This game is brutal to players in the beginning, but stick with it, and you're in for a hell of a ride.
It's tough to understand exactly why they did this, but it seems that Capcom KNEW their game would be very difficult to beat with your physically lame main character, so they added a feature so that you could star the the game over from the very beginning, but you would have all the health, inventory, stock and ability power-ups you had gained the last time you went through. So basically, you can go through until you level up a bunch of times, restart the game, and WHAM there you are a lot stronger than before. You think they would have just made it so you could play straight from the beginning without that being necessary, but no. However, once you DO level up, the game is amazingly fun.
You play as freelance journalist photographer Frank West, who got an inside tip that something was going down in a small Colorado town. He charters a plain to fly him there, and sees lots of strange things from the sky. Apparently watching people get mutilated from the air wasnt good enough for Frank, because he has the pilot land him on the roof of the shopping mall. I dont understand how that can be concieved as smart, but whatever. Anyway, once you hit the roof, off you go. The game starts with the zombies getting into the mall, due to one old ladies' extraordinary stupidity. However, as things unfold, you realize that there is something going on here that is deeper than just the zombies.
This gives way to the "mission" system in the game. Each mission is called a "case file" and you must progress to each case file mission in order to complete the game's main storyline. However, if you fail to complete the main missions, you do not have to try again. You simply get a "the truth has been lost" message, and you are no longer eligible to find out what's really going on. I wouldnt recommend this, but whatever. Aside from the case file missions, you also will encounter survivors, and Otis, the janitor who gives you the most annoying radio, will fill you in on even more people who are trapped around the mall and need your help. These escort missions are annoying and sometimes frustrating, but they are essential to leveling up your character, so doing them is sometimes necessary.
If you dont feel like doing escorts, then you can fill the time in between case files by bashing in zombie brains. The great thing about this is that you can do it with whatever happens to be in your area. Benches, umbrellas, baseballs bats, guitars, you name it. Each weapons has its uses, so its important to know what weapons you want to carry with you. If you get a weapon good for one on one combat, and you get stuck battling a huge group, you are going to be in trouble. Thankfully, you can store weapons in your inventory. Don't get to excited though, because some weapons are classified as "heavy" and cant be carried in your inventory. It's okay though, since these weapons tend to be last resort anyway.
Graphically the game is pretty good for a launch title. The character models are good, as are the brutal attack animations. Blood goes everywhere and covers the ground, and the zombies move in some truly strange fashions. Each zombie looks mutilated, and for the most part unique, which is nice. It at least means you wont mow down generic enemies the whole game. There are also other types of enemies besides zombies, sometimes in the case file missions, but sometimes just randomly moving around. These guys add up some extra PP (the experience for leveling up) if you can beat them, and range from easy to pretty difficult. You can choose to fight them, or you can run, its your call.
So there you have it. If you have always wanted a game based off Dawn of the Dead, then this is as close as it gets, and trust me, you probably wont be disappointed. The real time save system requires you to find a couch or a restroom to save, but since they are labled on your map, it makes it at least manageable. If the idea of beating the crap out of zombies in a shopping mall sounds fun, then this is the game for you.