BuddyC (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} e3buddyc) wrote,@ 2006-07-31 10:38:00 |
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Dead Rising (ZombieHype)
So given the namesake of ZombieCulture, it should be somewhat obvious that I'd be hyped for some zombie-slaughtering games. But outside of the Resident Evil games, there really haven't been that many good zombie games. Sure, there's Zombies Ate My Neighbors, but that was before my time, and I don't think it holds up all that well nowadays. Meanwhile, TimeSplitters and Metal Arms both feature zombie enemies, but it just doesn't match up with the wholesale zombie slaughter I have in mind. I guess The Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green and Infected deserve a mention, but as most that have played them will tell you, they don't deserve much beyond that.
Thankfully, the folks over at Capcom, the folks that introduced zombies (and the entire genre of survival horror) to the 32-bit generation to begin with, well, they've decided that one zombie-oriented franchise isn't enough.
Enter Dead Rising on the Xbox 360. Whereas Resident Evil was heavily influenced by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Dead Rising takes its influence from the followup, Dawn of the Dead. Instead of a creepy old house, players are trapped in a shopping mall chock full of the undead and must survive until the helicopter arrives in roughly 72 hours.
Outside of the old-fashioned zombie slaughter, there's people to save and pictures to take. See, you play as Frank, a photojournalist. The camera dangling from his neck isn't just for show, and just like in Beyond Good and Evil, good photos net some nice rewards.
It's also worth noting that Dead Rising retains Romero's odd sense of humor. Take, for example, the zombie that walks around with a traffic cone on its head. Or the decked-out shopping cart of zombie death. Just like the original Dawn of the Living Dead, Dead Rising refuses to take itself too seriously. If players want to go after the writhing horde with an umbrella or frying pan, they're free to -- almost anything in the mall can be used as a weapon.
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about Dead Rising. I wish I could say that I played it at E3, but despite multiple kiosks, the line was always far too long to fit between appointments. Though I will note, somewhat enviously, that the people who were playing seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the game looks a bit better as it does in the screenshots. See, one thing the screens really don't show is the awesome blood effects, globs of the substance flying through the air. And it's tough to get a sense of the size of the horde from just a mere screenshot, in motion, the writhing mass is far more impressive, not to mention intimidating.
Thankfully, as Dead Rising ships to US retailers on August 8th (meaning most places should have it in-stock by the 9th or 10th), I won't have to wait too much longer to finally get my hands on it. I'm hoping it's as good as everyone else has made it out to be, but with the ever-experienced Capcom at the helm and a mindless horde of zombies in an enclosed area, well, that certainly bodes well.
So given the namesake of ZombieCulture, it should be somewhat obvious that I'd be hyped for some zombie-slaughtering games. But outside of the Resident Evil games, there really haven't been that many good zombie games. Sure, there's Zombies Ate My Neighbors, but that was before my time, and I don't think it holds up all that well nowadays. Meanwhile, TimeSplitters and Metal Arms both feature zombie enemies, but it just doesn't match up with the wholesale zombie slaughter I have in mind. I guess The Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green and Infected deserve a mention, but as most that have played them will tell you, they don't deserve much beyond that.
Thankfully, the folks over at Capcom, the folks that introduced zombies (and the entire genre of survival horror) to the 32-bit generation to begin with, well, they've decided that one zombie-oriented franchise isn't enough.
Enter Dead Rising on the Xbox 360. Whereas Resident Evil was heavily influenced by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Dead Rising takes its influence from the followup, Dawn of the Dead. Instead of a creepy old house, players are trapped in a shopping mall chock full of the undead and must survive until the helicopter arrives in roughly 72 hours.
Outside of the old-fashioned zombie slaughter, there's people to save and pictures to take. See, you play as Frank, a photojournalist. The camera dangling from his neck isn't just for show, and just like in Beyond Good and Evil, good photos net some nice rewards.
It's also worth noting that Dead Rising retains Romero's odd sense of humor. Take, for example, the zombie that walks around with a traffic cone on its head. Or the decked-out shopping cart of zombie death. Just like the original Dawn of the Living Dead, Dead Rising refuses to take itself too seriously. If players want to go after the writhing horde with an umbrella or frying pan, they're free to -- almost anything in the mall can be used as a weapon.
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about Dead Rising. I wish I could say that I played it at E3, but despite multiple kiosks, the line was always far too long to fit between appointments. Though I will note, somewhat enviously, that the people who were playing seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the game looks a bit better as it does in the screenshots. See, one thing the screens really don't show is the awesome blood effects, globs of the substance flying through the air. And it's tough to get a sense of the size of the horde from just a mere screenshot, in motion, the writhing mass is far more impressive, not to mention intimidating.
Thankfully, as Dead Rising ships to US retailers on August 8th (meaning most places should have it in-stock by the 9th or 10th), I won't have to wait too much longer to finally get my hands on it. I'm hoping it's as good as everyone else has made it out to be, but with the ever-experienced Capcom at the helm and a mindless horde of zombies in an enclosed area, well, that certainly bodes well.
