Dead Rising

[DerDrache]

Old, I know, but I just got it. I just had so much fun discovering the "Home Depot"-esque store and slaughtering everything in sight with a lawn mower, a drill, a chainsaw, and occasionally with a fire ax.

It's got a handful of annoying flaws, so it's kind of disappointing when you think of how perfect the game could have been, but even so, it's a pretty fun game. I hope they go ahead and make a sequel and improve on the problems. In particular:

1) The lack of checkpoints makes it easy to forget to save, and then you might have to redo quite a bit of work if you die.
2) They only made one cutscene for each scenario (regardless of the weapon your character has/doesn't have, or who he's with), which is often glaringly obvious, and thus is distracting.
3) The gunplay is very poorly done. When you hit the "Aim" button, it orients the crosshair based on the direction of the character's body, not the direction of the camera. It also could have benefited from a cover system, given that you often end up in shootouts with characters that can take 50 gunshots to the face.
4) ...characters can take 50 gunshots to the face. (Not you, though)
5) Not really a "flaw", but I hope if they make another game they add in some ragdoll or dismemberment things. You can hack off certain body parts in this game, but it's random and (unless I'm mistaken), you can't blow off limbs with a gun. It would just add another cool element to the game.
6) The constantly ringing "scoop" walkie-talkie is obnoxious.
7) They should have more stores. It seemed like half of the stores were just clothing places, and the rest were all the same, with only 3 or 4 really interesting ones. It's obviously a pretty huge mall by real-world standards, but since it's a videogame, they should try to make it extremely big. Access to the parking lot, and perhaps an outdoor mini-mall would be cool.

ANYWAYS, what did you guys think of this game? What was your favorite weapon? What didn't you like?

When you hit the "Aim" button, it orients the crosshair based on the direction of the character's body, not the direction of the camera.

You can change this in the options menu....

I love this game alot, but it is definitely flawed. Pretty much everything you said I agree with except for maybe the checkpoints thing. I kind of liked the challenge it brought having to find a restroom to save or going back to the home base type place.

[McFly]

God, My favorite part was the cult. That was just awesome and creepy at the same time.

[33% God]

I absolutely loved this game. I am a big horror movie fan and this game was a treat. It had a serious tone when it needed to be and kept the black comedy moments up as well. Such as the one scene with the one civilian trapped by sniper fire. You and Brad are ducking with him behind some big pillar with this heart pumping music on and frantically trying to figure a plan. Then he gets his head sniped off,music stops,and the camera pans out to Frank and Brad looking down at their shirts covered in skull chunks with a "Goddamnit..." look.

I don't get why people complain about the save system. Pay attention to your progress and don't try anything ballsy. The reason for the save rooms are so that it gives you the feel of going out of your only safe haven into that nightmare,such as the mood of the old zombie movies did. Nobody complained when Resident Evil did this with the typewriter rooms.

[crimsonsmoke]

It's an awesome game! I actually quite like the awkwardness of the save system; it allows for an appropriate tense undertone to break up the action.

The one thing that surprised me about the game was that it got easier as you played. The enemies got harder too, but with all the upgrades that are frequently dished out (so long as you do this missions!), I found myself coping with the hoard far better towards the end, than at the beginning. This, I can imagine, could put a few players off; but stick with it and it'll come into its own.

I particularly enjoyed the way you are limited by time. Not only did this further the tense atmosphere, but it also directed the focus towards surviving, rather than completing missions; Frank is merely there, leaving the missions as a secondary incentive. This all gives the game a realism you don't often see in video games. You are rewarded with experience for compliance, but there's nothing stopping you just letting things happen without your influence.

And, as already stated, you can change which way Frank aims: either by character direction, or camera direction. The latter is by far the best in my opinion.

I agree with the rest of what you said, though. It's certainly worth a look, even know it was practically a 360 launch game.

I have some very happy moments with this game. I remember renting it with a bunch of my friends. The first time we used the lawnmower we were all screaming at laughing at how awesome it was. Same when we found the hardware store and the chainsaw.

Good times .


*ObZ