With two huge titles in the form of Dead Rising 4 and Resident Evil 7 due in the coming months, Capcom have dedicated much of 2016 to polishing up some of their most popular past franchises, before throwing them in the direction of the current gen platforms. With several Resident Evil releases now out of the bag, Capcom wasted no time in ensuring the remainder of 2016 was focused on its zombie infested Dead Rising series, with a nice HD remaster of a game that promises to be in no way related to George A. Romeros’s Dawn of the Dead.
Dead Rising originally arrived on consoles back in 2006 to a good reception, with many praising the game for its then-revolutionary feature of hundreds of onscreen enemies at any one time, as well as the comedic and wacky approach to a zombie apocalypse. The game takes place inside a mall within the sleepy fictional town of Willamette, Colorado with players taking on the role of smart-talking freelance photojournalist Frank West, who arrives at Willamette on the back of a tip off that something big is going down. With his life spent covering wars and atrocities up to this point, and his arrival greeted with the immediate opportunity to snap some colourful shots of the dreaded undead apocalypse, Franks decision to stay around for a few days in order to get his big story is how players start the game.
From here on out players have three (in game) days to work through the various story missions, before the chartered helicopter that dropped Frank off returns to get him out of there. After meeting some of the game’s main characters, players set off on a number of various cases in order to track down the guy that caused the outbreak in the first place. Whilst the vast majority of the game is indeed set in a linear fashion, with players required to complete cases in order to continue progression, there is certainly a number of things to do throughout.
After all, with an entire mall full of zombies to run around in, you can’t expect an easy ride and that’s where the majority of the side missions and main cases come in, seeing the player receiving calls to alert them of survivors who need saving. And with main cases taking place at certain times, any time left between can be spent doing anything you so wish. Whether it’s guiding the survivors to the safety of the security room or pummelling one of the many bosses with sickles and lawnmowers, Dead Rising certainly has enough to keep you occupied at all times.
With several different endings to the game available depending on how you play, should you wish to run around the mall slicing and dicing your way through the hungry hordes then so be it. But with very specific requirements for each of the many endings, this is a title that won’t be done the first time you reach the helipad.
Whilst that all sounds like the perfect zombie game, Dead Rising is certainly a game that holds a few issues. Whilst the real time strategy of the whole story is a nice idea, the way in which players are able to save their progress adds a definite level of difficulty to the title on its own. With many games these days giving us autosaves through every door or piece of action, Dead Rising is a game that won’t be recording any progress until you find a suitable resting point such as a bed or toilet. Now with a mall as large as this that shouldn’t be a problem, but with save points scarcely dotted around, you can often find yourself being forced to replay entire chunks of gameplay all because a zombie simply won’t let go.
Another big issue that is maybe slightly more concerning, is that the entire storyline is halted should you find yourself slacking on your time keeping skills. Yes, whilst the idea of a real time story adds a nice level of immersion to the game, should you find yourself in a position in which you have either saved poorly and can’t make it to a mission in time, or simply found throwing bottles of ketchup in the faces of the Zed’s just too much fun, then the entire story can come crashing down. Arriving late at a case file is enough to ensure your story is shut down, with the game ending immediately the moment you fail to turn up. With every case linked and there being no way to continue from the next, poor planning can result in an entire restart of the game’s tale.
Given that this is of course an HD remaster, it would have been nice to see Capcom do something to remedy these issues. However, in no way do they take away from the great gameplay that is already in place throughout the rest of the game. For the completionists among you, finding the perfect ending unlocks the overtime mode, which continues gameplay from the start of the fourth day with you guiding Frank to a number of different listed items from around the mall, before the arrival of the military who are sent in to find out what has happened. Completion of this unlocks the final mode available, Infinite mode. This sees players given free roam over the mall with the single goal of surviving as long as possible whilst health depletes slowly. With the malls largest food supplies locked away, players are forced to scavenge every inch of the mall in order to find the various remaining food items to keep Frank alive.
Overall and Dead Rising HD is a great game, but with nothing new to speak of other than a faster framerate and a higher resolution, it doesn’t offer anything new to those that have been here before. That said, Dead Rising’s arrival on the Xbox One is a great way to experience the zombie outbreak in a new light, and with games such as Dead Island and Dying light already available with their realistic approach, Dead Rising does a great job of making zombies fun and playful once more.
