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Outstanding concept hampered by technical flaws.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: September 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game, make no mistake about it. A GTA-style "sandbox" game, only set in a mall during a zombie outbreak. Anyone who's a fan of Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD owes it to themselves to get this game.

That said, there is a serious technical issue with this game on standard definition TVs. The mission text you are given throughout the game is tiny and blurry, making it all but unreadable. That means you'll go through most of the game with no clear idea of where to go or what to do. this is a real shame, because just about everything else in this game is executed flawlessly. Buyer beware.

HDTV = REQUIRED

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I really want to love this game. It has everything that I like in a title. However, I don't have an HDTV and after a little while it becomes almost unplayable. There are many who would argue that the gameplay doesn't rely on being able to read the text, and that is true. However, there is only so much zombie smashing that you can do before you need a break. I would like to take the missions as a break, but I can't because I can't read the text. Also, this game gets really hard in places, like unmanageably hard. I don't know how anyone is able to rescue any survivors from the other mall sections while the guys in the jeep are out there, and killing them isn't anywhere as easy as the online guides lead you to believe.
Not the the weak of heart, the weak of stomach, or the weak of pocketbook.

Do NOT buy this unless you've got an HDTV and plenty of patience!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: January 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

With the popularity of zombie movies lately, I'm not sure why this type of game hasn't been done before. The premise sounds fun, and it can be at times. However, there are numerous glaringly obvious design flaws that completely ruin this game to the point that many will find it unplayable.

First off, THE IN-GAME TEXT IS TOTALLY UNREADABLE. The font size is so ludicrously small, it is unintelligible. And this is on a 27 inch tv. With my face pressed against the screen. Do yourself a favor, and do not buy this game unless you have a big screen HDTV. What's sad is how easily this could be remedied: increase the font size with a patch. How did this get through Quality Assurance, Capcom?

The killer of this game is that it is just plain frustrating. You will need the patience of a saint to not spike your 360 controller in utter disgust at times. It's been harped on in all the reviews I've read, but the save system really is inexcusable. There is only one save spot, and you can only save in very rare places. The save system purposefully makes the game arbitrarily hard, and it winds up being tedious and infuriating. On top of that, there is also no way to change the difficulty level, and this is an extremely difficult game by default.

Don't buy this game to show off your Xbox 360. The GRAPHICS really are lackluster; this game could easily have been released to the original Xbox. I would put the graphics on par with Max Payne.

The CONTROLS are servicable, but quite weak. For instance, just to fire my gun at an enemy, I have to hold left trigger to go into first person mode, then aim with the left stick, then press X to fire. It would be nice to be able to run and shoot with some degree of accuracy. Even Grand Theft Auto 3 allowed you to lock on to a target. The controls are definitely clunky.

You should also know that the game is excessively gory. There's the obvious you would expect: you can kill zombies in any way imaginable, including running them down with a lawn mower, or decapiting them with a sickle. However, there's some over-the-top graphic violence, such as a person committing suicide and another scene with a seriously demented clown and some chainsaws. The human villians in the game are referred to as "psychopaths" for a reason. I seriously would not allow my children to play this game. On top of that, you'll be tasked with photographing all the copious gore for more points. Just prepare to be shocked.

Excellent, excellent, excellent...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: February 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

OK, so you're stuck in a mall for 72 hours surrounded by thousands of zombies and more weapons than you can possibly imagine - what's not to like? Well, other than being stuck in a mall for 72 hours.

This is an excellent XBox 360 game. It's not easy; it's not perfect and can be frustrating, but the shear depth of the action and characters makes up for any flaws. This game is a bit like Grand Theft Auto, on steroids, with zombies... And any game where you can "mow down" dozens of zombies with a lawn mower (or chainsaw, or hedge trimmers, or a cactus, or...) is worth the price of admission.

Zombified

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 16
Date: December 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I just got a copy of Dead Rising. Now I know how much I don't particularly dig zombie games. This one has a decent premise, and it reminds me very much of one of those zombies at the mall movies. The execution is fairly decent for a third person romp & stomp, with control that feels roughly like GTA. But it just doesn't quite cut it for me. I'm sending it back. This is the second ever photographer-hero game I've ever played. The first one was on Nintendo with those Pikachu characters, remember them? You get points for taking cool pictures of the action in the game. With zombie violence, it's a bit voyeuristic, and considering the clumsiness I felt with these controls, I lost interest is trying to score big with it. The hero runs like he has bad knees and the gun has no reticle. It's rather cool that you can pickup objects like steel bookshelves and cash registers to beat upside the heads of your pursuers, but it gets tired. I got two miserable achievements and it's back into the orange envelope. Nice try guys.

