Watch out for the psychopaths!
It's not all easy going though, it's the town's psychopaths that provide the real challenge. The psycopaths are the human survivors that have been turned crazy by the influx of zombies. Being human means they're far faster than the zombies and far smarter. They will dodge attacks and use weapons against you far more effectively than the masses and provide much stiffer competition. Through killing zombies you'll gain points that not only appear on the Xbox live leaderboards, but will allow you to level up, making you stronger.
Levelling up can also be achieved by completing side-quests away from the main mission, although they can be extremely tough due to the time restrictions. Side quests can be picked up from Otis the Janitor and often involve saving a group of humans from imminent attack.
Click for larger imageThe gameplay is extremely satisfying and often brutal, but the combat controls could do with a fair bit of tweaking. At a distance it's fairly easy to target an enemy and zoom in with a gun, however, in close-up combat there are times when you'll strafe from left to right trying to find the exact point of contact needed to deliver a deadly blow. This works both ways and zombies will often try and grab you but miss by a mile despite standing right next to you. The targetting system for throwing objects does work well and it's simply a matter of aiming the targetting circle above your opponent before unleashing a bench or even a guitar at the enemy. Despite the simplistic controls, that mainly involves the use of two buttons, when you do lash out a bunch of zombies the resulting animations and empowering feeling that runs through your veins make up for the inadequacy.
Click for larger imageAmazingly, the bulk of Dead Rising takes place in one area, the shopping mall. It's an accurate recreation of a shopping centre that boasts a variety of shops, from music to clothes stores, places to eat, a cinema and everything that you'd expect to find in such an establishment. The free-roaming aspect of the game allows to explore every inch of the centre, although you will have to keep an eye on the time. Each store is uniquely designed and hide plenty of weapons to pick up, as well as clothes to buy and health points to boost your survival which are available in the restaurants.
There's also a half-decent save system that can be used by entering the shopping centre's toilet or by resting on a bench if you dare! There's no autosave feature, and although that will be an annoyance for some, it adds to the difficulty of the game and ensures that Dead Rising won't be a pushover.
Click for larger imageThough it's the gameplay that really stands out, Capcom do a great job with the graphics. Embedding a scythe into a zombie's head, watching the blood spurt in all directions and tossing him to the side like an unwanted puppy is just one of the numerous animations that never fail to impress. Unleashing a shotgun bullet into a group of zombies results in plenty of bloodshed and multiple enemy kills as limbs fly in all directions. By far the most impressive aspect of the graphics is the attention to detail in the design of the zombies and the superb cut-scenes that add to the story-line and create the edgy atmosphere.
