Some recent zombie games have successfully told stories with emotional weight. The Walking Dead and The Last of Us come immediately to mind. But as I crafted my electrified garden rake for tearing apart shambling corpses, I knew Dead Rising 3 wouldn’t ever bring a tear to my eye, even in its regrettable moments of seriousness. What I did sense is that, much like preceding installments in Capcom's zombie-slasher, this Xbox One exclusive would supply me thousands upon thousands of zombies to massacre in entertaining ways, giving me enjoyment via quantity, with less emphasis on quality.
Dead Rising 3’s Nick Ramos is a nice enough guy to be stuck with in another zombie apocalypse. He’s the type of agreeable gaming protagonist that will commit to countless fetch quests, all in the name of saving whoever isn’t yet a zombie in the California town of Los Perdidos. Like previous DR heroes, Nick just wants to help who he can, kill who he must, and outlast a weird conspiracy. Nick’s story--as well as the cast of nutcases he has to deal with--works for Dead Rising’s oddball mix of comedy, social commentary, and outright gore, but it never really gels into something deeper than your average B-movie plot.
For better and worse, Dead Rising 3's story sticks to the franchise’s goofy roots, but this game does finally ditch many of the series’ biggest faults. Previous entries often felt like they were punishing you for wanting to have fun with their interesting setups. Sure, you may be stuck in a large room with dozens of items that could split open a zombie’s head, but first you had to answer your constantly ringing Walkie-talkie.
Dead Rising 3 throws out all that shit. While there’s a ticking clock for the entire campaign, the story gives you more than enough time to catch your breath and/or decapitate an undead football team. The side missions are still timed, but you otherwise set your own schedule, and the game doesn’t give you a massive guilt trip for having fun in the time allotted. And loading--once the bane of DR’s pacing--is virtually gone.
