Dead Rising

"I picked this up the other day and just finished the 72-hour mode... needless to say it's been a very unique experience and I commend the dev team for taking some very big and bold risks. Some of them worked out extremely well, while others can be more of a pain than anything.

One of the innovations that I really like is the replayability aspect. The fact that you can restart your game at any time and keep Frank's upgraded level means you're not punished too much for experimenting. Also, there are so many paths the story of the game can take that trying them all out is extremely fun and interesting.

The one design that I really dislike is the way that weapons are handled. They're upgraded with the book system, you can only carry a limited number of them, and they break after a certain number of uses. Each one of these aspects isn't bad on its own, but when you put them all together it makes for a very limiting experience. I can understand WHY they did it to give the game more tension and force you into difficult choices. But I find it just makes me stick with certain weapons, or play in weird workaround ways to avoid dealing with these limitations.

Also, when fighting a boss or performing a specific mission, if you fail it they should start you off right after the cutscene, even if you didn't save. This would cut down on A LOT of frustration, because some of the bosses are hard and if you're not careful you can go 10 minutes without saving and then die quite quickly. Furthermore, you don't want to save right before a boss because then you can get stuck in an unwinnable situation where you'll have to restart. At the beginning of the game restarting isn't such a big deal, but when you're 10 hours in...

Still, despite these issues it's a great game that I enjoy playing and am looking forward to exploring all the different scenarios that can occur. I can see how these issues would be too much for some people though and make them hate the game."

"What I love about this game is how they were so consistent in the design. Choice is the key word, and this extends to all aspects of the game from which weapons to use, to when to save, to which ending you'll get. Everything is supported which makes the experience a virtual playground for seeing what will happen next. However, the game's small issues can creep up to completely destroy any desire to experiment.

Case-in-point. I beat the game with the full and proper ending which was a great ride. So good that I started the game up right away to try out the different endings and be a better samaritan, saving more people. This time around I took out the convicts in short order as soon as they arrived to prepare for my rescue missions. I even knew that I should bust up the jeep so they don't respawn. However... I corralled a bunch of survivors, entered the park and BAM there were the convicts mowing everyone down. Because of my game-saving strategy I'd have to replay about an hour of the game to get to that same point. Needless to say, my time is better spent elsewhere and I've shelved the game.

I was willing to put up with these kind of frustrations the first time I played the game, because the reward of seeing what's next was worth it. But now that I've experienced most things, I don't want any frustration at all."

"Such a fun game! There are TONS of objects that can be used as weapons, as you play, your powers, life, objects you can carry increases. You can either stick to the storyline or just kill as many zombies as possible!"