I gotta admit, as much as I love zombie movies, games, and shows…. There’s so damn many. Everywhere I look, there’s always a new zombie movie, a new zombie game, and new episode of The Walking Dead, or a new episode of its spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead. And there everywhere. Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Dead Alive, Shaun of the Dead, Dead Snow, Dance of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, City of the Living Dead, Juan of the Dead, Flight of the Dead, Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Left 4 Dead, Dead Island, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, House of the Dead, pretty much put Dead in anything, and it’s officially about zombies. Even the game we’re talking about today, Dead Rising, does this… But it still managed to be special.
Dead Rising was a game that was developed by Capcom, most known for games like Street Fighter, Mega Man, and my favorite, Resident Evil, and known for destroying all those games very easily. The games were made by Keiji Inafune, loved for making the Mega Man games, but also made Mighty No. 9, so that’s a bit worrisome. Anyway, Dead Rising was released in 2006 in the early lifespan of the Xbox 360. I remember watching a trailer for this on TV, and thought it looked awesome. But I never remembered it. My older brother then told me about the game where you’re in a mall and everything is a weapon, and I thought that sounded cooler. But, I never was interested in finding the game. But, one day, when me and my grandma were at Gamestop to buy a replacement controller for the Xbox, me and my brothers were allowed one game. My youngest brother bought Saints Row 1, my older brother bought Brutal Legend, and I bought Dead Rising. Sure, she thought it was terrible that we could buy these M rated games… and then she bought them for us. And what did I think of Dead Rising…. Well, let’s take a look, shall we?
Dead Rising follows a reporter named Frank West, who has indeed covered wars. He arrive to Willamette Colorado by helicopter, finding the entire town overrun by zombies. So, in order to get the best scope, he arrive at the Willamette mall and has to collect as much information, survive the zombies and psychopaths within, and be at the heliport within three days time. So, for those three days, you could go and complete the story… Or you can fuck around and do whatever. The interesting thing about Dead Rising is that you didn’t HAVE to follow the main story. You could do whatever you wanted. Sure, you wouldn’t get the best ending, but you could always do it again later. The mall was split up into several sections that you could explore, and can fight zombies with… anything. My brother was right, anything in this game can be a weapon. Some things are better than others, but almost everything can be used. The game sounds fun, and it is, but there are some negative things about it. Like escorting idiot survivors to safety. They always run headfirst into hordes and get killed, or just refuse to listen to you, or wait around until killed by a zombie. It’s like they try to piss you off, but you need to save them in order to level up fast. In this game, you have a level up system, each time you level up, you increase life or storage space, learn new moves, or new skills. It’s neat, but I don’t wanna save idiot survivors to level up. Thankfully, you can level up in a more fun way, by beating Psychopaths. Psychopaths are the bosses of this game. There’s so many kinds you can find. Some are fun, and some are just god awful. But, I digress. Dead Rising is a fun game. But not because of the story and the bosses, but because it doesn’t want to take itself seriously.
Let’s face it, as much as we all love zombies, the concept behind them is really stupid. The dead just gets up and starts killing people. It can be scary if done right, but when you think about it hard enough, it’s just stupid. Resident Evil managed to be scary, but it’s still stupid when you think about it. I mean, you fight a giant snake in that game. That’s pretty stupid. And the Walking Dead is a very depressing series, but it’s also really stupid when you remember that it’s the undead that they are killing. Dead Rising knew this, and instead of trying to be serious and scary, it just didn’t. Instead, it tried to be silly. And it worked. The game was just silly and goofy, and I like it. It still had some scary parts to it, but it was mostly silly, and I love that. And apparently, a lot of people liked it, because it managed to get a sequel.
Dead Rising 2 was released some time later for even more consoles. I liked this game a little more. Mostly because it had more fun bosses than the last game, more variety, and they made the survivors you had to escort less annoying. But did it do some things worse than Dead Rising 1? … Well, not worse, but not as good, I’d say. Like the protagonist of Dead Rising 2. Instead of Frank West, you play as Chuck Greene, a motocross champion who tries to make money to keep his infected daughter, Katey, alive. Now, I don’t hate Chuck, but he’s very… meh. He always seems to be angry and not really doing much. I liked Frank more because he never took things seriously, which was the whole point of Dead Rising. Sure, Chuck can laugh now and then, but his whole backstory about his wife dying and his daughter being infected… I’m sorry, is this supposed to be funny? I respect stories that try to make me feel, but Dead Rising shouldn’t be trying to make me feel. But, thankfully, this game takes itself less seriously than the first one. The zombies are used for a reality game show known as Terror is Reality, which is pretty silly. The entire game has you try to make money to spend on… well, a lot of things, which is pretty neat. And the best part of Dead Rising 2, and probably the game’s selling point, the Combo Weapons.
