|
Dead Rising
|
|
|---|---|
North American box art |
|
| Developer(s) | Capcom Production Studio 1 |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Designer(s) | Yoshinori Kawano (director) Keiji Inafune (producer) |
| Engine | MT Framework with Havok Physics (Xbox 360) Resident Evil 4 engine (Wii) |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 Wii[1] |
| Release date(s) | Xbox 360: NA August 8, 2006 EU September 8, 2006[2] JP September 28, 2006 Wii: February 2009 |
| Genre(s) | Action adventure, Survival horror, Sandbox, RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | BBFC: 18[3] CERO: Z ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 18+ |
Dead Rising is a survival horror video game with action adventure and RPG elements developed by Capcom and produced by Keiji Inafune. Originally developed as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 video game console, in July 2008, it was announced that the game would be ported to the Wii console under the name Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop.[1][4] The Xbox 360 version was released on August 8, 2006 in North America and in Japan on September 28, 2006.[5][6] The game was a commercial and critical success. It has been introduced into the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup, and a cell phone version has recently been released.
Dead Rising's story centers on Frank West, a photojournalist who ends up trapped in a shopping mall in the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, that is infested with zombies. Frank must defend himself from zombie attacks, rescue survivors and avoid crazed psychopaths, while still attempting to uncover the truth behind the incident. The player controls Frank as he explores the mall, using any available object as a weapon. The player can complete several main and optional missions to earn experience points and gain special abilities. The game is designed as a sandbox game and features several endings, depending on the decisions the player makes along the way.
Contents |
The main influences for the game were zombie movies from the 1960s and 1970s, especially those of George Romero. Keiji Inafune wanted to show a more comical view of zombies rather than the serious view portrayed in the Resident Evil series.
A playable demo was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for download on the Xbox 360 on August 4, 2006.[7][8]
On March 30, 2007, a compact disc soundtrack featuring music written by Hideki Okugawa and Marika Suzuki, was released in a 2,000-copy limited edition. It was packaged with a T-shirt that showcased Frank, Isabella, and an outline of the mall.
In the June 2008 issue of Famitsu, it was announced that the game would be ported to the Wii.[1]
Keiji Inafune, designer of Mega Man and Dead Rising, wanted the main character Frank West to be different from the usual Japanese main character. Instead of having a young and beautiful protagonist, he wanted an everyman that looked average rather than beautiful or ugly. [9]
Frank's default attire includes a black jacket with a white button-up shirt, green khaki pants, and brown loafers. Frank's appearance can be altered throughout the game by visiting the various stores of the mall. These range from changing into business suits and dresses to donning different glasses and even children's masks. Many of Dead Rising's costumes are references to other Capcom games such as Frank's unlockable Arthur's boxers from Ghosts 'n Goblins, Mega Man X style armor, and a Servbot head.
The main objective of the game is to remain alive inside the zombie-infested mall for at least three days, after which help will arrive via chartered helicopter. Time in the game passes twelve times faster than real-time (i.e. one day in-game is two hours in real time); therefore, the game automatically concludes after six hours of gameplay when time runs out. In addition to this primary objective, the player is free to choose whether or not to pursue any of the game's secondary objectives. As Frank West, the player attempts to uncover the truth behind the zombie epidemic by completing "case files" that reveal the central game plot as they are completed. Completing case files by accomplishing specific tasks or by being "in the right place at the right time" reveal cutscenes which serve as the story's exposition.
The gameplay, aside from the time-specific cases, is open-ended and offers few constraints on the player's progress. The storyline may simply be ignored, leaving the player free to spend the entire three days in the mall sampling food, trying on clothes or killing zombies if they so desire; some of the game's 50 Achievements reward this method of play.
The setting of Dead Rising, the fictional Willamette Parkview Mall, is modeled after a stereotypical American mall with multiple floors and several themed sections. The mall includes a roller coaster, supermarket, movie theater, park, and an underground maintenance tunnel system. There are six main sections to the mall, each with a variety of shops, each filled with objects which can be used as weapons or to improve Frank's health.
Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that there can be up to 800 zombies on the screen at once.[10] During the day the zombies are more sluggish and weak, but at night they become more active, significantly increase in health, gain red glowing eyes and increase in numbers.[11]
Scoops serve as optional side quests for the game. These are assigned to the player by answering walkie-talkie calls from Otis the janitor, who is watching the security cameras. Scoops will usually direct the player to a location in the mall to investigate a person who has not yet turned into a zombie. These people are either survivors or psychopaths. Survivors are characters who, like Frank, are trying to survive the zombie outbreak but need assistance to do so. There are 54 survivors that can be located via scoops or investigation of the mall's areas. Upon rescue, they will join the player's party and can be taken to the safety of the security room. The survivors mainly take shelter inside stores, but some have been split up or are being held hostage by a psychopath. Psychopaths are characters that have been driven insane due to the zombie outbreak or have used the havoc as a cover to accomplish their own evil ends. They serve as many of the game's boss battles.
Frank carries a notebook with him and records details about all human characters encountered, noting their status as "Located", "Safe", "Dead", "Lost", or "Undead". Over the course of Dead Rising, some will request or give the player items, while others will revolt against the player and attempt mutiny. Most of these missions are optional.
Dead Rising incorporates an experience system that allows Frank to improve his offensive and defensive capabilities as the game progresses. By taking photographs of different situations in gameplay the player can earn "Prestige Points", a form of experience points that allows the player to increase Frank's combat abilities. Photos are automatically evaluated and assigned a genre: either erotica, horror, outtakes, drama, or brutality. These points are also gained by helping survivors or by killing zombies. Many attacks that Frank can learn are based on those used in professional wrestling. One new skill or ability is awarded as Frank gains experience.
Should the player start a new game, all experience progression the player has already made can be carried over to the new game. In that way, the player may choose to ignore the plot completely and gain more Prestige Points to level up and use in a later game.
Dead Rising is notable for the hundreds of weapons that the player can find in the mall and use against the zombies. There are over 250 items that can be used as weapons, including chainsaws, baseball bats, axes, katanas, sledgehammers, mall furniture, potted plants, frying pans, guitars, toy swords, and even water guns.[12] Weapons will break down or run out of ammunition with use and be discarded, but certain weapons can be reused after breaking down. For example, a push broom can break in two, leaving the wooden staff to be used as a spear; or a mannequin, which breaks into five usable parts, such as the arms, legs, or torso. Others can be changed by the environment, such as the frying pan, which can be heated on a stove to both increase damage and gain access to a special move. Some items are useless, such as a nerf gun. The player can also lift larger items like benches or cash registers that can be used to smash foes or be thrown at them. These items are not considered part of the player's inventory, as the player cannot store the item and it will be dropped if the player selects a different weapon from his/her inventory.
Some strategic elements are also present in the game. Certain books from the mall's bookstores will increase the durability of a weapon or the effectiveness of a health item in the player's inventory. Certain foods can be cooked by various appliances found in the mall to increase their effectiveness, and players may also combine two food or food-related items in blenders found throughout the mall to produce one of seven different "Juices", which provide temporary effects like invulnerability and boosts in speed.
Dead Rising features three modes of play:
Dead Rising has an unusual game save system: only one game-in-progress can be saved per memory device per Xbox 360 profile. In these cases, Dead Rising allows players to save their current level and status and restart the game from the beginning as a more powerful player. The system is a deliberate game mechanic, borrowed from the Capcom RPG Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter; the two games share some development team members.[13]
Though the unusual saves are unpopular with some gamers and likely caused Dead Rising to be scored lower on game ratings, Keiji Inafune said in an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly that the saves were intentionally designed so that players would feel that there were some consequences for their actions and would be forced to make quick, tactical decisions.
As Frank, the player has the opportunity to complete or fail certain cases or scoops that will result in the player receiving one of six different endings. The following storyline details Ending A, the "true ending", accomplished by completing all "key" cases during the course of gameplay, and omits non-vital plot points and any optional events the player is not required to participate in.
The game focuses on the exploits of Frank West, a photojournalist investigating why the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado has been sealed off by the National Guard. Frank is dropped on top of the city's mall by helicopter; he tells the pilot, Ed Deluca, to return in 72 hours. Upon entering the mall, Frank finds zombies mobbing the front entrance, eventually being let in by a panicked older woman looking for her dog. A Homeland Security officer named Brad urges everyone to retreat to the security room. Upon entering, the janitor, Otis Washington, welds the door shut. Brad then leaves the security room via the air ducts. Jessie, also of Homeland Security, recognizes an old man she identifies as Dr. Barnaby in one of Frank's photos, but neither Brad nor Jessie are willing to share what they know. After receiving a transceiver and map from Otis in order to be kept informed of the mall's events, Frank returns to the mall through the air ducts. He encounters survivors who need his assistance to the security room, as well as other people driven to madness by the zombie infestation, known as Psychopaths.
