FEATURE: Games That Scared My Wii Off - Part V: "Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop"

[The fifth part of a series devoted to horror games on the Wii and the films that inspire them]

Report

Developers: Tose Software, Capcom

Price: $18~

Rating: M

Release: February 24th, 2009

Sales: 240,000

Recap
Zombies in a mall.  Go fish.

Review
The title is apt in Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, because it's clear the publishers were willing to hack away at the original game, regardless of how lifeless the end result would be.  The result being a neutered Wii version with inferior graphics, reduced maps, fewer weapons, and some baffling gameplay omissions.  What's missing?  For one thing, photojournalist hero Frank West no longer takes pictures in the game.  Now he's just some guy.  In another palm-to-face move, the mall is a hell of a lot smaller than in the original game, and zombies "fade" into view when they're about twenty feet away, which is a graphical cheat I haven't seen since Turok on the Nintendo 64.  At least that game could claim a heavy jungle fog.

Although the game features a linear story, the player can dip in and out of it as with the Grand Theft Auto games and simply go exploring.  This offers some limited thrills, but the novelty wears out quickly, and although Frank West can find a wide variety of weapons for killing zombies, the problem remains that Frank West is killing zombies, and zombies aren't interesting video game villains.  They don't invite clever AI, and they all look the same.  Remember that middle sequence in Romero's Dawn of the Dead, when the heroes were clearing the mall of zombies, and how quickly it became business as usual?  How quickly it grew dull?  This game has a legal disclaimer that says it's not Dawn of the Dead.  No, it's not.  That film had a brain in its head.  This numbing action is as mindless as the ghoul walking down the up escalator.

RATING: D+

Resemblance

100% Dawn of the Dead - That's all.

---

Earlier Entries

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - A - Stunning, immersive, complex, mature, brilliant. 

Cursed Mountain - B- - Rote gameplay improved with unique story and presentation.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition - A - The classic is still classic; extras boost the package.

Dead Space: Extraction - B - Enjoyable Event Horizon variation with ample gunplay.