Playing Old Games: Dead Rising

by: Ben Berry - posted: 12/29/2010 8:15:00 PM

If it's been a while since you've played the original Dead Rising, it doesn't take long to remember just how stereotypical Frank West "freelance photojournalist" comes off. When you hear him talk about himself and his career, it's a quick reminder that the destruction of zombies via all possible (and often improbable) means is the real draw with this game. Getting out of the mall in 3 days becomes a triumph of will to engage the various victims of the "Zombiepocolypse" (my wife says it's indeed one word), and save them from their own ineptitude.

You get the hang of the multitude of weapons, and it still brings a chuck the first time you bring down a crowd of zombies with a soccer ball, or cut into one with a pair of hedge clippers. In the end though, it's also a strong reminder how hard it is to do a good job translating an import game, even one that's really well made. Better dialogue and some stronger plot wording to the side missions would have made a big difference with this game. I haven't played Dead Rising 2 yet, so I'm hopefully these problems were fixed.