Dead Rising 3 Review (Xbox One)

very good
key review info
  • Game: Dead Rising 3
  • Platform: Xbox One
  • Show system requirements
  • Reviewed on:
Dead Rising 3 review on Xbox One

Dead Rising games have always had great ambitions but, in the end, their execution and gameplay didn't exactly match up to the promises of developer Capcom, as the undead hordes were confined to very small spaces and the timed missions hampered a lot of the inherent fun of blasting zombies away with improvised weapons.

For the Xbox One, Capcom's Vancouver studio worked alongside Microsoft to make sure that Dead Rising 3 delivers the best zombie experience out there, through a huge open world, all sorts of crazy weapon combinations, and a smaller emphasis on the ticking clock.

Does Dead Rising 3 manage to deliver on these promises or should the zombie horde devour it whole? Let's find out.

Story

Dead Rising 3 follows the story of a brand new protagonist, a car mechanic named Nick. He and a few other survivors are stuck in the city of Los Perdidos, a parody of Los Angeles, which contains a huge open world that, of course, is filled with thousands of zombies.

The infection from the first two games continues to spread throughout the U.S. and, in order to add the traditional sense of urgency to the whole plot, the army wants to drop an incendiary bomb on the city in order to wipe everything out in a few days.

As you can imagine, Nick and his friends don't want to stay in the zombie-infested city and are looking for ways to get out via official disease centers. Besides this core plot, whose missions advance the in-game time, you're free to pursue all sorts of activities in Los Perdidos without worrying about a bomb dropping while you're having fun with the undead.

Overall, the plot of the game manages to strike a pretty good balance between dramatic and comedic, although some of the characters are just stereotypes blown out of proportion to lesser or greater effect. Some twists can be seen from a mile away but other, smaller ones, provide some surprise.

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Play as Nick Ramos ...
... and survive the zombie apocalypse

Gameplay

Dead Rising 3 retains the third-person action core of previous games but adds quite a few new mechanics on top of that experience.

As mentioned above, the city of Los Perdidos is now a giant open world that can be explored on foot or by using the very few working cars scattered throughout it. There's a huge number of zombies both on the streets and inside buildings but, with some clever running and by jumping on top of cars or other objects, you can get around the world without necessarily getting your hands dirty.

There are some moments when zombies that seem to be out of reach catch you, but in these situations a quick flick of the Xbox One controller, as registered by the Kinect, gets you out of their undead clutches. Speaking of the Kinect, the new and improved sensor is used to great effect here, as you can employ voice commands to interact with both your allies and the undead. Unfortunately, not all of them register with the peripheral, meaning you'll have to shout several times before a command is enabled.

Nick is an auto mechanic, which means that, besides combining weapons and objects into all sorts of crazy weapons or surprises, he can also combine cars and vehicles to generate monstrosities, from big steamrollers to deadly bikes and much more.

These moments are relatively common in the main campaign and, provided you score enough blueprints that are scattered throughout the game's world, you'll be able to create them while exploring Los Perdidos.

In terms of weapon combos and character customization, Dead Rising 3 shows that it sticks to its hilarious routes, allowing Nick to create all sorts of crazy weapons using different items found around the game world. He can also wear many different outfits and items, from sunglasses to a very revealing banana hammock.

While exploring the world you can also enlist the aid of the different allies and non-playable characters that you find throughout the city. They are mostly quite capable of defending themselves against the zombie horde, although their attacks are rather weak. They also make exploring small locations, like apartments, a pain, as they always decide to jam doors or tight corridors.

In terms of the actual zombies, they're a bit more varied this time around, as besides the regular undead, there are quite a few special infected with memories from their past lives. For example, zombie cops know to chaotically shoot their weapons, adding a new element of danger.

Besides the undead, the Psycho bosses return, which are regular humans driven mad by the zombies, and in Dead Rising 3 represent the seven deadly sins. These include an Asian monk-like character who uses smoke bombs, to a nerd who's jealous of Nick and his adventures, and much more.

The game also features an extensive skill tree system that allows Nick to spend his attribute points in all sorts of areas, from improving his health, to his inventory slots, his stamina, or his speed. Leveling up is achieved by earning enough PP, which is granted when killing zombies, completing objectives, or using special weapons and executions.

While the huge open world of Los Perdidos is quite impressive, its layout is rather confusing and the map doesn't show you routes that are jammed by destroyed vehicles. This makes getting around by car a real pain, as you constantly need to back up and try alternate routes, giving zombies more time to damage the vehicle, rendering it unusable.

Multiplayer

Dead Rising 3 has a cooperative multiplayer mode in which Nick is joined by one of the NPCs from the story, a truck driver named Dick. This experience is quite fun, as you can both progress through the story together or just have fun in the game's open world alone, as Dead Rising 3 doesn't force you to stick together at all times.

You can engage in the different Survival Challenges scattered across the game's world or create your own activities. We noticed very little lag or issues during this mode, but don't forget that a Gold subscription is required to enjoy it.

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Craft combo weapons ...
... and cars

Visuals and Sound

Dead Rising 3 on the Xbox One has a native framerate of 720p, which is upscaled to 1080p by the console, and a framerate locked at 30fps. While this ensures that the game has almost no freezes or lag during the most hectic of moments, it also generates some issues.

The lack of anti-aliasing is evident when it comes to shadows and there are some extremely low-res textures present in the game, especially when it comes to the underside of cars that can be found flipped over in the city. Besides these problems, the game looks relatively good but it's far from being a shining example of next-gen visuals.

In terms of sound, the title handles pretty well but it's not anything out of the ordinary. The soundtrack is decent and the voice actors do a good enough job of sounding serious when the time is right and silly when other things happen.

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Use crazy weapons ...
... and vehicles

Conclusion

Dead Rising 3 is a great open world zombie game that will delight through its crazy weapon combos, its emphasis on fun, and the many different tasks you can accomplish in Los Perdidos. While there are a few bugs and problematic areas, and its visuals may not scream next-gen, it's still a great experience for Xbox One owners.

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story 8
gameplay 8
concept 7
graphics 8
audio 7
multiplayer 8
final rating 8
Editor's review
very good
 
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