Dead Rising

  Zombies are arguably one of the greatest enemy types in video games. You can kill them over and over, but it will never be enough. They will find you, and when they do, you need to be ready. In Dead Rising, you’re always ready. As Frank West, you’re stuck in a mall filled with everyday items that can easily be changed into lethal weapons. For the next 72 hours, you’re stuck in this mall, with thousands of zombies and psychopaths. Dead Rising is a flawed, and sometimes frustrating game, but when your slicing the heads off swarming zombies, you won’t care.                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Pros                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

- Massive variety of weaponry, from lawn-mowers and golf clubs, to scythes and shotguns.

- Surprisingly humor-filled story that most will actually find interesting.

- Wonderful sense of style for everything in the game. For example, Rat-man is a film with advertisements that litter the mall (such as Rat-man t-shirts and weapons), and the player can even visit the restaurant “Jill’s Sandwiches”.

- Endless hordes of zombies for the player to maim, slice, slaughter, grind, smash, beat, bash, stab, hammer, thrash, whip, punish, and pretty much induce pain upon in any way they see fit.

- Senseless violence that makes for a bloody gore-filled experience. It’s intentionally over-the-top, and provides a unique experience. Definitely not for the kids.

- Photography gameplay rewards the player with Prestige Points (PP), which level up Frank’s abilities and give the player much more options

- Tons of replay-value after the game is finished the 72-hour mode (the main single-player option, which takes about seven hours to complete). After that’s done, a more challenging Overtime Mode is unlocked, which is followed by the Infinity Mode, where the only goal is to keep Frank alive.

- Great sound effects for everything in the game. It almost seems real when a lawnmower grinds dozens of zombies in its blades.

Cons

- Atrocious story structure that has a clock that runs in real-time. If you aren’t fast enough, it’s over and you can’t progress any further. This is made even worse when you discover there is only one save slot.

- Incredibly stupid AI for the human allies you must help to safety. Seriously, the freakin’ zombies are smarter than these dimwits.

- Occasional control issues arise, but, for the most part, it’s nothing to serious. 

I’m not gonna lie here. Dead Rising has some major flaws that will undoubtedly turn some people off. For everyone else, though, there’s a simple, fun sandbox game with unmatched weapon variety. Let’s hope Dead Rising 2 keeps the magic alive.