• Publisher: Capcom
  • Release Date: Aug 8, 2006
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 82 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 416 Ratings

  • Summary: Dead Rising follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance photojournalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to a small suburban town only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. He escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety but it turns out to be anything but. It will be a true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, but players will have full reign of a realistic shopping center, utilizing anything they find to fight off the flesh-hungry mob and search for the truth behind the horrendous epidemic. Dead Rising features an open level of freedom and offers a vast array of gameplay possibilities. As part of a real time system, time is dynamic in Dead Rising, marching on whether Frank is actively engaged or if he is stationary. Time also plays a role as zombies become more powerful when the sun goes down. Though they move slowly during the day, the zombies become stronger and faster at night, making it even more dangerous for players to survive. The unprecedented numbers of enemies come in never-ending waves and consist of a diverse population of former humans that have retained some memory of their previous lives, which is reflected in their behavior and appearance. The variety of different stores in the mall offers players an endless supply of resources including vehicles, makeshift weapons and more. Players will also encounter other survivors along the way and by helping them can acquire valuable clues as to what has happened. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 82
  2. Negative: 0 out of 82
  1. The spaced out save points create a wonderfully rare sense of dread. You'll want to stock up on inventory and weapons before attempting a particularly difficult passage. And you're not always secure whether you're going to make it. This is where Dead Rising's sandbox zombie killing comes into its own.
  2. The game has some annoyances with its level-up system and minor problems with load times and survivor AI, but the ways in which you can kill the zombies are endless, and the story and presentation actually creates a narrative more compelling than most would expect.
  3. Dead Rising is one of those games where the amount of enjoyment you will glean out of it is directly proportional to your patience.
  4. Except for the mentioned flaws it is spot on design-wise and and the enjoyable zombie theme and a tasteful art direction accompanied by a good soundtrack ranging from creepy keyboard-tunes to spot on wishy-washy mall muzak helps to propel a great atmosphere, which is just satirical enough to avoid taking itself too seriously.

See all 82 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 36 out of 165
  1. Steve-OM
    10
    It's the greatest zombie brawl, in the mall that has it all! Things move so fast and you think you are done, but just around the corner is more zombie killin fun. There is so much to do in the undead zoo, you'll play it over and over, many times through. Who wouldn't like this game is no one I can name. It just isn't possible to be that freakin lame. So unless your life must be constantly dull, get off your ass and crush some zombie skull. Good times to be had in Willamette, it's the best 60 bucks I'll never regret... Expand
  2. AdamW.
    8
    What could be more fun than using whatever you like to destroy zombies. In a matter of second you will go from chewing zombies up with a lawnmower to beating them down with the plant pot. There are a few floor that let it down. The extremely small text, the slightly stick gun control and the lack of autosave points but if you can get over those you will find a thoroughly enjoyable game with hours worth of gameplay. Expand
  3. IanR.
    6
    This is the first game for Xbox 360 that I wanted and it ended up being the most disappointing. It does have fun game play but one killer flaw caused me to hate this game. The save system sucks. Even though I gave this a 6 you should still give it a try though. Expand
  4. So whats good about this game? Absolutely nothing. I bought this game because I am a zombie game fan, but this game is just plain corny and dumb. I thought 10 bucks for the game was a good deal. Now I see why it goes for 10 bucks. Because it sucks....For one, its EXTREMELY hard to save the game. At the beginning of the game, there is one save point that you have to go to. Within the first 5 minutes, you are up against a gun battle with some guy who is extremely hard to kill, jumping all over the place, and throwing bombs at you, all while you are trying to get the aiming set up to shoot the guy...which, by the way, the aiming SUCKS too....meanwhile this cell phone in the corner is constantly rining while youare trying to kill the guy which is totally annoying...by then you are dead from a bomb.....then you lose all progress and have to start from scratch all over again. The plot is rediculous, the animation sucks, the characters suck......there is nothing good about this game. Yeah picking up random things to hit at zombies, thats about the most fun you will have in this game. After dieing about 5 times in a row, after having to go through the process of starting from scratch, since its almost impossible to save....I gave up.....what a waste of 10 bucks. Sad excuse for a zombie game Expand

See all 165 User Reviews