Review: Dead Rising

Dead Rising is the classic example of a game getting the macro right and the micro wrong. The overall concept and execution is good, maybe even great, but the overall experience is dragged down by a few frustrating design choices.

Firstly the concept of the game; you play a photojournalist who investigates a reported riot and ends up trapped in a mall full of zombies. Sound familiar? Yeah it's pretty much George Romero's Dawn of the Dead in game form. You spend the rest of the game wandering around the mall killing zombies with pretty much anything at hand while attempting to learn why the dead have risen.

The Good
The core gameplay itself is a lot of fun. The sheer quantity and variety of weapons at yur disposal is just staggering. After only a few hours with the game I've sent the dead back to hell with hockey sticks, soccer balls, lawn mowers, construction drills and potted plants. While you spend the wast majority of your time doing the same things over and over, it's got enough variety and difficulty to keep you occupied for a long time. The boss fights, mostly against psychopaths that are trapped in the mall with you, are okay, but they can be so frustratingly difficult at times that it detracts from the experience.

In a move that is either novel or stupid, Dead Rising has you playing against a time limit. After 72 hours in the game (although it comes out to 12-15 hours in actual time), regardless of whether or not you've solved the mystery, you get an ending. You're then expected to restart the game, this time with all of the skills, levels and experience you amassed the first time through the game. While it seems a bit like Capcom trying to artificially inflate how long it takes to beat the game, the system still works.

The graphics are generally spectacular. The cutscenes, rendered in real-time, look incredible, and there can be literally hundreds of enemies on screen at one time.

The Bad
As I said at the top, the big things are great, but the little things that are inexplicably screwed up really drag down the overall experience. First thing, the text in the game is so small and blurred on standard definition screens that it's almost indecipherable at times, and I sit only about 4 feet from my 25" set. The text is apparently fine on HD or widescreen TVs, but this is an inexcusable screw up on Capcom's part.

Secondly, the save system. Now I wasn't expecting Dead Rising to use Oblivion's save anywhere at anytime system, what they use is just plain stupid. You get only one save slot per profile, and the save points are few and far between. On at least 3 different occasions I accomplished something significant, but since at that point there were several hundred hungry zombies between me and the save point I died.

Third, the mission system. You recieve mission info, or 'scoops' as they are called in the game, from a janitor named Otis over a walkie talkie. What's wrong with that? Well for some reason while you're answering the damn radio you can't do anything! You can't fight, heal, open a door or even jump while listeing to Otis ramble on about getting a new ensemble in the style court. I thought the weapon-or-flashlight choice in Doom 3 was stupid, but the walkie talkie system in Dead Rising is even dumber.

The flaws in the game are small, but since those flaws so permeate every facet of the game they are magnified immesurably. Even worse these flaws could have, and should have, been identified and fixed during playtesting. A great game brought down by laziness is more of a tragedy than a mediocre game.

Overall - 3 out of 5