You are Frank West, a hardened journalist who has seen everything from riots to wars in his career. After receiving a tip that something was going down in a small town out in the middle of nowhere, he charters a helicopter to go have a look. The tip turns out to be a good one. What at first seems like a massive riot turns out to be something much more. Frank is dropped off at the only helipad in town, which happens to be on top of the shopping mall, and is told he has 72 hours before he’s picked up. Once on the ground, Frank discovers that he is smack dab in the middle of one of my personal greatest fears – the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
There’s a reason for the zombie attack, but you’re not told why from the get go. Instead, you’ll need to use your journalism skills to uncover the mystery by rescuing the other survivors scattered throughout the mall. Frank’s only back-up throughout the ordeal is Otis, a mall employee who will let you know where to find survivors, and two shady government agents who are willing to help only if you help them first.
Where Dead Rising differs is that a clock is always moving during the game and that various plot points will happen at pre-set times. Rather than having an instance happen on a trigger when Frank enters the area, the events happen when they’re supposed to on the clock. Where you are and when determines what you see and experience. This leads to plenty of undiscovered game moments as well as some unexpected surprises. Your experience through the mall will be completely different than someone else’s.
If you like the game, the different paths mean plenty of replay value, but if you’re trying to get through it just to nab some achievements, it can be a bit of a hassle. You are given a set of “main” missions that help to push the story along. However, Otis could radio in at any minute and tell you someone is hiding in another location, setting off a timer. If you can’t get to them before the timer goes off, they die. Sure this amps up the frantic nature of the game considerably, but at the same time it can become overwhelming and outright frustrating even for players who are enjoying the experience.
As a journalist, you are also charged with the task of covering the event, so you’ll have to take plenty of photos along the way. Each photo you take is rated based on what you see; the more dramatic the picture, the higher your score. Taking pictures is more of a side mission to the game, but it is pretty enjoyable.
