#SDCC 2013: Hands-On with Dead Rising 3
Steve Barton
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There I was walking around the Hard Rock Hotel when I saw a HUGE Xbox One sign plastered above a ballroom. I immediately inquired what was going on and was told it was a closed-door showcase for select members of press. Now, me? I’m big, mean looking, and strangely charming. Of course I talked my way in!
The one game I have been waiting for since its announcement is Dead Rising 3. The game will star new character Nick Ramos in Los Peridos and be available exclusively for the Xbox One this holiday season. There were tons of games working and on display, such as Forza, which was BEAUTIFUL, and Project: Spark, which was pretty damned impressive in its own right, but for me? It was all about Capcom’s latest undead foray.
My initial impression of the Xbox One itself was that it is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Truth be told, it may just be slightly larger than current 360s, but it was WHISPER quiet while running, and the controller? Believe me when I tell you guys if you thought the 360 controller was pretty sweet, they’ve taken an already amazing controller and made it more comfortable and rock solid. It was love at first feel.
Now on to the game…
At E3 we saw an impressive, yet quick demo. Here I had the game in front of me with two of the developers. Simply put, if you thought the game looked cool before, you cannot even begin to wrap your head around how absolutely psychotic it was in front of me. Essentially I got to drool my way through 30 minutes of absolute zombie carnage. Limbs, blood, and grue were flying EVERYWHERE. Seeing the sledge saw in action? It was like sampling a fine red wine. Even the hand-to-hand combat was designed with a true bloodlust. I cackled with delight as Ramos came up behind a member of the undead, inserted his fingers in its nostrils, and pulled the top part of its head clean off while blood literally soaked the screen. From there we ended up in a graveyard complete with hearse. Of course I got in that thing post-haste and immediately started mowing down the dead through a cemetery as both bodies and headstones alike were getting thrashed and crushed.
Speaking of the dead, in the entire 30 minutes I was privy to, I honestly did not see a single repeat zombie, and there were hundreds of them on the screen. I asked what the maximum onscreen zombie infestation is, and one of the devs turned, looked at me, smiled, and quipped, “A shitload.” He wasn’t kidding either. These things were everywhere! It was like a veritable sea of various degrees of decomposition. Textures were spot-on, the music was pounding, and the game ran like butter. But little did I know the best was yet to come…
Smart Glass. You know that little app that’s available for your tablet and smartphone that is horridly underutilized on the 360? For Dead Rising 3 there’s an option to have it fully integrated into the game. Yes, you can play the game without it, but you’d be missing out on the immersion. Need to know where the nearest gun shop is? Tap your phone or tablet, and a marker will pop up on your screen. Low on food or blunt objects? Again, they’re just a tap away. Need to call in an airstrike to an area that’s just way too overrun to even dream of getting through? Weapons of mass destruction are a tap away, and when they hit, they come in a glorious flurry of fire and violence. Even cooler? You know how in past Dead Rising games your main character’s means of communication was via cellphone? Well, guess what! You can use your smartphone or tablet as that game phone. With Smart Glass open, your phone will actually ring and you’ll get instructions. You’ll even be getting text messages from characters in the game!
Add on full drop-in, drop-out co-op through the story mode; and we’ve got hours of zombie killing mayhem ahead of us!
With that, my time was up. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted this now. I wanted to leave a tiny basket of fruit in front of the Xbox One. Life was good, and November cannot get here soon enough! Get set, zombie fans! Dark days are coming, and they’re ever so sweet!
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Categorized:Horror Gaming