These were the best parts of Dead Rising 2. You can get these Combo Cards anywhere. From fighting Psychopaths, to saving survivors, to leveling up, to just find them around the game. Sure, in the first game, you could save survivors and fight Psychopaths to help level up, but in Dead Rising 2, there’s actually a real reward for saving survivors and fighting bosses, and it feels less of a chore in this game and I like that. I guess I like Dead Rising 1 and 2 for different things. I like Dead Rising 1 for it’s main protagonist and goofy story, and I like Dead Rising 2 it’s combo weapons and silly sense of humor. So, when I heard of Off the Record, a spin off game to the series… I just had to get it
When I saw this game, I was so excited. It mixes both of the things that I loved about Dead Rising 1 and Dead Rising 2. And did it live up to my expectations- Yes… I mean, let’s see. So, Dead Rising 2 had three games of the same name. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, a prequel to Dead Rising 2. Dead Rising 2: Case West, which follows the events after Dead Rising 2. And last but not least, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. I never played Case Zero or Case West, so I got nothing to talk about there. What I do have to talk about is Off the Record, and it was amazing. The game is more of a “what if” kind of game, where Frank West goes through the same story as Chuck, only it’s different (Duh). If follows Frank West, now a washed up hasbeen, who tries to reclaim his fame by competing in Terror is Reality, and then gets involved in a terrorist scandal in Fortune City. This game managed to have the goofy story, the lovable protagonist of the first game, the getter AI and bosses, and of course, the Combo Weapons. This game also fixed the flaws of the first game. You don’t have to go to the safe house to use the Zombrex, and can now use it anywhere, the loading screens feel faster, and probably the smartest choice, they made it to where, if you die, instead of going to the last save, you can go back to a checkpoint. That is why I love this game. That plus it managed to take itself even less seriously than both of the first games combined. And then there’s Sandbox Mode. Incase you can’t be fucked to play through the story, you can just play through Sandbox Mode, and just explore and kill zombies, as if you didn’t have enough of a reason to make this game silly. It’s like Capcom just said, “Screw it, this game isn’t all that serious anyway. Let’s set the crazy meter to full blast”, and out of that was a great spin off. So, when Dead Rising 3 was announced, I was excited… And then that excitement became disappointment.
Dead Rising 3 was the first Dead Rising game I didn’t like. It was borning, and took itself WAY too seriously. Sure, you had some silly moments here and there, but it was mostly just dark and brooding. Dead Rising 3 immediately starts with a zombie outbreak, where the new protagonist, Nick Ramos, must get out of the city of Los Perdidos before the bomb goes off and wipes him and a group of survivors out. And BY GOD, if you thought Chuck was too serious, Nick did an entire Shadow the Hedgehog, taking a light hearted and silly story and turned into into this edgy character. He’s moppy, nervous, and just has the most depressing backstory ever. I’m sorry, I thought I was playing a Dead Rising game. This has too much edge to be a Dead Rising game. Seriously, what the heck. Okay, some positives. The game is definitely larger. Instead of three days, you have seven days, and the world is a lot larger and you can explore a lot more than just a mall and some casinos. Some survivors don’t need to be escorted to the safe house. They can find their way on their own, and some will follow you to help you fight. You can also craft Combo Weapons still, but instead of needing a bench, you can make them anywhere, which I thought was okay. Then there are the bosses… Some are good, but most are just…. Meh. I liked that Capcom tried to base some of the bosses of the seven sins. You know, Zhi, an angry chinese warrior that represents wrath. Darlene, an obese in a scooter that represents gluttony. Theodore, a man who sticks to his chair and represents sloth. Jheri, a large muscular woman that represents pride. Kenneth, a man that tries to be a hero and represents envy. Dylan, a crazed gimp that represents lust. And then Albert, a psychotic doctor that harvests bodies and represents greed… His death cutscene is screwed up.
