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website by Gone West
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Gaming Reviews

Dead Rising

By Stephan "Gunslinger" Miller

©girlsandcorpses.com

issue #14

If you are lucky enough to own an Xbox 360 then you already know about the exclusive games made solely for the 360. Dead Rising is one of those titles. I figure though if you are reading this review on Girls and Corpses, and you have a 360, then you probably know everything there is to know about this game, if not then read on.

This game smells and feels like a George A. Romero movie, I mean Zombies inside a mall, didn't we just see that with the remake of Dawn of the Dead? I find it funny though that the first thing you see when the game is starting up is the disclaimer in several different languages that this game is not directly or indirectly related to any George A. Romero titles. Capcom really went out of their way to let you know that they are not in any way, shape or form in bed with the great George Romero.

So then why a game where you are held up in a mall with zombies everywhere? Is it that the game writers couldn't come up with anything else or is it that the marketers wanted to piggy back off of Romero's success? And why not when so many others have done the same exact thing.

Lets get down to the skinny of the game. The controls are pretty straight forward and not cumbersome at all, so take this for a spin. You play Frank West, a war ridden, hot shot photographer that gets a tip to head to a small town in Colorado. As you fly over the town in your helicopter you learn to use your camera to take pictures of the carnage, the bloodier the picture the more points you get for the photo. My take is the game writers wanted you to have a little more substance than just killing zombies, but lets be real here this game is nothing more than a mindless romp through a suburban mall killing zombies.

What's the fun in that? Plenty. The mall has lots of objects that you can use as weapons to fight off these hordes of the walking undead. Out of weapons? Stop by one of the stores and pick up a cash register. Now start slamming that register over the heads of zombies, then rinse and repeat, until you make your way to the next open area, meaning zombie free, where you can catch your breath.

I won't give away the plot of the game, but I bet you could guess what it is. There is a good amount of blood, gore, and profanity, none of which should offend anyone who reads Girls and Corpses Magazine.

You can't play a zombie in this game, although it would be fun to do, and you do have a certain amount of time to gather what you need for your story, and to get back to the helipad on the roof to meet your helicopter, and solve the mystery.

Look, the game is mindless and fun, but like anything you do too much of, it gets old. So do me a favor and rent this one before you buy it for the simple fact that you might just get enough out of a 5 day rental to fill your zombie killing needs.

3 out of 5 limbs

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