Dead Rising

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 100 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 100
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 100
  3. Negative: 17 out of 100
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  1. ExcaliberDG11
    Feb 3, 2017
    7
    Greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat game
  2. Heisenberg93
    Apr 30, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dead Rising is one of those video games that deceive you, nicer to watch at than to play with. I was expecting pure fun by it, even before its high and nonsense challenge. Unfortunately I was a bit burned by it and will explain why.

    Dead Rising's plot certainly does not shine in writing, on the contrary, the psychos (for example) that should "shock" the player just end up looking banal, laughable, irritating and poorly written. If nothing else, however, having a scoop-hungry photojournalist as protagonist, and not a policeman or a soldier, looks more original as well as the origin of the zombie virus which does not come from a strictly pharmaceutical product, and has no bioweapon nature, but is related to the need to produce more meat for hundreds of millions of Americans. In the end, zombies exist because of the livings' need in eating meat and in turn zombies need to eat the livings' meat. It's a story about bingeing on meat and this common element is definitely intentional by the game's writers.

    Dead Rising's core gameplay is solid and fun. There are hundreds of various interactive objects to use as weapons against zombies until they break and many of those cause different effects on targets. The player's fantasy in using them plays a role too. The game's physics system is very good and consent an high interactivity even with objects not possible to use as weapons, like breaking stores' glass, smashing carton box (potentially to get items)... or throwing pies in the face of zombies. It's possible to drink and eat various meals to recover HPs and mixing different items might produce stronger items or items with different effects. The player can complete both main and side quests to get optional new weapons, items and experience points. Frank gets experience points by killing zombies and completing missions, leveling up and improving his skills (like damage, speed). Frank's camera can also be used for getting experience points, obtaining different scores based on the type of scene photographed. Frank's skills improve in a rotation order automatically as the player levels up. It's clear that the game wants to be in control and submit the player to play at certain conditions as the player cannot decide to improve skills freely (like improving only damage on the first levels to make the game much easier). Makes sense in the developers' intention, point being I do not like the developers' intention. And this brings me to what I did not like about the game.

    Unpopular opinion (maybe): the in-game 72 hours countdown in the Dead Rising is not its real problem. Problems are the absence of checkpoints, which I don't find justifiable. I've seen some elitist players saying that it's good that there are no checkpoints because "games today hold your hand too much", well I would remind those enlighten minds that in Dead Rising there's an arrow navigator to guide the player to all missions objectives. Also, while this is technically a strong point of the game, many times zombies are... just too many. And not as slow and dumb as classic zombies, turning fun into frustration. Fire weapons aiming and vehicle driving system are both barely sketched and below average even for a 2006 game. Most of boss fights are not well designed. In general, the game's contrived challenge may discourage and disorient the player and in-game 72 hours countdown puts up further pressure. Eventually it's easy to give up and abandoning the game. It doesn't matter the game becomes "more playable" from level 25 and up: the player doesn't start the game at that level and the same flaws remain, even if they impact less. It's ridiculous to justify its contrived challenge with "it's made not to be finished first try, you have to get to a certain level and then start again"... seriously? I don't want to start a game, just to stop halfway and restart the story mode again: the game must allow me to complete it at first run. And, despite much frustration, I completed 72 hours mode at level 22.

    Dead Rising is the first game using Capcom's MT Framework graphics engine. An engine which eventually Capcom used for a decade as default graphics software for most of its games and which clearly shows its age in this early 1.0 version. However the game doesn't really look that bad and it's still visually nice, thanks to the remastering too and considering the incredible, unreal, amount of zombies on screen. Xbox 360's hardware was great but it's still an impressive achievement that this game ran on it.

    Dead Rising is a game with a good idea and a solid, fun gameplay at its core which however is betrayed and penalized by very serious flaws. I bought the game on sale in digital for €5, and in retrospect maybe I would have spent them better. If you don't have time and will "to invest" in such a game, Dead Rising may not be worth even trying.    … Expand
  3. Kevinjohnwaite
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    Great game with enjoyable gameplay and a story that serves it well... I mean you can kill zombies with a guitar whilst wearing a lego head... What more do you need!
  4. goodgriff33
    Dec 25, 2022
    7
    Answer: 75 characters is between 10 words and 19 words with spaces included in the character count. If spaces are not included in the character count, then 75 characters is between 12 words and 25 words.
  5. SuperSonicJunus
    Sep 9, 2023
    6
    It’s a shame because this game could be rated so much higher. I don’t know if other consoles suffer from this but the PS4 version has an issue with the roll mechanic once you unlock it. And you do that around Level 10 automatically. It breaks the game in a bad way because you’ll auto-roll every few seconds. Exploring? Important boss fight? Doesn’t matter, like Limp Bizkit said “We justIt’s a shame because this game could be rated so much higher. I don’t know if other consoles suffer from this but the PS4 version has an issue with the roll mechanic once you unlock it. And you do that around Level 10 automatically. It breaks the game in a bad way because you’ll auto-roll every few seconds. Exploring? Important boss fight? Doesn’t matter, like Limp Bizkit said “We just keep on rollin’, baby.” Other than that, I do love this game. Play the superior Xbox 360 version for your controller’s sake.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. GameCritics
    Nov 25, 2016
    45
    Dead Rising was never a great game — it’s perverse and didactic in equal measure, and an exciting concept delivered with almost no artistry or craft. Why not put in a little extra effort to fix it, rather that just running it on superior hardware? The sequels offer a clear roadmap for the experience that Dead Rising could have been, but apparently Capcom had no interest in following it. It’s too bad, because even as a budget title, this reissue is just too rough to recommend.
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  2. Impulsegamer
    Oct 3, 2016
    86
    Combined with beat ‘em up gameplay and hundreds of different items to use against the hordes, the series’ best psycopath bosses and mall setting and a ton of endings and secrets, Dead Rising still holds up today for both newcomers to the franchise and returning fans like me indulging in some gory nostalgia.
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  3. Gamers' Temple
    Sep 26, 2016
    80
    The original Dead Rising is a fantastic start for this zombie beat'em sandbox series and this new release is now the ultimate version and a good reason to pick it up.
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