As the story unfolds, Frank and Brad have a series of violent encounters with Carlito, a mysterious Hispanic man, while Frank continues to come across a beautiful Hispanic woman named Isabella. Frank and Brad are eventually able to bring Barnaby and later, Isabella to the security room. Isabela reveals she is Carlito's sister and that Barnaby was the head of an American research laboratory in the fictional Central American city of Santa Cabeza, the hometown of Carlito and Isabella. Barnaby, however, suddenly attacks Jessie and begins to show signs of zombification. When Frank questions him, he confesses that the research facility was attempting to find methods of mass-producing cattle, but instead, Barnaby and his team discovered an insect called a "queen" that would turn the cattle into zombies with a single sting. After one of the "queens" escaped and infected the town of Santa Cabeza, the US government sent a special forces team in to wipe out the entire city. The massacre was covered up under the pretenses that it was a raid on drug trade operations. Outraged over the slaughter of his people and home, Carlito released "queens" in Willamette in revenge. After Barnaby reveals the true nature of the infection he dies and turns into a zombie, but is shot in the head by Brad before he can harm Frank.
The zombie outbreak in Willamette is only the tip of the iceberg; as Isabella later explains, Carlito has much bigger plans. Hidden beneath the mall are five bombs that when detonated will propel queen larva into the stratosphere, making a worldwide zombie pandemic a possibility. Frank is able to disarm the bombs, but Brad is mortally wounded by zombies while pursuing Carlito. Frank and the remaining survivors turn their attention towards escaping to safety. Isabella reveals that Carlito has a hideout in the mall containing a laptop full of information, as well as a jamming device preventing Jessie from calling for outside help. Jessie tracks Carlito to an underground meat processing plant via the security cameras and Frank rescues him from an insane butcher, but is unable to acquire the laptop password from Carlito before he dies from his wounds. However, Carlito's dying request to give Isabella his locket which helps her figure out the laptop password and deactivate the jamming device.
Jessie places a call for help, only to be told that another cleanup mission has been authorized instead; special forces soldiers arrive in the mall shortly thereafter, killing anything that moves. Frank makes his way back to the security room, only to find it empty save for two dead soldiers killed by Jessie, now zombified from Barnaby's earlier attack. A note reveals that Otis has commandeered a helicopter and flown himself and possibly a few others to safety (the survivors list after the game's A ending shows all surviors made it out of Willamette or at least survived). After avoiding capture by the special forces soldiers, Frank makes his way back to Carlito's hideout and asks Isabella to come with him to the helipad; she refuses. Frank makes his way back to the helipad to meet Ed; unfortunately, a zombie finds its way onto the helicopter and attacks Ed, causing him to crash the helicopter into the middle of the mall's park. The game seemingly ends as Frank slumps to his knees in defeat, doing nothing to avoid the small group of zombies approaching him.
Still on the helipad, Frank is saved by Isabella, who shoots a zombie just as it is about to bite him. Frank passes out; he comes to in Carlito's hideout, where Isabella tells him that he has been infected, giving Frank just 24 hours before he becomes a zombie. However, Isabella believes she may be able to manufacture a cure from various items found in the mall, prompting Frank to scavenge for them. With the items Frank finds Isabella is unable to manufacture a cure, but instead comes up with a symptomatic treatment which will temporarily prevent Frank from becoming a zombie. While accessing Carlito's laptop they discover documents suggesting he has placed 50 similarly treated, larvae-infected children with foster parents across the country.
Turning towards efforts to escape, Frank discovers a tunnel underneath the park, uncovered by Ed's helicopter crash. The tunnel is packed with zombies, but with some more items gathered by Frank, Isabella is able to create a pheromone which repels them. Frank overpowers two Special Forces soldiers guarding the end of the tunnel and commandeers their vehicle to escape. They are intercepted by a tank, which overturns their vehicle. The special forces leader, Brock, emerges and reveals he was behind the original cleanup in Santa Cabeza. Frank jumps atop the tank, engages Brock in hand-to-hand combat and eventually knocks him into a mob of zombies surrounding the tank. Frank drops to his knees as he sees Isabella on the overturned vehicle struggling to remain out of reach of the zombies, but he is unable to assist her. Frank then screams into the sky as the game ends.
