I Kill Dead People

Zombies are a lot fun, they truly are. Yes, they want to eat the living. Yes, they are mindless to the point to where turning a door knob to open a door is a challenge. And yes, they usually follow each other around and don’t observe any kind of independence. And yes, they have been contributing money, web space, and their potential vote to Ron Paul. But they are so much fun to take a chainsaw to. Really. Fire up the gas powered felling machine and apply it generously to the walking carcasses that malinger about.

My socio-political commentary isn’t really focused on politics and society, but on a videogame. It’s called Dead Rising and I enjoy it a lot. And you gaming geeks, don’t give me any noise about the game being “so old;” I just got my Xbox360 from my folks as a Christmas gift. A wonderful Christmas gift.

So the premise of this game is basic – zombies are at it again. Something has turned the majority of the population into the walking dead and they are very hungry. They are not vegans either. They want to eat people, for the most part, and of course you play a “people” in the game. You’re a photojournalist with very little concern about law or safety, as you are dropped onto the roof of a massive, yet overrun mall in “anywhere” U.S.A.



You progress through the story – let me explain that most games these days no longer use “lives.” You know what I mean? You get three lives to start a videogame, with the opportunity to earn more depending on performance. Current games don’t give you lives. You usually are given one. And the goal is no longer to post a high score, but to progress through the game’s plot.

Can a videogame have a story? Yes. Stories that rival 90% of Hollywood’s yearly output. As a writer, I know stories… both good and bad.

Getting back to Dead Rising, the story unfolds as you manage to stay alive. I think I am about half way through the tale and my guess is that the story will reveal why and how people have turned into the undead. There are some very interesting characters and unbelievably scary and evil people in the game that you have to deal with who are very much alive.



There are few reasons why this game is a lot of fun – first, the atmosphere is amusing. Imagine a mall, invested with hundreds if not thousands of zombies. The moaning and shuffling around. It sounds creepy right? What is funny is the game doesn’t insert creepy music most of the time, all you hear over the zombie-chatter, is…muzak. Mall music. I found that hilarious. Oh sure, there’s a lot of deadly things wandering about, but let’s listen to the best of Michael McDonald as performed by Zamfir.

You have the various characters you run into that are surviving the invasion as well as the evil bastards thriving in it. The evil ones really make you dislike them.

And of course, you have the wanton violence – you have to be able to dispose of a zombie army somehow and the game developers give the player the freedom to use just about anything to do. You can pick up a bench and smash it into a shuffling ghoul. You can pick up a potted plant and crash it into the head of a zombie. Dishes. A frying pan. Patio furniture. Stuff animals. Soccer balls. Lead pipe. Coat hanger. Stratocaster guitars. Plywood sheets. Shopping carts. Ketchup bottles. Cooking oil. You see it, chances are, you can use it.

Of course, you have the more traditional weapons – baseball bat, chainsaw, handgun, shotgun, katana blade, 2 x 4… lawnmower. All of them bloody and insane. Basically, fun for adults and a great way to blow off some steam.



The last couple of nights, I’ve been spinning this game in the 360, smashing zombie skull while Lupe sits next to me on the sofa. Our cat, quietly napping, while Lupe reads a book detailing the diary of Marie Antoinette. I’m splattering virtual blood all over the place, the cat sleeping, and Lupe being smart. Interesting run of the intellectual spectrum there.

“Fantastic!”