandability of the story, it’s impossible to let the controller down. This game has weeks of content packed into it and after you finish the first serving there are two other unlockable modes that will keep you entertained for months and months to come. Games like this are too far and few between, so buy Dead Rising.

Sean W. Gibson

Sean W. Gibson

Executive Editor at Gaming Illustrated
Sean Gibson has been the owner and Executive Editor of Gaming Illustrated for over nine years. He acts not only as a reviewer, previewer and interviewer for the site, but as an inspiring, all-powerful Emperor.
Sean W. Gibson

@gamingillustrat

http://t.co/PSklmHbhXL (Video Games) - We publish articles on video game news, video game reviews, interviews & previews. PC, Xbox 360, PS3 & Mobile platforms.
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Sean W. Gibson

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