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Dead Rising key art: Frank West in a leather jacket raises a television over his head above a crowd of zombies in a burning mall

Zombie

Dead Rising

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72 hours in a mall full of zombies, with anything in the shops as a weapon.

Platforms
PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Price
Paid
Rated
Very Positive on Steam (88% of 7,299 reviews); 4.5 of 5 from about 2,700 ratings on the PlayStation Store
Players
1
Made by
Capcom
Released
2006

What frightens Photojournalist Frank West is stuck in a shopping mall as thousands of zombies flood it, with 72 hours until his ride comes back; the dead fill every hall in crowds, grow faster and stronger after dark, and story events and trapped survivors are lost for good if you are not there in time.

Content: gore, violence.

Dead Rising is Capcom's zombie action horror game, first released in 2006 and brought to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016. As photojournalist Frank West you are trapped in Willamette Mall for 72 hours while it fills with the undead, fighting with whatever you can pick up, saving survivors and chasing the story of the outbreak against a clock that never stops.

About Dead Rising

Dead Rising is an action horror game by Capcom. It first came out in 2006, and this version was released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2016, with up to five save slots, native controller support, resolutions up to 4K, an uncapped frame rate and rebindable keyboard and mouse controls.

It is not the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster already on this site. That is Capcom's 2024 rebuild of this same game in the RE Engine, with new graphics, full voice acting, autosaves and reworked controls. This is the original, with its original look and save system. Both follow the same 72 hours in the same mall.

Frank West, a freelance photojournalist, follows a lead to a small town and finds it overrun by zombies. He takes refuge in the local shopping mall, thinking it will be safe, and it is anything but. He has 72 hours. Until then you are free to roam the mall's shops and plazas, indoors and out.

Time runs in real time whether you act or not. Key story events happen at set hours, and other survivors are hiding in the mall, and helping them can give clues to what has happened. The dead come in crowds that fill whole halls at once, and after sunset they become stronger and faster. Almost anything in the shops is a weapon: golf clubs, frying pans, lawnmowers, benches and table umbrellas, and mall food restores health. Frank's camera matters too: photographs of what you see earn rewards, and the better the shot, the bigger the reward.

Its horror is the crowd and the clock more than quiet dread. It suits players who want an open zombie sandbox with a deadline, and anyone who wants the original game behind the remaster.

How to play Dead Rising

  1. Buy Dead Rising on Steam, the PlayStation Store or the Xbox store.
  2. Start the story as Frank West and get your bearings in the mall.
  3. Pick up anything you can use as a weapon from the shops, and eat mall food to restore health.
  4. Watch the clock and the case alerts; story events happen at set times whether you are there or not.
  5. Find the survivors hiding in the mall and help them; they can give clues to what happened.
  6. Take photographs of what you see for rewards, and save often across your save slots.

Screenshots

Dead Rising screenshot: a mall atrium packed with hundreds of zombies walking toward the stairs
Dead Rising screenshot: Frank fires a handgun at close range into a bloodied zombie in a mall plaza with palm trees
Dead Rising screenshot: Frank swings a baseball bat among zombies by a clock tower in the Entrance Plaza, blood on the floor
Dead Rising screenshot: a zombie with a yellow mask on its head walks among bodies in front of a music shop

Tips

  • Use more than one of the five save slots so you can go back if a plan goes wrong.
  • Plan routes before nightfall, when the zombies become stronger and faster.
  • Carry spare food; it is your only way to heal.
  • The clock keeps running while you explore; decide which leads matter most before you set off.
  • Look for heavy items in the shops; a sturdy weapon clears a path through a crowd faster than a light one.

Questions

Is this the original Dead Rising or the Deluxe Remaster?

This is the original game, in its 2016 release for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, from 2024, rebuilds the same game with new graphics, full voice acting, autosaves and reworked controls.

Is Dead Rising a horror game?

Capcom calls it an action horror game. The fear comes from crowds of zombies, a clock that never stops and survivors you can fail to save, more than from quiet dread.

Does Dead Rising have a time limit?

Yes. The story runs over 72 hours of game time in real time, and events happen whether or not you are there.

Can I play Dead Rising with friends?

No, it is single-player only.

Which platforms is it on?

This version is sold on Steam for Windows, on the PlayStation Store for PS4 and on the Xbox store.

  • third person
  • open world
  • mall
  • time limit
  • photography
  • melee
  • zombie hordes
  • frank west
  • 2006
  • classic

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Dead Rising is played on store.steampowered.com and its makers' stores; this page links to them and is not part of it. Pictures are from the game's own pages and remain its owner's. Terms and pictures.

Sources: store.steampowered.com, store.steampowered.com, store.playstation.com, xbox.com