X day is closing frighteningly fast and with it will be the equally frightening Dead Rising 3 as one of its signature launch games. As an exclusive to the Xbox ONE it’s the only console you’ll find the game on, so if you’re a crazed and wild eyes zombie fan then both the Microsoft next gen console and the latest in the Dead Rising series should definitely be on your wish list.
Set for release with the new console in November 2013 and developed by Capcom, DR3 will sit alongside other planned Xbox ONE launch games, including Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14 and Forza Motorsport 5. It’s an all out zombie attack game with third person action dynamics, giving you the opportunity to watch your character do battle with the horde, as well as get torn to shreds in sinister detail if your unfortunate enough to be taken.
Like Zombi U, one of the Nintendo Wii U launch games, you play a single person out for survival in a city overrun by zombies. However, here you’re locked to a single character, as opposed to the “fallen” feature in Zombi U. The other big difference is that Dead Rising 3 is an open world adventure, giving you much more room to roam around in with the invented city of Los Perdidos at your feet.
The third person aspect of the games sets it more in line with well trodden survival horror outings like Resident Evil. However, the zombie killing melee style and more advanced character fighting and weapons skills gives the game it’s own unique charm, differing significantly from the intensely atmospheric, scared sneakathon blaster that was Zombi U.
The storyline for the third installment of the game picks up with mechanic, Nick Ramos, as he finds himself trapped the the quarantined Californian city following a zombie outbreak. With a military led aerial attack set to eradicate the entire city’s inhabitants, whether they’re of the undead persuasion or not, Nick has to fight back, find some allies and get the dodge out of hell.
The massive size of the open world environment that the power of the Xbox ONE allows for, combined with Nick’s weapon crafting skills, provides vast scope for the game’s development. The array of weapons for zombie clobbering has always been high in previous games, but Dead Rising 3 is set to take it to the next level with a mechanic’s eye for A-Team-like adaptation.
The big differences from the previous two games is the fact that there is no longer a time limit to the story-line, you’ll be able to save the game at any point and there are apparently no load times to drag the game down. However, for old school fans, you’ll still be able to play through with the original time bound concepts that dominated Dead Rising 1 & 2 if you want to.
Xbox’s SmartGlass app will let you use a compatible device like an iPhone to open hidden missions, get new weapons and call in military support to help you get the job done. There’s also the mentalness of being able to set the Kinect microphone to pick up noise from your living room that the zombies respond to. Whispering pssttt might get the attention of a lone zombie to pick them off one at a time, while your girlfriend barging in asking you about your day at the wrong time could be enough to bring the slavering horde down all around you.
Dead Rising 3 promises an open world sandbox game bigger than ever before, crammed to the rafters with more zombies too. No two zombies are alike either, so you’ll get a lot of variation in your undead massacre. Bring up the bodies!