Great premise done the Xbox way

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: September 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Amazing idea for a game and something I've been waiting for. The graphics are cool, the environment cool but the controls are ridiculous. It's a difficult game to play. Maybe number two will be better and not. . . number two.

Pokes fun at Resident Evil - a very good game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: September 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Dead Rising brings to mind memories of other ambitious games that tried to expand the survival-horror genre (like Blue Stinger on Dreamcast back in the day). It has all the hallmarks -- new play styles, a decidedly different pace from the Resident Evil franchise, and (in theory at least) next-generation graphics. And while it suffers from some typical early-generation pitfalls, it's a feverishly inventive game that triumphs over the very shortcomings that threaten to hold it back.
Those missteps are immediately evident in the uneven visuals. For example, there's nothing particularly bad about any of the character models, but they don't really look next-gen. Yes, they sport higher polygon counts, but you get the feeling that that you're looking at characters for the Xbox 1.5 more than for the 360. The flip side is that you're seeing dozens and dozens more of these NPCs and monsters onscreen than you would on any other hardware platform. Still, with the exception of the highly detailed cut-scenes, it comes off as a bit too sanitary. The too-clean objects against the expansive backgrounds lack the visual impact of, say, Resident Evil 4.

The odd game structure leads to more head-scratching moments. Dead Rising takes place in "real time," but not really. Playing as Frank West, you plough through "case files" (read: chapters) while meeting certain primary goals, with optional side missions. While this sounds fine in theory, in actual practice, Frank (who levels up as if in an RPG or action-RPG) is rarely suited to the task the first time around. Probably not coincidentally, Dead Rising follows a structure much like Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (a few Dragon Quarter dev team members are on Dead Rising's team). It intends for you to replay each chapter, while retaining the experience, stat boosts and attacks learned in preceding playthroughs. Clearing the first chapter, for example, is much easier the third time through: Not only do you know where to go and what you can do, but you have a stronger attack rating, faster speed, a bigger life bar, an expanded item inventory, and a longer throw distance.

An awkard save system bogs down your progress more than the repetitious play. You have the limited options of either save points, or recording your statistical progress and restarting the level entirely. It feels like an artificial way for the dev team to extend the replay value of the game, but when you have as large a playing field as Dead Rising provides, you begin to appreciate the method behind Capcom's madness. Take the initial shopping mall setting as a fine example of just how easy it is to find yourself waylaid by the game's endless invention. The languid halls of the Willamette Parkview Mall stretch on seemingly forever, filled to capacity with movie theaters, food courts, bookstores, lingerie shops, toy stores, music shops, sporting goods merchants, and pretty much anything you can think of that would appear in a mall. Now consider that each one of these stores contains a weapon, food item, instruction manual (to help you learn new moves), or clothing item.

Whether you utilize a coat hanger, baseball bat, guitar, mannequin, lawn mower, or Servbot head (of Mega Man fame) as a weapon, the results are almost always entertaining. Every item has its own animation and style of attack. While you may bludgeon a sole zombie with a park bench and its corresponding single slow attack, you'll find that a guitar not only has a space-clearing 360-degree arc, but that it hits multiple times. Then, while you may expect a mild result from clubbing a zombie over the brain with a giant yellow Servbot head, you might just laugh out loud when you unexpectedly plant the foamy object on a zombie's head, which renders it harmless, content to walk into walls as if blind, deaf, and dumb.

One of the best things Dead Rising has going for it is its sense of humor. While the setting and consequences of Dead Rising are dire, the characters are caricatures, and the development team took every opportunity to mix hysterics in with the hysteria. When Frank runs out of weapons or ammo, pulling the camera in to over-the-shoulder shooting mode (RE4 style) while pressing the attack button will cause him to hawk loogies at incoming zombies. It's such a laughable and pathetic move when you first see it; it's amazing that the developers saw fit to let you spit in this game. But it's even more surprising when you eventually discover a smoothie you can whip up in the food court from found ingredients lets you turn that goober into one of the game's most powerful attacks.

It's also ironic that this Capcom survival-horror game, one that doesn't take itself too seriously, features some spot-on voice acting (as opposed to that of more serious efforts like the early Resident Evil games, where the voiceovers have been inconsistent at best). Listening to Frank speak doesn't make you want to skip cut-scenes, and instead encourages you to watch them in their entirety. Even obvious caricatures, like one old lady in the beginning of the game who is intent on saving her demonic-looking poodle, have competent voices behind them, making them all the more believable. One thing to watch out for, though, is the subtitles, which look fine when viewed on an HDTV or VGA monitor, but are practically unreadable on a regular television.

