Dead Rising is the reason I bought an Xbox 360, so it holds a special place in my heart. But as much as I look back on my time with the game fondly, I also find it virtually unplayable today. There are a few reasons for that; the prisoners in the courtyard are incredibly annoying, the mission timer is much too strict, and generally, I’m not into replaying older games after a certain stretch of time.
But more than anything, Dead Rising suffers as a game in 2024 because of one flaw: its NPC allies are dumb. Dead Rising–as a wacky zombie game that offers a different flavor than Capcom’s other zombie series, Resident Evil–is a success, for the most part. But it’s also the ultimate escort mission, and a great example of why players so often hate that sort of thing.
If you have never played it, Dead Rising borrows heavily from Dawn of the Dead, putting players in a mall full of zombies and challenging them to survive several in-game days until rescue arrives. Along the way, 50 NPCs can be discovered, some of them fighting for their lives, others hiding out in fast food restaurants, or maintaining their heartbeat in a number of other ways. I love the concept of finding other survivors in a world of undead and recruiting them to your side while getting them to safety, but Dead Rising’s NPCs are far too likely to get their throats ripped out thanks to poor AI.
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