Capcom's "Dead Rising" for the Xbox 360 is a great open-world zombie game that is essentially an interactive "Dawn of the Dead". A comical cousin to the publisher's own "Resident Evil" series, it features a burly photographer named Frank West who ends up in a huge shopping mall surrounded by zombies. After hooking up with a group of survivors, Frank goes on an investigation to discover the source of the outbreak.
The hack n' slash nature of the game is great fun (you can practically use anything as a weapon), but it's also hampered by the timer aspect. The player is only given so much time to rescue civilians and complete story missions. If Frank doesn't reach a certain destination in time, it's either game over or on to the next mission. Either way, you won't see everything in one playthrough. "Dead Rising" also contains some RPG elements. Frank gains XP, new abilities and attack moves as he kills enemies, rescues people and completes story chapters.
The main frustrating flaws of "Dead Rising" are the save system and the friendly A.I. The NPCs that Frank tries to rescue do not fend for themselves well and usually end up as zombie chowder. And save points must be manually activated, but they are scattered throughout the huge map, making it a chore to find them. Also, unless you own an HD TV, the balloon dialogue that pops up will not be readable. Ultimately though, the good outweighs the bad. While "Dead Rising" could've been a masterpiece, it just ends up being a unique and fun creation. I'd give it an 8.3 out of 10.