Dead Rising was a game originally released in 2006 for Xbox 360 but re-released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox 1 in 2016. I played the game on PC which had some known frame rate problems. Dead Rising was revolutionary at the time for its high character count and environment interactibility. As a quick disclaimer, Dead Rising is one of my favorite video games, so my views may be a little biased.
Enjoyment: Dead Rising is a game that's both stood the test of time and aged rather poorly. The game is intensely fun when you head into a horde of zombies with any ridiculous weapon you want and bash away. However, the rest of the game play is based around varying story missions or side quests that always end in an escort back to a set location. I "enjoyed" these, but I'll get more into that in the narrative, accessibility, and technical sections. These quests are surprisingly varied without feeling gimmicky or tacked on to stall the player. The game is fairly cheap now and highly replayable due to its carry over character level and secret quests. In fact, it's extremely hard not to replay in the middle of a game due to being soft locked. I would only recommend this to people who are ready for a challenge. Narrative: Dead Rising's strong point is and isn't its story. Dead Rising has interesting, multilevel characters with realistic motivations. The main story though was simply there to carry you from one mission to the next. But if you really want to enjoy it, think of it as a corny B movie. The voice acting and over the top animations make the game, whether intentionally or unintentionally, hilarious. Gameplay: The gameplay of Dead Rising was and continues to be one of the more original ideas in the game market. The enemies of the game aren't actually the zombies or the boss fights; it's the clock. Dead Rising works on a strict time limit on which all main and side quests operate. This leads to intense gameplay and surprising role-playing elements as the player tries to decide who or what they have time for. As I've said before each side quest (and some main quests) include a section at the end in which you must escort the character to the safe house. This is where the game has its largest gameplay stutter. The escorts, despite making up most of the game, certainly slow down the pace and require a lot of attention which leads to frustrating moments. If you've experienced the game long enough though you'll know about certain exploits and shortcuts that greatly reduce problems but don't entirely eradicate them. Visual: It's rather hard to talk about this game's graphics since it's an old game and I haven't played a game from around that time. The graphics are certainly dated but the style fits the gameplay and story. The models that have aged the worst are the human characters, looking harsh and kind of ugly. It has a harsh gray overtone to match the slight horror and brightly colored quirky stores to show how at its base it's a game of character. Audio: The game's music and sounds mostly comes from the ambient setting and the interactions of characters and zombies. They make a few exceptions with the boss fights and mission stories to give them more of an individual feel. These are smart choices that make it easier to pinpoint important sounds like a survivor's cries for help or if a zombie is creeping up behind you. One thing I find odd however is that the main character seems to make random noises with no relation to environment or circumstance. Interface: Dead Rising's interface is approachable for the most part. The menus are easy to understand and an almost calming break to the gameplay. All tutorials and pause menus are related to the story and can be viewed at any time. The controls are good for movement and other basic commands but the "special moves" are extremely difficult to pull off, especially on PC. They are customizable but it doesn't help very much since combinations are required to contain a certain amount of button inputs. Accessibility: Dead Rising's largest problem is it's inaccessibility. New players will find it very hard to play since at low levels the player can't take on many of the game's challenges. Not to mention the many techniques and tricks that make the game easier to play but require many play-throughs to master. Technical: As I mentioned before the PC version of Dead Rising has some frame rate issues. I only ever noticed these however if I was using certain weapons which wasn't a huge problem. There was a huge problem however; the absolutely horrendous character AI. Characters would get stuck on walls, items, and even each other. They have the ability to hurt each other and the main character and manage to get themselves killed in spectacularly stupid ways. As I mentioned above experienced players have become more adept at managing the non-player characters. Conclusion: Game rating: Four stars A game that's extremely fun to experience and replay for experienced players but hard for beginners to pick up and learn.
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Layering may not be my strong suit but I'm really enjoying coloring and blending. Something about it makes it easy to use and accessible. I've never liked coloring in real life; it's too easy to mess up and I'm no good at it. But colorization in Photoshop practically does itself.
In my opinion the game industry will always be the most creative and expressive medium. All movies coming out these days are sequels, reboots, or something based off of a preexisting property. With games though your property has to be original or creative to stand out. The consumers are slowly edging away from the endless first/third person shooters that come out and realizing that games should be something new and fresh. Not to mention the accessibility it has over other forms of media. Unlike the other popular easy to access market, social media, games are less likely to be judged on popularity, creator's attractiveness, or background. Game critics are unforgiving and aware of the medium and how it works, to the extent that critics who are basing their reviews off of popularity are quickly pointed out and collectively ignored. |
Cole ThomasInto video games and the likes. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools. Archives
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