But, like I said before. Dead Rising 3 feels… nothing like a Dead Rising game. It’s got it’s share of silly moments, but it’s all blocked out by a brooding protagonist, a dark and depressingly colored overworld, a story that tries to take itself WAY too seriously… It just didn’t feel like a Dead Rising game to me. So, naturally, when I saw the E3 trailer for Dead Rising 4… I suddenly got excited once again.
Okay, first good thing about Dead Rising 4. Frank West is back. So, already, I love it. Anything with Frank West is going to be a silly game. Another thing I like about it is that it will be in Willamette again. Only this time, it’s Christmas, so the mall may look a lot different than before. You will also be able to go outside the mall. I always wanted to go outside the mall when I saw the outside in the first Dead Rising game. And you have all these crazy weapons you can use, like a sharpened candy cane gun, and a power suit that allows you to pick up concrete and use it as a hammer or something. I loved this when I saw it. It seems we had a lot of good horror games at E3 this year. We Happy Few, Resident Evil VII, and now Dead Rising 4. Maybe 2016 and maybe even 2017 will be a good year for horror games. This is definitely a good start, and Dead Rising 4 is definitely a good thing. Just keep the goofy story, good AI, large world, and do allow there to be room to make Combo Weapons anywhere instead of a park bench. That’s the only thing I want from DR3 to return. So, let’s hope that Dead Rising 4 manages to stay a silly survival horror game. With that said, I shall be off. Take care.
Dead Rising was a game that was developed by Capcom, most known for games like Street Fighter, Mega Man, and my favorite, Resident Evil, and known for destroying all those games very easily. The games were made by Keiji Inafune, loved for making the Mega Man games, but also made Mighty No. 9, so that’s a bit worrisome. Anyway, Dead Rising was released in 2006 in the early lifespan of the Xbox 360. I remember watching a trailer for this on TV, and thought it looked awesome. But I never remembered it. My older brother then told me about the game where you’re in a mall and everything is a weapon, and I thought that sounded cooler. But, I never was interested in finding the game. But, one day, when me and my grandma were at Gamestop to buy a replacement controller for the Xbox, me and my brothers were allowed one game. My youngest brother bought Saints Row 1, my older brother bought Brutal Legend, and I bought Dead Rising. Sure, she thought it was terrible that we could buy these M rated games… and then she bought them for us. And what did I think of Dead Rising…. Well, let’s take a look, shall we?
Dead Rising follows a reporter named Frank West, who has indeed covered wars. He arrive to Willamette Colorado by helicopter, finding the entire town overrun by zombies. So, in order to get the best scope, he arrive at the Willamette mall and has to collect as much information, survive the zombies and psychopaths within, and be at the heliport within three days time. So, for those three days, you could go and complete the story… Or you can fuck around and do whatever. The interesting thing about Dead Rising is that you didn’t HAVE to follow the main story. You could do whatever you wanted. Sure, you wouldn’t get the best ending, but you could always do it again later. The mall was split up into several sections that you could explore, and can fight zombies with… anything. My brother was right, anything in this game can be a weapon. Some things are better than others, but almost everything can be used. The game sounds fun, and it is, but there are some negative things about it. Like escorting idiot survivors to safety. They always run headfirst into hordes and get killed, or just refuse to listen to you, or wait around until killed by a zombie. It’s like they try to piss you off, but you need to save them in order to level up fast. In this game, you have a level up system, each time you level up, you increase life or storage space, learn new moves, or new skills. It’s neat, but I don’t wanna save idiot survivors to level up. Thankfully, you can level up in a more fun way, by beating Psychopaths. Psychopaths are the bosses of this game. There’s so many kinds you can find. Some are fun, and some are just god awful. But, I digress. Dead Rising is a fun game. But not because of the story and the bosses, but because it doesn’t want to take itself seriously.
Let’s face it, as much as we all love zombies, the concept behind them is really stupid. The dead just gets up and starts killing people. It can be scary if done right, but when you think about it hard enough, it’s just stupid. Resident Evil managed to be scary, but it’s still stupid when you think about it. I mean, you fight a giant snake in that game. That’s pretty stupid. And the Walking Dead is a very depressing series, but it’s also really stupid when you remember that it’s the undead that they are killing. Dead Rising knew this, and instead of trying to be serious and scary, it just didn’t. Instead, it tried to be silly. And it worked. The game was just silly and goofy, and I like it. It still had some scary parts to it, but it was mostly silly, and I love that. And apparently, a lot of people liked it, because it managed to get a sequel.
