Hey, I love a good zombie slaughter-fest as much as anyone else. What could be more fun than beating the crap out of some dudes who shouldn't be able to defend themselves? (Ask my grade-school bully - he knows.) And hey, a game like "Dead Rising" seems like the perfect kind of game for that. Within the first ten, fifteen minutes, I was (literally) mowing down zombies with - yeah, you guessed it - a lawnmower.

And yet, I was feeling distinctly upset about it. Why? Well, for some reason, pressing the control stick left made the mower go right, and vice versa. Plus, you know, sometimes it didn't stop when you let go. By the time I figured that out, I had gotten myself killed. And back to the last save point to try it all again. What should have been a gleefully gory moment was frustrating. And so it goes with "Dead Rising." What should have been a great game turns out to be, well, not.

It's not that the game steals its premise from old-time zombie movies. Zombies attacking humans in a mall - yeah, like I've never heard that one before, but never with a guy who's "covered wars, you know." That would be Frank West, easily one of the least engaging protagonists I can remember in any video game.

But this ain't about the hero. If games were, Halo would have sucked, right? Let's see how this plays out, I tell myself. Turns out, it played out pretty badly. This is due in large part - ah, forget it; this is the reason the game is getting three stars rather than five - to the controls. One thing that sticks out for me is the gunplay. Of course, you'd think getting a gun would be a good thing, but it's too hard to use. Using any weapon requires pressing the X button; aiming a weapon, like a gun, is done with the right trigger. Putting aside the fact that this is not how any good shooter does it, you cannot imagine how infuriating it was when I pressed down the right trigger to aim my not-so-trusty sidearm, only to have Frank the photog aim in a completely different direction than what I wanted, leaving me disoriented and open to zombie bite marks. The gun is a weapon you want to use as little as possible; when I wanted a zombie dead, I grabbed a baseball bat, lead pipe, or nightstick (I do like the nightstick) and button mashed my way to victory. Maybe I wasn't exploring the game's possibilities, but when that's how the basics play, you ask what there is that can turn it around.

Plus, there's the photo aspect, which feels like an even bigger waste of time. I mean, I get it, Frank's a photographer, but come on - am I really going to snap a pic of the oncoming horde when I should be working on running AWAY from them? Not to mention that aiming the camera is a tiresome, difficult process which takes about as much time as aiming the gun. That I could have done without.

I really wanted to love this game - I got it because I kept hearing how awesome it was. All I have to say is, "ugggggggggh uuuuuunnnnnhhhhhh?" Which is, I think, zombie for "what the hell?"

Alright, if you aren't aloud to play zombie games, your too young to be on here, and if you don't like zombie games, you don't deserve to have video-games. Your a photographer that is taking pictures of zombies doing stuff, and he goes into a mal full of zombies, blah, blah, blah, who gives a crap about the story? Just go slap a lego head on a zombie and take a picture! There are so many zombies I can't even count, it beats any Resident Evil game. Now, all they need to do is get it on PS3!!!!!

When I first got this game, I was skeptical about how good this game would be, after hearing some bad things from my friends about it. But once I got past the first zombie breach section after killing over 200 zombies, I was hooked. For the next two weeks, I carved and hacked my way towards the end of the story mode, the thrill of almost endless zombie slaughtering filling me with the feeling that I was almost unstoppable. Even though I only achieved the "C" story ending (due to my many hours slaughtering roughly 100,000 zombies and ignoring most of the quests), I liked the game for almost every aspect of it. The only problems that I had with the game was that most of the people (who I had reluctantly chosen to save) are total IDIOTS. They either get themselves lost into a mob of bloodthirsty zombies which kills them before you can reach them, or they try too hard to help kill zombies and get brutally mobbed to death. The story is nice, so too are the graphics, but after my 5,000th zombie kill, the sense of repetitiveness sank in and I felt bored. Other than that, this game will forever live on in our hearts as one of the best zombie games to date.

PROS: Addicting gameplay, amazing graphics, total zombie ownage, and interesting story mode.
CONS: Repetitive gameplay, too much great zombie ownage can lead to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, dumb AI.

Okay, so this isn't that great of a game. But it succeeds at what it is; an off-the-wall zombie splatterfest inspired by Grand Theft Auto and Dawn of the Dead. There are literally hundreds of weapons to use on the hordes walking dead, including everything from potted plants and bowling balls to chainsaws and lawnmowers. And I do mean hordes of walking dead, as the number of zombies on screen is staggering at times. Of course, the novelty of butchering zombies eventually wears off, and then you're stuck with the actual storyline. Basically you have three days (or a couple hours of real time) to do scripted missions on time and get out of Dodge on a helicopter. You also have the option to save survivors scattered throughout the mall, although they're only marginally smarter than the zombies and an absolute headache to escort back to the safehouse. The time issue is unnecessarily annoying and stressful at times, and your janitor friend from the safehouse is constantly calling and providing text that is so small you either need a microscope or 100-inch TV to read it. The bosses are completely over-the-top lunatics and provide some laughs, but other than that the main 72 hour story mode is pretty dull.

