Product Reviews
No stranger to walking corpses, Capcom unearths another zombie-themed franchise with Dead Rising on Xbox 360. Players take command of a forceful photographer named Frank West, who believes he is on the verge of a breakthrough story at a remote suburban town called Willamette. Yet this is no ordinary visit. West soon learns that the unfriendly locals aren't just wary of the media -- they're hungry for flesh. Players must somehow find a way past hordes of zombies lining the aisles of the one place thought by West to be safe: a shopping mall. He was obviously wrong, but it's up to players to keep him from being dead wrong. Unlike the carefully scripted games in the Resident Evil series, Dead Rising features a more open-ended, action-oriented design where players can freely explore the various mall stores to use whatever tools, weapons, or items they find, from frying pans and umbrellas to lawn mowers and bowling balls. Time keeps ticking away as players search for potential survivors as well as a way out, with the zombies growing stronger as the sun goes down and certain events only occurring at specific intervals. West will be able to replenish lost health by finding vending machines or the food court, and he can also snap pictures of the chaos and mayhem to unlock different bonuses. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide