Launching around a year after the launch of the Xbox 360, the original Dead Rising stood out for one main reason - humour. Although a zombie outbreak may not seem like the best place to have a good laugh, Dead Rising somehow managed to make it work, with all manner of crazy costumes, ridiculous weapons, and over the top encounters that rarely failed to raise a smile. Unveiled at last night's Microsoft press conference at E3, however, the latest in the series - and also an Xbox One exclusive - seems to be taking a markedly different direction.
Gone are the reasonably bright colours, gone too is the shopping mall, and in its place are zombies. Thousands of them. Set in a city that bears a striking resemblance to Los Angeles, you once again take on the role of an innocent bystander, this time a guy known as Nick Ramos, who's trapped in a city in the middle of an unexplained zombie outbreak. With no-one left with a brain that still functions, it's up to you to be as resourceful as you can to pull together any supplies you can find, and, most importantly, survive.
They may look happy, but we don't think they're about to give you a round of applause.
Apparently allowing for up to three times the number of zombies on screen that Dead Rising 2 could handle - and that in itself allowed for over a thousand - it's safe to say you're going to be coming up against some pretty tough resistance. The gameplay demo that was shown off at Microsoft's conference showed the streets literally thronging with zombies, with our hero Nick doing his best to survive amongst them. Luckily enough, though, Nick just so happens to be a mechanic - and the zombie outbreak gives him the perfect chance to show off his creative skills with the bits and pieces he finds lying around. From strapping a torch to the end of a pistol to let you use it in the dark, or tying a sledgehammer to a circular saw, you'll be able to combine ordinary objects to help improve your chances - and the more creative, the better.
With a full city to explore, you'll also be able to make use of vehicles to get around quicker - although as you'd probably expect, the roads aren't exactly quiet. With zombies everywhere, distracting, or otherwise occupying the mindless hordes will be an important part of the game, as you can't simply run them all over. As with many Xbox One games, Dead Rising 3 will also make use of the new Kinect sensor, tracking your controller so you can shake it to fend zombies off, or shout to attract zombies towards you.While the developers have promised that some of the trademark Dead Rising humour will be intact - you'll be able to dress in a mankini, for example - the demo that was shown at E3, and the screens since show a game that's taking a much grittier, more realistic, and more serious approach. As an Xbox One exclusive, the game will launch alongside the console this November.
