Dead Rising Hands-On

Weapon Test

Which of these weapons is the most effective? You decide.

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Currently scheduled for release in North America in August (September for Europe), Dead Rising is a third-person action game that we've been excited about ever since we first got our hands on it behind closed doors at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. At this year's E3, attendees were treated to a 15-minute playable demo of the upcoming zombie-killathon, and earlier this week we had an opportunity to spend some time with a version of that same work-in-progress demo, which let us play for almost an hour between resets. The extra time with the demo not only resulted in a significantly higher undead body count, but also afforded us an opportunity to both explore previously uncharted areas of the sprawling Willamette Parkview Mall and get a much better feel for the game's storyline than on any occasion previously.

The demo gets underway inside an airborne helicopter, which photojournalist Frank West is using to bypass army checkpoints and such en route to the town of Willamette, Colorado after being tipped off that something big is going down there. What he finds, long before arriving at the aforementioned mall, is that the whole town is overrun with zombies, and as the helicopter pilot flies over the town, Frank wastes no time putting his telephoto lens to good use. This sequence plays out a lot like a rail shooter, except that you're armed with a camera instead of a firearm, and your targets are--for the most part--already dead. When you hold up your camera to take a photo, you'll switch to a first-person perspective, much like that used for sniper rifles in many games, and then you have the option to zoom in and out using two of the controller's face buttons before taking your shot. A "processing" gauge forces you to take a couple of seconds in between each shot, and if you get too trigger happy, you'll run down the camera's battery and have to endure longer processing times. Replacement batteries can be found in some of the mall's stores once you get there, and given that effective use of your camera is one of the easiest ways for Frank to earn "prestige points" and level up, you'd be well-advised to grab a new one whenever the opportunity presents itself.

When you take a photo, the number of prestige points that you earn is determined by a number of different factors. Every zombie or Willamette survivor in the frame will be worth a few points, for example, but those points will increase exponentially if you manage to get a good action shot or one that seems poignant in some way. Your best photos will automatically be sorted into one of a handful of different genres, such as horror, brutality, or drama. To illustrate how the photo-scoring system works using an example from the Willamette flyover, you'll score only a few points for catching the guy who's standing on top of his car with zombies surrounding him, but you'll earn a large drama bonus if you snap him desperately waving his arms at you. Furthermore, you'll get some significant brutality bonuses if you get a shot of the guy defending himself with a baseball bat or, moments later, having his brains eaten after being pulled to the ground. Other potentially high-scoring photo opportunities en route to the mall include a deserted children's play area, a woman battling with zombies on a factory roof, and an explosion at a gas station.

Taking good photos is one of the easiest ways to earn prestige points.

Every time you earn enough prestige points to level up, Frank will gain a new ability--seemingly at random. The most common skill upgrades that we received when leveling up in the demo were an additional life bar, an additional item/weapon slot, or learning a new combat skill, such as a jumping kick. Other upgrades in the game will improve your attack power, running speed, and throwing distance. Although taking good photos is certainly one of the easiest ways to earn prestige points, you can also get them by completing optional side quests--referred to as scoops in game--such as escorting survivors to safety. The important thing to remember is that there could be a great photo opportunity waiting around every corner, which is no doubt why Frank's camera is permanently mapped to the Xbox 360 controller's left trigger button. Just completed a scoop where you reunite a husband and wife who got separated when the zombies showed up at the mall? Take a photo of them hugging, and you can get a big point bonus.

You'll hear about scoop opportunities either from survivors that you encounter or via a walkie-talkie that you get from the mall's janitor early on in the game. You might receive a message telling you that a couple of survivors have barricaded themselves into a particular store, for example, and then it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to go and check it out. Scoop events happen regardless of what you're up to, and many of them can only be completed within a limited time frame. As you progress through the game, you'll inevitably end up with numerous scoop opportunities available to you simultaneously at times, and you'll be able to use the "scoop cue" screen to get a rough idea of how many in-game hours you have left to investigate each one. The mode of play available in the Dead Rising demo will last for a total of 72 in-game hours in the finished version, but other, unlockable gameplay modes will let you hang out in the Willamette Parkview Mall indefinitely.