I freaking love this game. i can't even explain it. for a zombie game it is not scary at all. (which is good for the faint of heart that still want a good game) even when it becomes night time it aint scary. it has a very very high replay rate. it has 7 different endings and awsomly challenging achievments and awsome unlockables. sense it's made by Capcom (they made Megaman) u can unlock mega mans real gun and the whole mega man outfit. U play as Frank West a free lanse photo journalist eho got a tip that something big was going down in that little town of willamete. In a hellicopter u get dropped off on the roof of the shopping mall u head into the mall and witness zombies break in to the mall. Safe back in the security room, there are a couple of people fighting to survive just like u. Bascialy u can do wat ever u want either do the case files which are the missions or go around fighting physco paths (bosses) or finding and saving people. Or all of them! u can level up to level 50 each time u either get a boost in health, stock, speed, strenght, throwing distance, or u get a new move. The moves are very entertaining to use there are moves such as suplex, wall kick, and round house kick. U can take pictures of varies things a genres of things such as out take, horror, and erotica. u can a certain amount of pp points for doing varies things such as pictures and saving people. PP is wat levels u up. I strongly recamend this game and it is highly entertaining and very very fun. 5.0 THANK YOU FOR READING

i like this game but some missions get to hard.this game is long and after you beat the game there is another mode which makes the game even hader cause the military is after you dont get me wrong its enjoyable but the thing is you might get tired of it real fast and it perhaps have to much gore

this game is fun 4 a while but gets boring fast youll get lost in so many zombies and either youll be eaten eventually from being lost its fun an unique weapons help this 2 be a good rental though

It's been a while since my last review, but after playing through some of my games, here my review for Dead Rising. You're in a mall for 72 hours filled with brain hungry zombies. Everything is a weapon and you have to fight your way through the zombies to complete cases, bosses, and rescue people. My personal favorite part of this game is the way you can use certain weapons. Chuck CDs and gems, use cash registers to bash zombies' faces in. I also like how you can try on a bunch of clothes throughout the mall. The graphics are great and the different enviroment of each part of the mall is really great and realistic. There are some RPG genre mixed in the game where you can level up yourself to get more life boxes and longer space in your inventory to carry more weapons and some foods (for health) Even though I have many possitive things to say about Dead Rising, there are still some negative things about it to. The aiming system is very annoying at times. If you're facing the zombie or boss you want to shoot or throw something at it will always seem to aim at the side, so you have to adjust the aimer before the enmy attacks, but if you're facing a boss that uses a gun you will find yourself getting shot at many times unless you're some kind of super fast aim adjuster. As you play through the "72 Hour Mode" you'll have to do a bunch of cases in a certain amount of time. Some cases wont be available to do until a certain time, so you'll be able to run around killing zombies, or just rescuing poeple for achievements or just to get PP Points. When I played my first run of the game, I was to far from the next case that every case I had left to do expired so all I had to do now is just run around the mall waiting for the heli-copter to come, but since you can use anything as a weapon, rescue people for PP points or achievements, it isn't to boring. Dead Rising is a fun game that you will have fun playing if you enjoy blood, comedy, and zombie pwning :D

Dead Rising appears to be a great game at first you discover the zombies at a mall you save people kill the zombies to stay alive and you uncover a story on why the zombie outbreak. Dead Rising is a good game but you'll find yourself getting dead bored because thats about all you do save people, kill zombies with everything thats not bolted down, uncover the story, level up your character, and take stupid pictures. Its no wonder i paid 15 bucks for it.

Amazing. Gameplay: Pros: A lot to do. Funny and challenging Boss fights, anything can be used as a weapon and the puzzles can get challengin, but in a good way. Very, very funny. The ability to accessorize your character makes exploring the mall extrememly fun. You can honestly play for hours just exploring and leveling up your character without looking once at your objectives. It's your night, have it your way! Cons: Ass terrible saving system. Having to find specific rooms in the mall to save your progress builds tension and makes the game a lot scarrier (which was probably their aim), however, you pay dearly if you do a ton of great stuff only to die figthing your way to your save point. Also, controls are rather clunky. Utilizing specific types of weapons and fighting bosses can be difficult at first as you slam buttons to maneuver your character whilst at the same time positioning your camera angle properly to line up a shot with your 9. Bosses are kinda difficult too, however, all of them have a weakness that you can find fairly quickly and exploit. Just SAVE YOUR GAME before fighting them! The largest gripe I have with the game is the process of saving hostages. It's very difficult, especially when they can be so stubborn, they litterally walk into death's arms. Early on, you'll want to save them to level up, but otherwise, they are barely a pleasure protect (which I would imagine would be real life as well). Graphics: Pros: They ain't Gears of War or Assassin's Creed, but they are uh-mazing. The mall is full of vibrant colors and everything is detailed even to the smallest levels. The motion of zombies and the movement of pedestrian survivors feels smooth and adds character to the game. There is almost no slowdown, at least according to my experience. The only problem: Controls. Cons: Kinda cartoony, if you can find anything else, put it in your reviews. Talk to the pros for more info, cause I don't really look at graphics. Controls: Pros: You can get used to them. Cons: You don't think you're ever gonna get used to them. Camera is nearly as scary and unpredictable as the zombies. Fighting bosses if very difficult. You'll have to search for traps. And I don't mean traps the developers put in, you're going to have to lead them into rooms and locations they can't maneuver in, and also follow their patterns. I liked it. I give it less than five for the "interesting" control scheme and also the lack of ability to save more frequently. The game is fun, and challenging. Just get ready for a few upsets here and there. A bloody good time!