Dead Rising 3 (2013)

I quite liked the first Dead Rising despite its jankiness. It's a crazy, inspired and fun game despite its flaws. As for the sequel, Dead Rising 2, I didn't like it as much even though it had ironed out many wrinkles in the original. Main reasons for this were bland characters, lack of charm and less memorability in general. It missed the X-factor present in the original.

How does Dead Rising 3 stack up then? This seems to have left people considerably more cold than the second entry did so my expectations were tempered. In my eyes, however, I'd say I had more fun time with this third outing than the second but it's not without its issues.

To summarise: Dead Rising 3 is an open-world zombie game with beat 'em up and 3rd person shooter gameplay. You follow objective markers, go to points of interest on the map and slay a shitton of zombies. As was introduced in DR2, you can again combine two items into a new 'combo-weapon' (once you find a recipe), which leads to pretty crazy tools of destruction. As a new thing, you can also combine two vehicles into a new one for some extra vehicular mayhem. Killing zombies, completing 'side cases' and doing objectives nets you levels that you can use to upgrade your character. As for other Dead Rising mainstays, there's again lots of time limits. The biggest one is for completing the storyline before a bomb goes off and then there's lots of smaller deadlines for sidecases and helping survivors scattered around the map. The deadlines are very lenient this time around though, and it wasn't hard to complete everything that popped up. This takes some edge off from the survival struggles but makes for a more relaxed experience (if that's what you are looking for in a survival horror game).

The main gameplay loop works pretty well, in my opinion. I had fun going around the map, looking for new weapon recipes and completing side cases. Although, when nearing the end of the game, the gameplay started to get a bit boring. The combat, which is what you'll be doing lots and lots, is mostly fine. Nothing really spectacular but easy and chaotic enough for a chill, fun experience. Best combo weapons and vehicles get rather crazy though, and you will be killing hundreds of zombies in pretty much seconds. There's a certain weight to the movement that feels a bit sluggish and picking up items is a hassle in a game where there is stuff everywhere but other than that, controls work. Even the driving controls are easy to work with.

An interesting setpiece is crucial for an open-world game, and sadly this is where Dead Rising 3 falters. The map is serviceable but pretty unmemorable and quite hard to navigate at times. For a game as much about vehicles as DR3 is, it's silly how many roadblocks there are for whatever reason. In addition, the game looks pretty drab in general. The environments are very brown and very gray. This is a stylistic choice that is very emblematic of its time but still a bummer.

Another aspect where the game falters is the writing. The way the story ties to the previous two games is pretty neat but other than that, the story is stupid. I still have no idea whether they were reaching for some kind of B-movie vibe with all the nonsensical stuff that happens in the game but at the same time, the game tries to make a serious story. Some of the dialog is also just terrible and, as was with DR2, Capcom Vancouver definitely had trouble creating likeable characters. This is especially apparent in the 'psychopath' bosses. Many of these are based on tired stereotypes and teeter on the line between cringy and offensive. At least the new main character, Nick Ramos, is alright.

Presentation-wise, Dead Rising 3 is pretty good with some noticeable setbacks. The overall graphics are good for their time and It's impressive how many zombies the game can fluidly throw at you. Sadly, though, the game runs only at 30fps (even on Series X) and there's pretty vicious screen tearing going on a lot of the times. As for audio, the sound design, voice acting and music work for the game's favor. Nothing super memorable but competent. One thing I specifically liked about the audio was how different places and specific cars had their own music tracks. Really gave them some extra identity. It was also surprising to hear some synthwave influence in a game released as early as 2013. Or maybe it was just 80's influence.

The game also has some extensive multiplayer shenanigans but these I didn't test. I guess wrecking havoc in co-op could be fun, though.

After beating the game after 20 hours or so, I was reasonably pleased. The game had its problems but I definitely had fun with it. It's a very '3,5/5 stars' kind of game. To give a rating with whole stars, I'll round it up to three. I think that suits it better.