An epilogue reveals that Frank was able to leave Willamette with credible information about the story, forcing the U.S. government to accept at least partial responsibility for the Santa Cabeza incident, though they denied any connection to it. While the Willamette incident was widely reported, the American public eventually let it fade from their minds.
The game ends with the text, "And yet he complained that his belly was not full." (A slight misquotation from the English nursery rhyme Robin the Bobbin, a poem about a glutton who eats people).
The citizens of Willamette who were not initially killed by the zombie outbreak are referred to as "survivors." There are 54 survivors who can be rescued (counting Frank himself) scattered across the mall, and their fate is dependent on Frank. Otis acts as the source of information for finding survivors. However, Otis will not notice all of the survivors and thus some are only found by chance. Many survivors can be escorted safely to the security room while others may be injured or too scared, requiring Frank to carry them to the exit point and rendering him unable to use his weapons. Others might require subduing before they finally allow Frank to rescue them, either because they refuse to move or because they attack Frank. Successful rescues will earn PP for Frank; the player may also choose to leave the survivors to die, or kill them himself.
In addition to battling thousands of zombies, Frank West must also deal with psychopaths: humans who have either gone mad due to the zombie outbreak or are otherwise corrupt or evil, and who serve as the game's bosses. Examples include a clown who became insane after seeing his audience eaten, a manager of a food mart obsessed with keeping it clean and free of vandalism, a deranged butcher who thinks zombies are "spoiled meat" and humans are "fresh meat", and a Vietnam War veteran stuck in a war flashback after his granddaughter is eaten by zombies.
| Publication | Score | Award |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Sound Effects Best Use of Xbox 360 Achievement Points |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Compilations of multiple reviews | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dead Rising has earned generally positive reviews. All the reviewers commended the game's "sandbox" style mall to explore and the sheer amount of ways to kill the thousands of zombies. Most reviewers also agreed the save system, as well as the survivors' AI detracted from the game's enjoyment.
IGN stated the game needed "a better save system, more intelligent NPCs, a more forgiving story progression, and tighter controls," but still called Dead Rising "one of the more unique and entertaining titles on the Xbox 360."[12] GameSpot said, "It's zombie action for people who want zombie action, and it's simply a great piece of entertainment."[16]
A point of contention was the operation of the game's transceiver, specifically how persistent it is when ringing, and how vulnerable Frank is while answering any calls on it. While using the transceiver Frank is unable to jump, attack, or pick up or use any item. Furthermore, if the call is somehow interrupted (such as being attacked), the call will end abruptly, only for the transceiver to ring a few seconds later. If Frank answers, Otis will scold the player for being rude, then start the previous call over from the very beginning.[18][19] Numerous gamer-oriented webcomics and blogs attacked the use of the transceiver within Dead Rising.[20][21][22]
Dead Rising has won several awards. IGN awarded the title "Most Innovative Design for Xbox 360" in its Best of 2006.[23] GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2006 awarded the game honors for "Best Action Adventure Game",[24] "Best Sound Effects",[25] and "Best Use of Xbox 360 Achievement Points".[26] Additionally, the game won "Action Game of the Year" at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards. It ranked #2 in gaming magazine Gamesmaster's Top 50 of 2006. It also won "Best Original Game" of 2006 on X-Play.
According to Capcom, Dead Rising had shipped 500,000 copies in the first month after its release, and one million copies worldwide by the end of 2006.[27] Capcom has officially stated that there are no current plans for a sequel.[28][29]
Due to its graphic violence and thus obvious fulfilment of at least one of German BPjM's indexing criteria, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, Germany's equivalent to the North American Entertainment Software Rating Board, has refused to rate the game. Microsoft does not allow unrated games to be published for the Xbox 360 in Germany, effectively halting the production of a German version of the game. Right from the start, the game has been indexed by the BPjM as a document that glorifies violence, but has been available as an import to players of legal age.[30] Following a decision of Hamburg's county court in June 2007, the game has been prohibited in late August 2007. Therefore, selling this game in Germany is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment or monetary penalty according to §131 of the German criminal code. It was confiscated by the police from all stores in Germany.[31] Owning and playing the game is still legal for private use.