Dead Rising 2 was released some time later for even more consoles. I liked this game a little more. Mostly because it had more fun bosses than the last game, more variety, and they made the survivors you had to escort less annoying. But did it do some things worse than Dead Rising 1? … Well, not worse, but not as good, I’d say. Like the protagonist of Dead Rising 2. Instead of Frank West, you play as Chuck Greene, a motocross champion who tries to make money to keep his infected daughter, Katey, alive. Now, I don’t hate Chuck, but he’s very… meh. He always seems to be angry and not really doing much. I liked Frank more because he never took things seriously, which was the whole point of Dead Rising. Sure, Chuck can laugh now and then, but his whole backstory about his wife dying and his daughter being infected… I’m sorry, is this supposed to be funny? I respect stories that try to make me feel, but Dead Rising shouldn’t be trying to make me feel. But, thankfully, this game takes itself less seriously than the first one. The zombies are used for a reality game show known as Terror is Reality, which is pretty silly. The entire game has you try to make money to spend on… well, a lot of things, which is pretty neat. And the best part of Dead Rising 2, and probably the game’s selling point, the Combo Weapons.
These were the best parts of Dead Rising 2. You can get these Combo Cards anywhere. From fighting Psychopaths, to saving survivors, to leveling up, to just find them around the game. Sure, in the first game, you could save survivors and fight Psychopaths to help level up, but in Dead Rising 2, there’s actually a real reward for saving survivors and fighting bosses, and it feels less of a chore in this game and I like that. I guess I like Dead Rising 1 and 2 for different things. I like Dead Rising 1 for it’s main protagonist and goofy story, and I like Dead Rising 2 it’s combo weapons and silly sense of humor. So, when I heard of Off the Record, a spin off game to the series… I just had to get it
When I saw this game, I was so excited. It mixes both of the things that I loved about Dead Rising 1 and Dead Rising 2. And did it live up to my expectations- Yes… I mean, let’s see. So, Dead Rising 2 had three games of the same name. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, a prequel to Dead Rising 2. Dead Rising 2: Case West, which follows the events after Dead Rising 2. And last but not least, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. I never played Case Zero or Case West, so I got nothing to talk about there. What I do have to talk about is Off the Record, and it was amazing. The game is more of a “what if” kind of game, where Frank West goes through the same story as Chuck, only it’s different (Duh). If follows Frank West, now a washed up hasbeen, who tries to reclaim his fame by competing in Terror is Reality, and then gets involved in a terrorist scandal in Fortune City. This game managed to have the goofy story, the lovable protagonist of the first game, the getter AI and bosses, and of course, the Combo Weapons. This game also fixed the flaws of the first game. You don’t have to go to the safe house to use the Zombrex, and can now use it anywhere, the loading screens feel faster, and probably the smartest choice, they made it to where, if you die, instead of going to the last save, you can go back to a checkpoint. That is why I love this game. That plus it managed to take itself even less seriously than both of the first games combined. And then there’s Sandbox Mode. Incase you can’t be fucked to play through the story, you can just play through Sandbox Mode, and just explore and kill zombies, as if you didn’t have enough of a reason to make this game silly. It’s like Capcom just said, “Screw it, this game isn’t all that serious anyway. Let’s set the crazy meter to full blast”, and out of that was a great spin off. So, when Dead Rising 3 was announced, I was excited… And then that excitement became disappointment.