As a teenager, this was probably my favorite game franchise. I loved the zany cartoony violence mixed with the unique open worlds of the first and second games. Since I didn’t have the Xbox One, I missed out on playing this initially which bummed me out (and not just because the main character’s name is Nick like me). So, I skipped to Dead Rising 4 which was fine but it felt lacking in the fun I loved as a youngin.

Now that I have an Xbox Series S, I can go back and play the games I missed out on. Naturally, this was one of the first I got to. It gave me some of the fun I remember as a kid, but with some gameplay (and humor) that may not have aged the best. I still had a good time, but halfway through I was starting to get bored.

Maybe after giving it some space, I’ll go back and try the Untold Stories DLC. For now though, I’ll leave it be. It does make me wonder…did the games just get worse or did they stay the same and I just got older…?

While I was intrigued by this game since it's launch with the Xbox One, I only got around to playing it this year. The game's visuals hold up surprisingly well and even to this day it feels 'next gen'. It reminds me of how when I went to play Dying Light this year, it felt miles ahead of a lot of modern games despite being seven or so years old.

As for the gameplay if destroying thousands of zombies in often goofy ways sounds like your idea of a good time, you'll love this one. I had dabbled with the first one a little bit in the Xbox 360 days - I was also late to that one - and I have to say they've tightened the controls up a fair bit and slaying zombies is a joy.

With that being said, I stopped about 10 or so hours in because I had had my fill. While there was lots of variety in the way you could decimate the undead that was kind of it - from what I could find. There wasn't much variety in gameplay beyond that. I'm still a happy customer, but I feel like there's room to improve this somehow

Dead Rising 3 tuvo un equipo de desarrollo diferente, y eso se notó. La historia de sus anteriores entregas iba por la Serie B, consciente de si misma y de lo burda que resultaba y centraba más sus esfuerzos en la exploración, la comedia y la diversión. La tercera entrega es cutre, no hay otra forma de definirla, Su rendimiento es malo, su estilo artístico intentó ser más impactante y acabó por ser una cosa cargante y bastante fea, sus mecánicas son en esencias las mismas algo más agilizadas, a pesar de lo cual el resultado no deja de ser decepcionante.

Y es que la aventura de Nick Ramos se siente bastante innecesaria, los desafíos de tiempo y de cierta habilidad (muchos decían que eran juegos difíciles, disiento mucho, pero si que necesitaban un mínimo de planificación) desaparecen, la exploración no satisface nada en un mundo genérico. La historia además de aportar errores de continuidad y cagarla con los eventos de los juegos anteriores (Carlito decidió inventar una vacuna y metérsela a unos de los críos "bomba" porque sí xD) se siente un tópico con patas ahora desprovista de cualquier tipo de comedia o don para la sorpresa.

No recomiendo Dead Rising 3 por 3 razones: 1- Jugablemente se siente peor que los anteriores. 2- Su historia empeora la saga y es mucho más olvidable (y eso que nunca fue el fuerte de la saga). 3-Gráficamente es feo de pelotas y el rendimiento es irregular cuanto menos.

A fun zombie hack 'n' slashing game, with ridiculous, but fun weapons, an OK, but not Oscar winning story and some creative mechanics.You can combine pretty much anything into a new item to bash some heads in, shoot the corrupt special forces or ride around in apocalyptic vehicles that burn anything in their path to cinder.

There are tons of things to do in this game besides the story too, like helping other survivors, dealing with dangerous lunatics and more collectibles than I could bear to collect in one playthrough. Since every new play is considered a New Game+, you always keep your levels, unlocked blueprints and perks, so each time you become even stronger. There is a timer during the story, but it's very generous, so you don't have to worry about it much.

The fact that there is no Free Roam after completing the game doesn't sit well with me, I had to complete some missions multiple times just to get a stupid golden statue hidden in one of the backrooms, that I couldn't access otherwise. I mean the game is not that challenging after a while, even on Nightmare mode, but still, it's an interesting mechanic that I don't really support.

But if we let go of this issue, we have a game with fun mechanics, huge amount of content, fun DLCs, that extend the story well, tons of challanges and trials, hundreds of weapons, fully customizable outfits and just enough ridiculous characters, that you won't take any of the issues too seriously.

