Dead Rising 3 Review

For two months, Dead Rising 3 has been a go-to purchase for Xbox One owners. It's not the prettiest next-generation title, not to mention certain story beats and characters might have been off-putting to gamers looking for a quality narrative, but the open-world zombocalypse game offers a genuinely breathtaking scale - with hundreds of AI zombies onscreen at any given time - that made it an early favorite for Microsoft fans looking to showoff their new console. Series staples, like customizable weaponry and clothing, along with a lengthy campaign (packed with side missions) helped to ensure that Dead Rising 3 offers a solid return on investment.

Of course, the zombie-killing doesn't end with the main single player story - as gamers will be treated to four post-release DLC installments. The first one, titled "Operation Broken Eagle" is set for release tomorrow (from the time of this writing) and to prepare, Capcom has unveiled an enormous 13GB title update for the game.

The patch is mandatory - a forced install for anyone wishing to play online. Gamers can bypass the update and avoid the download, if they disconnect their Xbox One from the Internet. However, the offline solution is only temporary (for anyone who wants to play some single player Dead Rising 3 before committing time to the full update).

Dead Rising 3 Combo Vehicle Screenshot

As for what is included in the patch, Microsoft has released a complete list of changes and additional content:

  • Content for DLC episodes 3 and 4 added as part of this CU.
  • Various Stability Fixes.
  • Various Performance Improvements.
  • Online Stability improvements.
  • Added a progress bar to main menu while installer is running.
  • Fixed an issue which could allow the user to overwrite their save file during streaming install while the game is booted.
  • Fix for missing English VUI command in Multiplayer menu.
  • Some improvements to item pickups.
  • Fixed a reproducible issue where the player could get out of the world.
  • Fixed an issue where music wasn’t present during the streaming install.
  • Fixed some mission scripting issues.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause some co-op players to not progress blueprint collection achievements correctly.
  • Fixed an issue where the UI was not updating properly.
  • Fixed an issue which caused glass textures to appear low-res.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause shadows to render incorrectly.
  • Fixed a texture issue with the Golden SledgeSaw weapon.
  • SmartGlass stability fix.

Executive producer Josh Bridge spoke with Xbox Wire about the patch - detailing some of the major changes that are included in the update. In addition to DLC content, the 13GB download also employs a number of stability enhancements: fixing blueprint and PP-related achievement/trial issues, improving pick up of a specific weapon or food when in a group of items, as well as general performance improvements that tighten up the gameplay experience.

Yet, the largest change is the addition of an "Impulse Trigger" feature:

"We use them as an indicator that, say, your gun is about to run out of ammo. So, as you start to near the end of the clip, that right trigger will start buzzing to make you aware that it's about to run out. We did that across weapons as well as vehicles. If for some reason you can't tell from the smoke and flames coming out of your vehicle, you'll also be given that haptic feedback in case you don't have time to look at the HUD or whatever. You can really feel more connected to the experience so as not to pull you out of the immersion."

Given how cluttered the screen can become as the player wades through hundreds of zombies, it's great to have additional means of knowing when a weapon or vehicle is about to wear-out. Especially in the case of melee combat, it can be challenging to both hack away at a horde of flesh-eating undead while also keeping an eye on the lower right corner of the HUD to check the status of equipped weaponry.

Dead Rising 3 Operation Eagle DLC

Bridge also confirmed that the 13GB also prepares the game for "Operation Broken Eagle" - which will be a single player-only experience (i.e. no co-op play). According to Bridge, all four DLC packs will be interwoven with the main campaign narrative - as, for lack of a better way of describing the season pass content, "The Untold Stories of Los Perdidos":

"We basically wanted to take the approach of looking at what happened in the story from different points of view of the different characters and groups of characters that were involved in the main story. We built this concept of “The Untold Stories of Los Perdidos” and we’ve put together four episodes and each one of them revolves around a different new main character that you play and how their story intertwines with the “Dead Rising 3” story. So, it’s kind of cool, you get new weapons, a custom vehicle, a new story flow, new missions. It’s fun in that we got to let you take a different approach. In “Operation Broken Eagle” you’re going in with a big military point of view and deadly weapons, including this awesome chaingun that just rips apart the zombies. We really tried to focus on telling a single-player story with this experience and all of the cool things you get with the episode, including the weapons and items and vehicles, can be used in the “Dead Rising 3” main storyline and in co-op as well."

The DLC add-ons, including "Operation Broken Eagle," will be included as standalone episodes in the main menu - but, as Bridge mentions, gamers will also be able to access weapons and customizations from the DLC in the main story (and in co-op).

As for what to expect from the first DLC episode, players will take control of Adam Kane, a Spec Ops Commander that’s been tasked with rescuing the President of the United States from zombie-infested Los Perdidos. Check out the trailer for "Operation Broken Eagle" below:

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Gamers who tired of the Dead Rising 3 campaign aren't likely to find anything especially new in the four DLC offerings - which aim to provide more of the same outrageous zombie-killing fun.

Whether the season pass or any of the isolated episodes are worth the price ($29.99 for the season pass or $9.99 for each episode) will entirely be dependent on how much a player enjoyed the core game experience - and how enthusiastic they are about a return to the same Los Perdidos sandbox (armed with a few new weapons and vehicles).

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Dead Rising 3 is available now exclusively for the Xbox One.

Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick.

Source: Xbox Wire