Video Games

Vatsu’s Game Reviews: Dead Rising 3

Ayodeji Asagaba • January 31, 2014

“Hey, you’ve got some red on you.”

By: Ayodeji Asagba

Hello reader, and welcome to 2014! Hope the New Year has been a good one for you and that you’ve got a lot of big plans ahead. Most importantly, I hope you can fit in some time to play the great games that are coming your way this year! Since there are quite a lot of games to sift through, allow me to give you a detailed look at the upcoming releases to help make your choices easier. However, as the holidays have just ended, not many new games are coming out. That said, there was one game that I missed on during the humdrum of the next gen console launches that I have finally had the chance to get a look at: Dead Rising 3.

If there was ever a game that screamed balls to the wall insanity, it’s this game. Dead Rising 3 (Xbox One) is one of the few exclusive launch titles of the two next gen systems. As such, it has a tough job of both distinguishing itself from the other games in the series as well as showcasing what exactly the Xbox One can do. While it does a so-so job of making you want to buy the system itself, it definitely stands head and shoulders above the other 2 games (excluding DR 2: Off the Record) as the best in the series and a rampant fun time for both returning fans and new players alike.

The game stars Nick Ramos, a mechanic in the city of Los Perdidos, who unfortunately is trapped in a city over run with zombies that is set to be bombed within a few days. You are left with nothing but your mechanical skills and tasked with both surviving and finding a way out of the city before doomsday hits. Needless to say, the story is lackluster at best, and reeks of the sameness found in earlier Resident Evil games, but the fun gameplay does a good job of masking that. As a mechanic, you are able to come across blueprints as you venture the city. Each one allows you to find parts and make a hilarious assortment of weapons to use against the oncoming zombie hoards that parade around the city. Why use a pistol to shoot a zombie when you can bayonet them with a shotgun, then shoot them off the blade? Likewise, you can tape knives to jumbo boxing gloves, or a car battery to a monster head and shoot electricity everywhere. You can take a microwave and make an Iron-Man like photon cannon that shoots lasers from your chest. You can use lightsabers, or better yet make a high velocity gun that shoots sex toys at zombies. The combinations are endless, and the fact that each weapon shatters after a few uses forces you to always be on the lookout for new weapons to use, providing for combat that never gets stale.

While slaughtering wave after wave of zombies in increasingly hilarious is fun, there are plenty of other things to do to while away your time in Los Perdidos. Dotted through the city are other survivors that are stuck like you. You can run around completing quests for them in order to have them join up and help you around the city. However, some of these survivors can either turn on you if you mistreat them or, even worse, become ‘psychos’ that you have to face in a one on one boss fight. These fights are interesting in that they tend to be based around the psychological profile of whomever you are fighting. For instance, one fight has you against a body-building woman who snaps when you mistake her for a man by throwing various weights and the like at you. They are also interesting that they are not dime a dozen zombies, so they can take a beating and require some nuance to defeat.Bottom Line: This game is a surprising relief from all the next gen titles I have seen. While it doesn’t have the sheer pixel count of Forza or the gorgeous vistas of Killzone, it strives for fun above graphics, and largely succeeds. The amount of zombies on screen is nothing but impressive, and the system does a great job of making sure each one is different from the rest, making the town feel much more ‘alive’ then other zombie games. It is a solid purchase for those of you with an Xbox One and one sure to hold you over until the other releases come later this year.Next Game Review: Dragonball Z – Battle of Z

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