Dead Rising 3 is an ambitious sequel. They brought upon a new game mechanic that made the DR universe completely more entertaining to play. But unfortunately, Capcon focused too much on the new game mechanics than its story. Don't get me wrong, the story did have it's shining moments when they were expanding the DR lore, but as a whole, it was a complete trainwreck.

Pro's

One of the minor issues I had with Dead Rising 1 & 2 is the lack of interesting weapon combinations, the inability to sprint, not having the ability to have survivors travel with you to do missions, and the lack of transportation variety. Dead Rising 3 was able to fix these issues and even expanded more upon them.

The time clock is in this sequel was completely generous. It gave you plenty of time to complete the psychopath missions, help survivors, finding collectibles, and enjoy sightseeing in California.

The Main Story boss battles were done beautifully, way better than its previous entries.

Con's

The story was a complete letdown compared to Dead Rising 1 & 2. Even if the story was a letdown, what really hurt was the unappealing cast members. They had their minor moments, but they didn't have enough time to have proper character development.

The Music was completely unappealing in this game. Dead Rising 1 & 2 had an amazing soundtrack. Especially during the end credits. In this game, the music simply didn't match with the DR universe.

One of the main things that made DR 1 & 2 special was the Psychopath characters, battles, and deaths. Unfortunately, Capcom took two steps backward in this department. The psychopaths lacked charisma and charm for what made them special from the previous entries. What even hurt the most was the music choices for these battles. It didn't match the intensity from DR 1 & 2.

Conclusion

Should you play DR 3?

Hell yeah, it's a good sequel. Just know that the story is a complete letdown compared to its predecessors. What truly sells the game is the generous time management, California location, weapon and vehicle customization, and Co-Op.

Final Verdict

3 / 5

Pros

• It had more unique environments than either DR or DR2. Maybe very dark and less colorful sure, but definitely more unique
• Good for some mindless zombie hack n slash
• The weapon combos are ridiculous but still fun to use
• The controls and combat are improved

Cons

• Story is Horrible and the writing is embarrassingly bad
• The protagonist are boring and he was kind of badly presented
• It’s also super easy compared to 1 and 2
• Humour's not really there anymore
• Too many of the combo weapons are samey too

The game definitely felt different from previous entries. It can be fun, it's just no where near as good as the previous two games. 2 will always be my favorite though. As for the DLC, it's pretty terrible. It adds more storylines when that's already the weakest part of the game.

Beat on normal during free trial of xbox game pass. This was the first Dead Rising game I played. I played it incorrectly during the prologue because I tried to kill every zombie rather than just run past. I had the most fun with the game when trying to scavenge whatever weapons I could to defeat all the zombies in a given area, though that idea is kind of made moot by the fact that everything respawns. I spent my level up points mostly in survival and inventory capacity at first; balanced things out later. The only weapons that I went out of my way to get were the assault rifle and rpg; otherwise I just used whatever I found and crafted only when convenient. I relied mostly on melee and saved the ranged weapons for dangerous situations and bosses; especially the rpg. Bosses were annoying bullet sponges. The most memorable one was the obese woman in the powered wheelchair that vomits and throws cutlery at you. I fail to see how she even survived the zombies let alone pose an even remote threat to the player character. I found the roller cycle to be the best vehicle; some of the others were fun but this one was both fast and deadly. I did not bother to change the default outfit until I found a police tactical uniform at the gun store. Wore that until I found a hazmat suit (sweet) and wore that until I found knight armor (even sweeter!).

I disliked getting around the map. There were so many indestructible things blocking the roads and the lack of any kind of GPS guide means getting around is a painful experience of frequent map checking. To make that worse the map scroll speed is OBNOXIOUSLY slow. That is really my only complaint about the game, as well as the inane collectibles which I did not bother with. I liked how the aspects of Dead Rising 2 that I disliked were actually well handled in this game; the time limits, quick time events and escorts. I was not able to play any dlc during the trial and would like to purchase the game at some point to play them, and go though the entire game again.

7.8/10