HARD!
It's quite easy to find yourself in the restart-hell mode where making a slightly wrong move results in total stoppage of play and restarting. Which, in case you didn't already know, is not fun.
The very first boss of Dead Rising had me stumped for far too long and I got quite aggravated at it, not being able to figure out where to move to, to kill the damned fool! The rest of the bosses are much of the same frustrating hardness.
It's hard NOT to like Dead Rising, but one must be extremely patient and calculating in liking it. However, the opening scene of taking photographs of stranded individuals in the zombie overrun town is a great way to pull you in and make you want more more more.
Overall, it's a quality title, but why must games have such high difficulty levels these days ? Is that what is considered fun ? NOt in my book!
I've found that due to the storage size of DVD games, even when games are "easy" it still takes many hours just to complete it. That's what people really want when they play games.... they want an interactive movie that's challenging for the brain, not challenging (or impossible) for the hands to do! Dead Rising is just that, hard hard hard in spots, but a wacky and fun adventure in between the hardness.
Choose Wisely.