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Dead Rising Triple Pack: Published by Capcom, responsible for two of my favourite games – Grand Theft Auto (San Andreas), and one of my favourite Gamecube games (Viewtiful Joe) – this package comprises of Dead Rising 1 (2006, Xbox 360 only), Dead Rising 2 (2010, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC) and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (basically, DR2 but with DR1’s protagonist).
As a full-price game with two full games and one that’s more a rehash, I would’ve preferred just one and two at 2/3 of the price.
Now if you didn’t know Dead Rising, it’s a survival horror (not really) beat-em up (I mean you just smash zombies in the face). Obviously, the story in these type of games are second-best to the concept of smashing zombies, however I do find myself enjoying these particular stories and are chuckling away at the random difficulties of everyday life in a horror game. Simply put, Frank West – the main protagonist, is a journalist visiting a mall and becomes surrounded by zombies which he needs to beat off with a stick. There are a number of different side missions as well as the main story, and depending on your choices the game can end in different ways.
Dead Rising 2 follows a similar style. iT’S set 5 years later, where zombies are pretty common in the world in which they live. Chuck Greene is a former motocross champion, entering some kind of crazy reality game so he can raise money to buy medicine which will prevent his daughter from turning into a zombie. Of course, Chuck needs to venture off far and wide to obtain said medicine, and has to beat many a zombie on his travels. Pretty messed up stuff. DR2 also has a multiplayer mode where you can play against your friends online and compete by killing as many zombies as you can.
So, is this game worth your money and what have they improved? Because let’s be honest not many 2006 games are still enjoyable in their original form.
The graphics are a real disappointment. okay, so they’ve never been groundbreaking, they’ve always been modern enough to not bother you. I’m not a graphical expert, nor a graphical geek, and I’ve always said that I am just a gamer who loves games. However, to my untrained eye, I would say that they really have made no improvement to DR1, but a slight improvement to DR2. For me, this isn’t good enough as the games don’t particularly look amazing as it is. That said, it’s not the type of game you play for amazing graphics. This isn’t The Last of Us, for example.
In reviewing this package, I revisited the original games and I decided there are slight graphical improvements, but so far not enough for me to encourage you to draw out your money and start spending. Hence, they get a 6/10. I would have expected better guys.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on this game…
Gameplay? Slash, kill, smash, beat, push, punch, smack and stab. Hunting and being hunted, hiding or getting sneak attacked. The Dead Rising series heavily relies on the fun of the gameplay. But, I’m not here to review the original games, as I want to focus on what they have changed. With a little bit of reading, I realised they’ve made quite a big change in this version: It has gone 30fps game to a 60fps game. Now, in gaming terms, this is actually quite a big change. And one I’m absolutely stoked to witness in the new release of Skyrim. I mean, do you remember playing Skyrim and it freezing and pausing all the time. Yes. But do you remember playing Dead Rising and it pausing all the time. I don’t. Why? I’ve got my own theory about this; As you will tell by any original review, the zombies are quite slow and even though it is a hack and slash beat-em up, it isn’t particularly going at a frantic pace. This wasn’t because of the frame rate and is more to do with the style of the game. So it turns out that this hasn’t changed a single bit. This game is still not a fast and frantic game, so it doesn’t really make much difference now it’s in 60fps. Due to the lack of any significant changes, here I think the right score would also be a 6.
When it comes to the sound, by my reckonings, they haven’t changed the music or voice editing at all, but this isn’t a bad thing. Yes, I didn’t recognise any of the songs which were played. Yes, I didn’t find myself singing along to anything. But YES, I did find myself fully psyched to destroy as many zombies as I could. The music is fast-paced with a wide range of different beats jumping around constantly. In fact, it’s a lot faster than the zombies’ reactions, getting you hyped up and ready to swing anything you found, perfectly fitting the game and sometimes some things don’t need changing (boy, I wish they would understand that with Final Fantasy VII!). The voice editing is equally cool, and obviously there is a difference between the first game and the second, but then you would expect that due to the 4-year time difference, as well as the changes which were made in the gaming industry. I particularly liked Chuck Greene‘s voice. His coolness is personified when he is talking to the two incestuous twins before he swings his big bat. Overall, I was impressed with the sound, just like I was when I first played it and would say that it deserves a very solid 8.
Now, did I enjoy the games when I first played them? Yes, I certainly did. Did I enjoy playing the new ones? Yes, I did. Would I have enjoyed playing the games if I replayed them in their original state? Yes. So this becomes a bit of a predicament. I love the energy in the game, even though it at times feels a little slower than it could have been. I loved going round and killing zombies; the cheesy story line and the corny characters; I love that this game isn’t one that will take you 400 hours to complete; it’s fun and the sort of thing I needed to play after having partaken in a lot of sport games and getting severely stressed out. So yes, I enjoyed this game and therefore I believe it justifies a 9, because no matter how many faults and flaws some games have, it doesn’t mean that you won’t like it.
If you’ve never played these games before, then an overall score of 8.5 woud feel appropriate, but I feel that these are two games (forget the 3rd, odd, entry in this package), which any gamer should experience. I have high hopes for Dead Rising 4 and feel these 2 games will get you ready and salivating. However, if you’ve been down this road before, and are debating whether to head that way again, then the overall is more like a 7. It’s a great game, and is the best version you’ll be able to play, but I do believe they could have just made it a little bit better.
Dead Rising Triple Pack is out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The links atop this page are for the first entry in the series, as they’re the only ones available in physical form. The others are only available from the requisite console stores and Steam, and click on the top-right picture for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: Capcom
- Players: single player, multiplayer
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
6 8 6 9 |
| OVERALL | 7 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.
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