What do you get when you place a group of journalists in a shopping mall infested with the undead? Well, you get a Capcom game of course; more specifically a game that is shaping up to be a very tasty treat for 360 owners.
Dead Rising comes from a company well renowned for their survival horror game Resident Evil. You would not be foolish to expect a straight clone of the Resident Evil gameplay mechanics, hidden under the shell of a new title and polished up with 360’s more powerful graphics engine. Clearly however Capcom wanted to set a different tone in their debut 360 outing as the similarities between Dead Rising and Resident Evil end with the fact both games revolve around blowing the heads off zombies.
Resident Evil was always a straight up serious affair – Solve the puzzles, shoot the zombies then get the hell out of Racoon City. Dead Rising, however, is camp.
Dead Rising is all about having fun killing your enemies, and Capcom made that very clear when they showed off the game at 2005’s E3. Your character will be able to use an array of weapons, all of which involve making the maximum amount of mess as possible. Most notably at E3 was the use of the lawn mower as an attacking weapon — I am sure you can imagine the kind of destruction that would cause to the living dead!
In the game you play a journalist, specialising in tabloid photography — which proposes the main gameplay curve in Dead Rising. Not only must you kill your undead foes, but you must also capture the most interesting photo’s you can along the way. Oh, and you have to stay alive too of course. While a short demo of the game was available at X05, it is uncertain exactly how the photo’s you take will be rated. However, from footage from E3, we can confirm that getting the best pictures will take a huge amount of skill and will result in some very tense and exciting gameplay.
As an Xbox 360 title, impressive visual displays should be expected and while Dead Rising isn’t the most mind blowing title in terms of the quality of the graphics, the game impresses in that it is able to cope with a huge number of character models on screen simultaneously. Early videos of the game also showed off the quality of the animation, for example: Hand combat moves such as the ability to throw a zombie into other cohorts, resulting in some very impressive animation scenes.
Complimenting the action is a range of stereotypical zombie groans and a selection of intensifying chords looping to create a fearsome environment.
Dead Rising is an interesting concept, boasting some innovative gameplay modes that will create an immense gaming experience, however the game also has a pick up and play feel to it. Capcom are remaining quite tight-lipped about this title. We expect details to come flowing about the game as the Xbox 360 closes in on launch. Stay tuned to 360monster.com for all the details.
