Dead Rising

Dead Rising is a video game that consists of 5 releases
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Play as wartime photojournalist Frank West as he tries to survive a zombie invasion while trapped in the Willamette Parkview Mall in Colorado. Dispatching the undead with whatever comes to hand, Frank has 72 hours to get the story of his life.

 Initially released on the Xbox 360 in August 2006, Capcom's Dead Rising is an action-adventure game that puts players in the role of Frank West, a wartime photojournalist who has come to the town of Willamette, Colorado after receiving a tip that something was going down. That something? Zombies.

Capcom's Keiji Inafune was the project lead on Dead Rising, playing against type to some extent as he is more traditionally known for his work on the Mega Man series. Dead Rising is inspired by many zombie movies of the 1960s and '70s, such as George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. So much so, that the owners of the rights to Dawn of the Dead have since filed a lawsuit against Capcom for infringing on these copyrights. This is despite a warning label on the box, which reads "This game was not developed, approved or licensed by the owners or creators of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead".
The lawsuit was later thrown out because the similarities between Romero's movie and the game were tenuous at best (they are both set in a mall and deal with zombies). Throughout all this, Romero was oblivious to both the game and the ensuing court case and even unwittingly signed a copy of Dead Rising at an event while the case was still ongoing.

Plot & Gameplay

The core of Dead Rising's gameplay is focused on survival.
 Smile, ya know.
 Smile, ya know.

72 Hour Mode

After being dropped off by a Helicopter, Frank must stay alive for 72 hours until the pilot returns to pick him up. Until then, he can run through various missions given to him by several characters in the game, some of which lead to more information on the true nature of the zombies attacking the mall. In addition to searching for survivors and trying to stay alive, Frank will also encounter several boss characters, including humans who have suffered mental breakdowns in the face of the zombie onslaught.

The catch with this mode is that the clock is always ticking and Frank's three-day pass is constantly running out, so finding every secret in the mall and saving every civilian is something that could take several playthroughs to master. The game does give you some unlockable abilities based on your level that carry over from one attempt to the next, such as various attacks, unlocked weapons, and the size of your health meter, which make your tasks within the mall slightly easier. Frank is also armed with a camera, and, as a photojournalist, he can earn additional points by taking photos of particularly int ense, funny, or dramatic scenes. If you fail to complete the game in the allotted 72 hours or miss a mission, the game does not end, but rewards you with a "worse" ending, allowing you to play however you wish.

Overtime Mode

If the "A" ending is achieved in 72 Hour Mode, this mode is unlocked. It is simply a continuation of the 72 Hour Mode story, allowing you to fully wrap up the events of the game. You are given 24 hours to complete this, which tasks you with finding a way to turn Frank away from becoming a zombie.

Infinity Mode

After even further completing Overtime Mode, this is unlocked. The mode challenges you with staying alive as long as possible in the mall. Additionally, the catch involved is the addition of "hunger." Frank will need nourishment every now and then in the form of the mall's food to also stay alive. Get a high enough score in the form of time spent in the mall and you may just find your way up the ranks on Xbox Live.

Combat

The combat revolves around improvisational use of items found in the stores of the Willamette Parkview Mall. The mall contains a wide selection of shops which are naturally based on the kind of shops which would be found in a Mall. You can arm yourself with CD's and Instruments found in th e music shops, soccer balls and golf clubs from the sporting goods store and weights and dumbbells found at the local gym. Unlike most zombie games, s uch as Resident Evil, the take on zombies in Dead Rising is pretty comical. Placing novelty headgear on zombies will confuse and blind them, as will throwing pies and other food items at their faces. Other common weapons are toy guns that shoot foam balls at the zombies, a shower head that can be inserted into a zombies head to produce a shower of blood, or a sledge hammer capable of crushing heads with a single blow. Overall there are over 250 items wit h which the player can defend themselves against the zombie horde. Frank also features many hand to hand combat abilities. These are improved by earning experience points which are awarded to the player for completing tasks, including taking photographs. Frank's combat abilities are often based on moves seen in professional wrestling. This ranges from German suplex's to lifting a zombie high over his own head, allowing Frank to launch it at the others. These moves are learned as Frank gains levels, eventually culminating in more fanciful moves, including ripping the guts out of a zombie using your bare hands.

Weapons

With over 100 weapons to eradicate the Zombie menace Dead Rising is the only place to see a zombie die by a Mega Buster.

Downloadable Content

The Xbox 360 version of Dead Rising has several pieces of downloadable content available for free.  Each download allows access to a locker containing a new item of clothing.

Soundtrack

Most of the songs were composed by Hideki Okugawa and Marika Suzuki, but Capcom purchased the rights to use some licensed songs:
  • Gone Guru by Lifeseeker (featured during convict's battle)
  • Fly Routine by Hostile Groove (featured during Steven's supermarket battle)
  • Slave by The Evolutionaries (featured during hardware store battle)
  • On A Mission by Hostile Groove (featured during butcher battle)
  • Bored Again by Lock Jaw (featured during movie theater battle)
  • Heaven's Creeping In by Supernova Syndicate (featured during security guard battle)
  • Blame It On the Cold One by Carlton Moody (featured during the introduction movie)
  • Justified by Drea (featured during the credits)

Criticisms

While Dead Rising was fairly well received there were a good number of criticisms about the gameplay.  The largest complainant was concerning the on-screen text in the game. The text was designed to be read on HDTVs and  when the game was played on an SDTV the text was very small and hard to read. This issue was wide spread and Capcom later stated that no patch to fix the problem was coming. Another major issue that people had was that the save points in the game were hard to find and far and few in between and that there was only one available save slot. And finally, a lot of people had problems with the targeting system. The targeting system with projectile weapons and guns was very wonky and hard to aim making ranged combat very difficult in the game. Many people also argued that the achievements in the game were very difficult and not worth the effort.

The Wii Port

 Chop Till You Drop
 Chop Till You Drop
 
 In July 2008, it was announced that Dead Rising would be ported to the Wii and receive the title Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. Utilizing the Resident Evil 4 engine, the game features a new over the shoulder camera, motion controls and improvements to the structure and save system of the game, which were some of the main issues that players had with the games initial release.  As an added bonus, players can choose to play as Nathan "RAD" Spencer, from Bionic Commando.  The game was released February 27, 2009.
 
 

Controversies in Germany

In Germany, the USK (which gives games their ratings) refused to give Dead Rising any grade of rating due to the sheer amount of violence in the game. This is especially due to the amount of dismemberment in the game, which is a factor that is often required to be censored. Because Dead Rising never received a rating, the game was never allowed to be released in Germany. Selling the game in Germany is a criminal offense.

Trivia

  • The achievement Zombie Genocider states you have to kill 53,594 zombies. This number is significant as it is the exact number of residents where the game is set, Willamette, Colorado.
  • The copyright holder of both the original and remake of the Dawn of the Dead film, the MKR Group, filed a lawsuit against Capcom due to Capcom using the "survivors fighting the undead in a shopping mall" concept. The case was filed in February of 2008 and dismissed that same year. The judge presiding over the case stated idea of zombies in a shopping mall was simply "unprotectable" under copyright.

Xbox 360 Game Installation

Dead Rising requires 6.6GB of space to install on an Xbox 360 HDD.
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Dead Rising
General Information Edit
Game Name Dead Rising
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Action-Adventure
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Horror
Comedy
Sci-Fi
Original US Release Aug. 8, 2006
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Aliases DR
OFLC
OFLC: MA15+
CERO
CERO: Z
ESRB
ESRB: M
BBFC
BBFC: 18
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Transmissionary Guide
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