The controls are customizable depending on your camera-swiveling preference, and are generally responsive, as is befitting an action-adventure that's more free-form than Resident Evil. But less agile gamers should keep in mind that the standard third-person controls give way to a new set of controls when you go into photo mode and shooting mode. And then there are the other controls for things like cycling through items, using items, picking up items, dropping items, checking-your-watch-then-picking-up-the-item-you-dropped (because-you-checked-your-watch), and so forth. Simply put: Dead Rising has a lot of commands. Not so many that it's unplayable, but it's occasionally counterintuitive, and certainly enough to keep you busy at all times, especially with hordes of zombies closing in.

The end result is a relentlessly inventive game worth the price of entry. With more than enough first-person shooters, racing games, and other cookie-cutter filler swamping the 360, it's encouraging to see such an original title land on the system. The experience is flawed -- some might say hampered -- by the save system and curiously designed game structure. But whether you 'get it' or not, Dead Rising nevertheless provides a wealth of secrets and mysteries for both eager gamers and the adventuresome. With each repeated play through a stage, Frank becomes stronger, better able to uncover the mysteries behind this allegorical horror adventure (we'll let you discover what really makes zombies zombies), and the experience becomes richer for it. While there's plenty of room for polish and finesse in future iterations, no hardcore gamer should miss the wholly unique experience provided in Dead Rising's debut.

FRUSTRATING

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: February 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is probably one of the most brilliantly conceived but horribly designed games I've ever played. Whoever created this game was either out of his mind or a masochist. I've been gaming for about 25 years now and I don't think I've ever been more frustrated by a game. Try leading a bunch of "survivors" back to safety and then tell me about frustration. The save system is a joke. The game is challenging enough .. the save system is overkill.

For me .. it was too frustrating. And it has nothing to do with skill. It's luck. Having the imbecile "survivors" live .. is luck. Sorry .. pass.

When there is no more room in Hell the Dead will go to the Mall!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: October 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

WARNING: Before consumers buy Next GEN Hardware (XBox360 & PS3) You must have a HD Tv or you will not get the best out of these Consoles

Dead Rising should do for the XBox360 what GTA3 Did for the PS2

I've been playing video games for 22years and this title is A Game masterpeace!
At 1st Glance you'd think it was a Complete Rip-off of George A. Romero's Classic Dawn of the Dead but, it's a Homage to that Film! It's Beyond deep & smart It should make Romero Proud that his Vision has Lived on in so many forms of media.
Capcom breaks all it's past Glory with this game
It's running on the Havok Engine so the Rag doll Phisics look so slick when you Chop your way thru a Huge Mall with 100's of Zombies comming at you! along with a Cast of Oddballs & citizen who need to be accompanied to safety. Everything can be used as some form of weapon.
It's a sand box game like the GTA Games so you can play the game any way you want to? You have 72hours to uncover the truth and save the Survivor of the Undead town and be the number one Hero
It looks it's best on a HDTV 1080i
Reply Value High 9.8/10

More than EATS the eye

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: August 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Great potential that goes to the dump. Out of the big titles that were coming out this summer, I think I was most excited for this to come. To start off the (online) feature shouldn't count because all it is a meter to gauge who wasted the most time on this game. Good job #1 it just shows that you have no life. For playing there are not too many options. Uh well there are no options. You tasked yourself to seeking the truth about a town that becomes a town populated with zombies (oh sorry that was a spoiler). It does have an interesting plot, but if you seen a zombie movie you might as well seen them all, and this game has no difference. It's a resident evil meets pokemon snap. The game is fun for the first hour as you ignore the helpless idiots that can't help themselves to safety. There are several items to use against the zombies and you will eventually find what works for you. There is going to be several times that you are going to be tempted to throw the controller but you remember that the controllers are not cheap. One of the most annoying things that I found about the game is your inventory. At the top of the screen you have items such as a pistol, baseball bat, and an apple. When you are swinging away at the zombies with your bat you have a limited amount of times you can use an item, but if you are swinging fanatically you might use your health, and shoot your gun unwantingly. Also the people that you save are about retarded, you call for them and kill the surrounding zombies so they are not harmed but you have to indulge in a conversation first for them to go anywhere with you. The villians are about as stupid as the zombies. I also hate some of the weapon comparisons. I gave 3 direct hits to a bad guy with a sledge hammer and he buttstrocked me and I died. Oh well, I would say rent this game, don't buy like I did. I lost intrest in the game really fast, more frustration then pleasure. You might think the game is as corny as my title.

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