Dead Rising 3 Review: Trouble in Paradise

Players begin Dead Rising 3 by making their way through a government refugee camp in order to escape the zombie infested city of Los Perdidos. 

It isn't that simple of course, and protagonist Nick Ramos discovers that the path leading out of the city is blocked. Faced with no other option, the mechanic is forced to go back the way he came. While Nick retraces his steps in a cutscene, the opening is indicative of the gameplay that awaits players once the game in earnest begins. 

A large part of Capcom Vancouver's entry in the series consists of repeating tasks you'll perform time and again over the course of the game. 

Larger than anything seen before in a Dead Rising title, Los Perdidos, the Los Angeles inspired setting for the game, is divided into four districts throughout which players will discover other survivors. There are in essence two kinds of survivors - those who simply need the zombies around them cleared so they can try to escape and those who want something from you. 

For a city facing such devastation few of Los Perdidos' breathing citizens seems to be in any major hurry to leave and Nick is subjected to a series of fetch quests and escort missions. The benefit of doing so is usually a new weapon or follower - who will accompany you on missions and tend to make things somewhat easier. 

Yet the tedium of fetching, for instance, five food items while fending off hoards of undead can prove a deterrent when there's other activities on offer. These sidequests are seem largely to fall into one of two categories: the reasonable (given the circumstances) and the absured. 

People need food naturally, but leading three "hot male zombies" to a swimming pool is an actual request you're asked to fulfill along with escorting someone in a Lady Gaga-inspired meat dress to the fashion houses of central Los Perdidos so she can try on new clothes and shoes for zombified fans. 

Survivors, while useful, have limited health and Nick must manage their wellbeing making each effectively a mini-escort mission. This can be particularly bothersome in the more densely zombie affected areas and on Nightmare Mode - the more challenging version of the game. Should they die, they will return after a few in-game days (thankfully not undead) but companion health is still something you need to be mindful of - especially if you're some distance from a safehouse where you can choose another survivor you've helped to replace one who's injured.

This might be somewhat more agreeable if survivors possessed the same level of customisation as Nick who can wear any number of absurd costumes and weapons. Survivors' clothes cannot be altered while they will only carry certain types of equipment. 

Despite the focus on zombies, they aren't your greatest threat in Los Perdidos. Rather, it's the living who set out to cause Nick the greatest trouble whether it's Defense Secretary General Hemlock or any of the bosses who you'll be pitched against over the course of the game. 

Those hoping that these often much maligned aspects of videogames might have finally evolved with the start of a new generation will be left disappointed as Dead Rising 3's boss fights inevitably descend into a pattern of pressing the left stick to leap out of the way of a power attack. Often, you do so while fighting off hoardes of zombies or looking for highlighted weakspots - sometimes both. 

In one particularly grating fight, Nick must battle against four remotely controlled mechanical arms in a burning warehouse with limited weapons and ever greater numbers of zombies pouring in. A number of these confrontations are staged fights but even when it's a matter of depleting the boss's healthbar all you need to do is observe when a power attack is on the way and leap to safety. 

Perhaps the most fun on offer in the game comes from driving. There's a broad range of vehicles but the combo vehicles - those made by melding two cars together (the same can be done with weapons and even food) - are typically the best suited for clearing the streets of the undead as they're both better armoured and armed than regular vehicles.

You see, vehicles will only take so much damage before exploding and zombies latch themselves on, smashing through the windows - if Nick is grabbed by a zombie, whether you're in a car or out of one, players are faced with a QTE of either a single button press (usually B) or are required to shake the controller like an early PS3 game with sixaxis motions. 

Dead Rising 3 is not, and should never be taken as, a serious game but it pales in comparison to this year's other major zombie title, The Last of Us, and if you are looking for a fun undead bashing experience than you might be better off picking up a copy of Suda 51's Lollipop Chainsaw. 

As an Xbox One launch title, Dead Rising 3 is competent enough but is held back by mediocre boss fights and poor controls and while the sheer number of zombies onscreen at any time can run to an impressive amount - often hundreds - there's little reason to believe that this game couldn't have been released five years ago. If Dead Rising 3 is any indication; early "next-gen" titles have done little to evolve over their predecessors.  

Final Verdict

6.75/10

A copy of this game was purchased by the reviewer.