The MKR Group, who holds the copyright to both the 1978 Dawn of the Dead film and its 2004 remake, sent letters on February 6, 2008 to Capcom, Microsoft, and Best Buy, claiming that Dead Rising infringes on the copyrights and trademarks of these films. In a complaint filed February 12, 2008 to seek an injunction preventing a lawsuit from MKR, Capcom asserted that "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectible idea" under today's copyright laws; Capcom further points to the warning "label" on the box cover as a preemptive measure to separate the game from the films.[32][33][34] The MKR Group has since filed a lawsuit after failing to reach an agreement with Capcom over the dispute.[35]
The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2008, with United States Magistrate Judge Richard Seeborg stating that MKR failed to demonstrate the similarity of any protected element of Dawn of the Dead to that of Dead Rising, with many of the elements MKR claimed were similar being part of the "wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak".[36]
Dead Rising has drawn complaints from gamers that have standard definition sets and smaller high definition sets for having difficulty reading the on-screen text. This is due to Capcom's decision to develop exclusively for high-definition televisions, as the game had been touted as one of the first truly "next generation" titles available for the Xbox 360. On August 10, 2006, a Capcom representative posted the following on Xbox.com:
| “ | Dear Everyone, I have heard your concerns and passed them to every source within Capcom possible. I feel your pain as I, myself, have a large SDTV and am having trouble reading the mission objectives, item names, etc.
Unfortunately it does take time to resolve any issue and we would want to fix the issue appropriately as any changes to any game can create additional problems from the result of change; that's just how game programming works and that's why games go through extensive game testing programs and approvals.[37] |
” |
A week later, Capcom released a statement saying they would not be fixing the problem and suggested some DIY solutions:
| “ | Unfortunately Dead Rising was optimized for High Definition TV's. Due to this, the font in the game might be difficult to read on standard definition TV's. If you are having a hard time reading the text, please try the following: 1). Adjust the settings on your TV or monitor. 2). Try using component cables instead of standard composite. 3). Setting the TV to widescreen ratio (even though you may not have a widescreen TV) may help in some cases.[38] | ” |
Using a computer monitor is also a solution to the problem, as the Xbox 360 supports a number of common monitor resolutions high enough to render the text readable.[39]
While the small text within Dead Rising cannot be fixed, Capcom responded quickly to avoid similar criticism on the same issue for their next major Xbox 360 game, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. When the demo was released in late 2006, it also had significant amounts of small text, and responding to these complaints, Capcom adjusted the game prior to release to detect the use of a standard TV and increased the font size as needed.[40]
Soon after Dead Rising was released in the United States, Capcom released 9 downloadable "keys" to Xbox Live Marketplace that would unlock different lockers in the Security Room, providing the player with 9 new outfit options.[41] On May 31, 2007, 3 more keys were made available over Xbox Live.
On July 15, 2008, Famitsu revealed that Dead Rising was being ported to the Wii console to be released in late 2008; the port name was later revealed to be Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop.[4] This version of the game came about after the positive reception of the Wii version of Resident Evil 4. The game will be built on the Resident 4 Wii engine, and will include additional features from that game including an over-the-shoulder camera approach and motion controls utilizing the Wii Remote.[4] The Wii does not have the same level of graphical capabilities as the Xbox 360, but Capcom is attempting to retain as many of the Xbox 360 features as possible,[42] including having up to 100 zombies on screen at the same time.[43] However, Minoru Nakai, the game's producer, stated that changes will be made to the Wii version to make it more accessible to casual gamers. The player can no longer take photos due to the implementation of the new camera system.[44] The issues with small text found in the Xbox 360 version will be corrected, and the game will feature an adjustable difficulty level while making Overtime Mode a part of the main gameplay.[43] Instead of a single save slot as with the Xbox 360 version, the Wii version will allow for multiple save slots. Furthermore, the 72 hour countdown clock is not present in the game; instead, each mission is timed on its own.[45] Capcom has announced that they expect to sell 500,000 copies of the Wii version.[46]
Canadian developer Blue Castle Games has confirmed they are working on a sequel to Dead Rising.[47]
In 2008, Capcom Interactive Canada released a version of the game for mobile phones. The game stays true to the sandbox design and plot of the Xbox 360 version, despite being pared down for the smaller screen and platform.
The mobile version of Dead Rising was generally well received by reviewers, earning a B+ from 1up.com[48] and a 7.3/10 from ign.com.[49]