He's got an arm off!
What one common factor unites the following items? A toy lightsaber, a frying pan (pre-heated to 220°C and lightly greased), a 12-pack of cola, a park bench, a petrol engine lawn mower, a Frisbee, a mannequin, a Flying V guitar, a flat-screen television and a large blue parasol? You've probably already got the gist but I'll tell you anyway. In the last 20 minutes I have used all of the previously mentioned everyday items in my fight against the undead. Admittedly not all of them were effective in re-killing the shambling hordes but they were all, without exception, more entertaining than the slew of generic weaponry that you'll usually see the main character of a lesser title wielding.
And that's one important reason why Dead Rising is different to, and in a lot of cases, better than any other entry into the "survival horror" genre. In fact, I don't think it necessarily belongs in that category. While one of the main aims is to survive, survival in one form or another is an integral part of just about every game ever made. You don't call Mario a "survival platformer", or Gran Turismo a "survival racer" do you? No, here the spotlight is on being able to batter the ever-living hell out of your ex-human adversaries with gleeful abandon rather than conserving ammo and picking your battles in a claustrophobic environment. Likewise, while the presence of zombies firmly points towards horror, the actual tone of the game is much more Shaun, than Dawn of the Dead with the emphasis on comedy, however dark, rather than long periods of suspense followed by a moment of gut-wrenching terror. Therefore, I hereby christen this… zom-com-bat.
For the uninitiated, you play Frank West, a freelance photojournalist who has picked up a hot tip that something interesting is happening in the sleepy Colorado town of Willamette, population 53,594. You decide to charter a helicopter and take to the skies to investigate. This turns out to be the right decision, as the army have placed barricades on all the roads into the town. Very soon you start to realise that there is something very, very wrong with the inhabitants of this supposedly sedate little suburb, and after taking some snaps on your ever-ready digital camera, you ask the chopper pilot to drop you on the roof of the mall, which seems to be under siege. From here on in, you have 72 hours to find the source of the trouble.
batter the ever-living hell out of your ex-human adversaries with gleeful abandon
One thing that surprised me, and in fact worried me to a certain extent when I first heard about it is how strictly structured the story is, and how regimented your time inside Willamette mall actually is. The story itself is set over the course of 3 days, with each day in game lasting an hour of actual play time. This means that if you can get through without dying, you'll be done in a grand total of 3 hours. At least, you'll be done for the length of time it takes for you to go and get a brew on, drain the snake, and settle down for another run through. Which you will.
As structured and as rigid as the timeline is, you can choose to completely ignore the story missions, which are presented as a series of cases which span the entire 3 day period, if you so choose, however this will limit you to certain areas of the mall and therefore limit your choice of weaponry. And if you miss one, that's it, the story is over and you can just run around sending those blasted zombies back from whence they came.
Extra chores around the house...
Along with the cases, you will receive other search and rescue missions from Otis the Janitor, who is holed up in the Security office which you and the other survivors are using as a safe house. The amount of these optional tasks is such that you will never have time to complete them all in one 3 day/hour period, meaning that in order to rescue all of the potential survivors, you're going to have to go back and play it again, and again, and probably again.
Which isn't as much of a chore as it would first seem. Despite the stinginess evident in the save game system (only one save slot, forcing you to overwrite your previous save game every time), it does allow you to carry your developed character over from one game to the next. So the first time you play, you start with a weak character with no special skills and abilities, but by taking photos, completing missions and executing a selection of particularly gruesome and/or amusing kills you earn what essentially amount to experience points, allowing you to level up in a basic RPG style. As you increase in level, you get more health, strength, weapon slots and special abilities (I particularly like the disembowel and neck twist moves, which require very little explanation I'm sure.) Then, when your 3 hours are up you can start again with all the skills and benefits that you've built up.
You'll find this really helps in defeating the annoyingly frequent, and frequently awkward battles with the "psychopaths", human "boss" style enemies that crop up all over, usually at the most inconvenient times. This is the one element of the game that I will say is badly executed and the game experience as a whole would have been better without it.
put on a pink, flowery dress and feel the breeze as you decapitate, eviscerate and dismember your way through this retail nightmare
The photography aspect however, which is your main source of the "PP" (experience points) you need to increase in level, is very smoothly handled and while it may initially sit at the back of your mind with the rather large task of thinning out the ranks of flesh-eaters at the forefront, it will quickly become second nature to give the left trigger a quick squeeze and fire off another frame of photographic evidence.
Your camera is not unlimited though and you will need to replace the batteries occasionally. This isn't a problem, as you're in a mall which has several photographic stores ready and waiting for you to raid. And just in case you were wondering where I was getting all of that improvised weaponry I mentioned earlier, I got it all from other stores in the mall as well. There's no neon bubbles with an instrument of death spinning inside, and they're not placed randomly around the mall either. Everything is where you would expect it to be, so if you want a frying pan your best bet will be to try behind the counter of a restaurant, or if you want to fend off the legions of brain-hungry townspeople by throwing CDs at them, you're going to want to seek out a music store. Not everything is lethal, so don't expect a large cuddly teddy bear to do much damage. It will make you look cool though.
In addition to death-dealing devices, you can also find everything else you need to survive a zombie apocalypse at your disposal. Health is replenished by eating and drinking, a need which is amply served by the many restaurants and the supermarket, and you can even change your clothes. I recommend hunting down "Tyke 'n Tots" or "Lady About Town" for all your fashion needs. After all, undead masses are hardly going to judge you on your clothes, they just want to munch your grey matter, so you might as well take this opportunity to put on a pink, flowery dress and feel the breeze as you decapitate, eviscerate and dismember your way through this retail nightmare.
There's enough variety in the weaponry, the clothing, the environment, the story and the side missions to keep you coming back time and time again. If only to play around and find new and imaginative ways of dispatching the hordes of Hell's minions.
Review by: Iain Thomas
Review Published: 07.09.06