Reviewed By: Ben Furfie

Slick, refined and ultimately entertaining, Dead Rising takes the zombie genre and turns it on its head. Capcom are undoubtedly the master of the videogame zombie genre but unlike many incumbents, Capcom hasn't settled on its laurels with its latest blockbuster. Although it denies any association with George A Romero's 1978 masterpiece and Zack Synder's 2002 remake of Dawn of the Dead, there is no denying that their influences have been instrumental in the creation of Yoshinori Kawano's biggest directorial production to date. But for those expecting just another mindless videogame romp through zombie land, you're in for a big surprise.

The opening sequence of Frank arriving amid the hellish scenes of a town fallen to zombie invasion is made all the more horrific by the fact that as Frank, the lead character flies above the shattered ruins of Willamette, Colorado, the games setting, he is powerless to do anything about the zombie hordes eating the survivors apart from take pictures from the helicopter above. Sure, it might not be the apocalypse and sure it might have you fearing for your safety, at least not until you get into the hordes yourself, but it does play out as a fitting tribute of what is to come.

It's not long until you find yourself in the game proper and finally get to go hands-on with the games mechanics. The first time you find yourself in the middle of a horde of zombie, and by horde we mean hundreds of zombies, you'll find the adrenaline pumping and the survival instinct in you kicking in despite the fact that you, yourself are in no real danger. It's moment like this that make the game truly worth playing, and while you won't feel the same amount of fear on the second play round, there are still plenty of opportunities later on in the game for your hearth to jump out of your mouth.

One of the more interesting approaches the game takes is that almost anything can be used as a weapon. Of course, the old saying, just because you can, doesn't mean you should applies here as much as it does on a national speed limit country road. While it can be entertaining at first to sweep down a crowd of zombies with the bench you found sitting innocently next to you, you'll soon find your neck being bit into like a hunger ridden man would tuck into a steak.

Kawano-san doesn't seem too interested in creating social commentary, unlike Romero's classic. Indeed the game is much more along the lines of Synder's much more gung-ho 2002 remake. The game's desire to encourage you to save some of the survivors of the mall would have been made more engaging if it were not for the fact that without the social commentary, you constantly questioning yourself, especially at night when the zombies are much more savage and daring, why am I doing this? In fact, the only time during the game that we felt desperately sorry for the survivors was with Leah, a woman who graphically describes how the zombie hordes ate her newborn baby right in front of her. It's a pity because of the reasons Romero's classic stuck in the minds of views was because of the strong message of over bearing consumerism that was so rampant during the 1980's when it was first released.

Much like Snyder's 2002 remake, Dead Rising focuses more on the style and substance than the message underlying it all. There are definitely more laughs than tears or even fears with the muzak eternally playing in the background, at least until the mall shuts down at 9pm, a highly atmospheric and all together chilling moment. With the psychopaths playing some part within the game's message and the overall story tending towards a cautionary tale of greed and obesity, maybe the game does have a moral after all... however. Unfortunately the moral of the story is somewhat dampened, but not ruined by the final sequences of the game. It might just be us but it just doesn't seem to fit in with the general overtone of the rest of the game. Quite whether the game is being a critique of the modern violence driven society we live in or just relishing in it never becomes clear. Either way, Dead Rising is by far and away, one of the best games available on any system. Not so much a resurrection of the old zombie genre but more of a redirection, and a great one at that.

9/10