Dead Rising 3 was the first Dead Rising game I didn’t like. It was borning, and took itself WAY too seriously. Sure, you had some silly moments here and there, but it was mostly just dark and brooding. Dead Rising 3 immediately starts with a zombie outbreak, where the new protagonist, Nick Ramos, must get out of the city of Los Perdidos before the bomb goes off and wipes him and a group of survivors out. And BY GOD, if you thought Chuck was too serious, Nick did an entire Shadow the Hedgehog, taking a light hearted and silly story and turned into into this edgy character. He’s moppy, nervous, and just has the most depressing backstory ever. I’m sorry, I thought I was playing a Dead Rising game. This has too much edge to be a Dead Rising game. Seriously, what the heck. Okay, some positives. The game is definitely larger. Instead of three days, you have seven days, and the world is a lot larger and you can explore a lot more than just a mall and some casinos. Some survivors don’t need to be escorted to the safe house. They can find their way on their own, and some will follow you to help you fight. You can also craft Combo Weapons still, but instead of needing a bench, you can make them anywhere, which I thought was okay. Then there are the bosses… Some are good, but most are just…. Meh. I liked that Capcom tried to base some of the bosses of the seven sins. You know, Zhi, an angry chinese warrior that represents wrath. Darlene, an obese in a scooter that represents gluttony. Theodore, a man who sticks to his chair and represents sloth. Jheri, a large muscular woman that represents pride. Kenneth, a man that tries to be a hero and represents envy. Dylan, a crazed gimp that represents lust. And then Albert, a psychotic doctor that harvests bodies and represents greed… His death cutscene is screwed up.
But, like I said before. Dead Rising 3 feels… nothing like a Dead Rising game. It’s got it’s share of silly moments, but it’s all blocked out by a brooding protagonist, a dark and depressingly colored overworld, a story that tries to take itself WAY too seriously… It just didn’t feel like a Dead Rising game to me. So, naturally, when I saw the E3 trailer for Dead Rising 4… I suddenly got excited once again.
Okay, first good thing about Dead Rising 4. Frank West is back. So, already, I love it. Anything with Frank West is going to be a silly game. Another thing I like about it is that it will be in Willamette again. Only this time, it’s Christmas, so the mall may look a lot different than before. You will also be able to go outside the mall. I always wanted to go outside the mall when I saw the outside in the first Dead Rising game. And you have all these crazy weapons you can use, like a sharpened candy cane gun, and a power suit that allows you to pick up concrete and use it as a hammer or something. I loved this when I saw it. It seems we had a lot of good horror games at E3 this year. We Happy Few, Resident Evil VII, and now Dead Rising 4. Maybe 2016 and maybe even 2017 will be a good year for horror games. This is definitely a good start, and Dead Rising 4 is definitely a good thing. Just keep the goofy story, good AI, large world, and do allow there to be room to make Combo Weapons anywhere instead of a park bench. That’s the only thing I want from DR3 to return. So, let’s hope that Dead Rising 4 manages to stay a silly survival horror game. With that said, I shall be off. Take care.
TROY: I'm mr WHAT'S IT TOO YEAH.
ME: Oh yeah.. I remember that from spongebob.
TROY: No. No.. It was family guy.
ME: No it wasn't.
TROY; Yeah.. Remember. Family guy is the underwater one.
ME: (catches on) Oh right... Spongebob was the one with Quaqmire.
TROY: Yeah.. And remember South Park.
ME: Oh yes. With the talking bears... and Barinsteen bears is with the fat kid.
TROY: Oh yeah. And the Jew with the green hat.
ME: I don't get why Barinsteen bears is rated G.. It's so much swearing.
TROY; Yeah.. And remember walking dead.
ME: Yeah. The one with all the chemicals.. And the guy from Malcolm in the middle.
TROY: Yeah. The Reese character..
TROY: Remember Eminem?
ME; Oh yeah.. He's the black one right?
TROY: Yeah. And Dr Dre is the white one.
ME: Thanks for clearing that all up.
TROY: No problem.
He dosen't know I'm a brony.
So I never mentioned MLP..
ME: Oh yeah.. I remember that from spongebob.
TROY: No. No.. It was family guy.
ME: No it wasn't.
TROY; Yeah.. Remember. Family guy is the underwater one.
ME: (catches on) Oh right... Spongebob was the one with Quaqmire.
TROY: Yeah.. And remember South Park.
ME: Oh yes. With the talking bears... and Barinsteen bears is with the fat kid.
TROY: Oh yeah. And the Jew with the green hat.
ME: I don't get why Barinsteen bears is rated G.. It's so much swearing.
TROY; Yeah.. And remember walking dead.
ME: Yeah. The one with all the chemicals.. And the guy from Malcolm in the middle.
TROY: Yeah. The Reese character..
TROY: Remember Eminem?
ME; Oh yeah.. He's the black one right?
TROY: Yeah. And Dr Dre is the white one.
ME: Thanks for clearing that all up.
TROY: No problem.
He dosen't know I'm a brony.
So I never mentioned MLP..