The is the third time Capcom have risen the dead. The first was set in a shopping mall and launched the xbox 360, the second was in the casino's of Las Vegas and now today this Xbox One launch game is set in a whole city called Los Perdidos. I played the first one a lot back in the day, missed the second instalment and with caution loaded up the third. You see I always enjoyed killing the zombies, I mean who wouldn't. Also the fantastic weapons and ways they could die would keep me happy for hours. The story however was unmemorable, the boss fights annoying, the escort missions frustrating and the fact you had to do the whole thing in a certain time really made me switch it off. So what has , changed?
The main difference straight away in this new golden age is the open world. You can explore the whole city from the start. There are side missions, survivors to help, dresses to wear (ahem) and blueprints for weapons and vehicles to find. This blueprints give you the ability to combine weapons and objects to create super killing machines. There are loads of these. My personnel fave at the moment is a paddle with rotating saws on it where you go out and use it happily on the hoard. Now a quick word about the Zombies.
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF THEM. IN FRONT OF YOU NOW. RUN.AHHHH....
When dead rising one came to xbox 360 I remember the amazement at seeing 50 zombies in one place at one time. Here in the city I can see over a thousand of them and the frame-rate is not even stuttering. They all seem different as well , as different as zombies can be, and all seem to be moving independently of each other. The pure pleasure of running a steamroller through the crowds and watching the zombie killed counter rise and rise, is what this new generation was made for.
Graphically, apart from the zombies , the rest of the game looks a bit average. The city is fine, but since the coming of GTA 5, it looks very much last gen. The vehicles, character animation and textures are all nothing major to write home about. The power is used fully on the zombie massive and the carnage you can wreck on them with blood and bone spilling to such amazing special effects. Because they do this still so brilliantly, the other graphic flaws fade away quickly.
You play Nick a mechanic is a group of desperate survivors. You have a strange number on your neck and Nick is trying to get out of the city before a missile strike. That's it really. You have to get to here, collect this , deliver this, talk to her, and so and so forth. This is not as bad as I've just made it sound and Nick comes across as a likeable character. The dialogue is pretty good and witty, with great voice acting and some nice characters to meet on the journey. There are some good and some very frustrating boss battles to be had throughout. It really is a mayor step up from the first and second game, but Capcom and Boss battles have always been my little bugbear. Some people love them.
The timer situation here is a much better kettle of fish then before. There is a threat of a missile strike in 6 days time , but you will have plenty of time to complete the main story and all the side missions, and mow down over a hundred thousand zombies. A welcome new addition, so I thank you Capcom. Overall it seems a much easy game to play, apart from the boss battles, and I found I didn't die that much. There is a Nightmare mode that you can play from the beginning for the die hards, that feels very much like the old games with rare save points and tight time limits.
There is also Co-op mode, local and Multiplayer, which is very handy in the sticky situations. It really comes alive when you just playing around with a friend killing the undead with our shame. The game never takes itself seriously as proved, when you find yourself dressed in a mini skirt and Knight's helmet hitting a zombie over and over again with a pizza box. That is what makes it so much bloody fun. There are leader boards for those who want to compete on certain challenges around the game, such as how fast you can kill with a certain type of weapon or in a certain type of dangerous situation. The multiplayer all seems seamless with no connection problems at all.
The kinnect integration is, would you believe it , quite smart. There are vocal commands that you can issue like shouting "Over Here" which attracts the zombie hoard toward you , so that you can lay traps or misdirect them while you escape to another location. You can also shout "Drop Weapon" and other nice little commands that I found really useful and not a hindrance. The best bit is when you get attacked suddenly and a zombie is upon you, pull up the controller suddenly and the kinnect reads this and throws the attacker off in one move. This is the kind of Kinnect I like.
Conclusion.
This is a great launch game. It's fun to play, amazing in it's stupid amount of undead on the screen at one time. Theres plenty to go back to after you done the story. There are Frank (first game) statues to collect, challenges to complete and weapons to combine. There is a also a character RPG type skill tree for you to complete. The game plays homage to the older games in the series, while offering plenty on offer to the newbies to the franchise. Graphically weak at times with frustrating boss battles, but this is forgotten quickly as you jump into a thousand zombies with a sword in your hand and a smile on your face. Groovy.
