Welcome to the B-side to the Dead Rising review
Tips & Tricks
When I was younger I treasured the tips & tricks books that came with the magazines. I’d read them cover to cover and thanks to the lack of images it made every game sound like alongside all the 1s and 0s in the code were trace amounts of LSD. My six-year-old brain couldn’t handle the idea of a dinosaur ripping through the stadium in International Track & Field (land a special distance of 2.22 or 3.33 etc in the shot put event). Some cheats, like the codes for Grand Theft Auto 3, present a clearer image of how people actually play the game.
In this spirit here are some of the essential tips required for surviving Dead Rising.
Eat Pie Love
Columbian Roastmasters should be a port of call on each trip to the Security Room. Take advantage of the unlimited supply of orange juice and pies (smash the glass front counter) and mix both in the blender to make the Untouchable drink. Untouchable gives a short immunity from zombies and restores Frank’s health bar completely. Blend as many as you can carry. Also be sure leave via the furthest window on the left and pick up the katana on the ledge beneath the window.
Just like Kim Cattrall!
Feels like this may be a bug but the often overlooked Mannequin Torso is a surprisingly powerful weapon. Very useful for taking out psychopaths and for clearing out paths early in the game. There are three assembled mannequins in the storage area on the way to the security room. Smash em apart and grab some chest.
A picture speaks a thousand points
Levelling up in the early to mid-game can be done exclusively by taking photographs. Easy PP events are when the gas station explodes during the helicopter ride and reuniting the couple on the rooftop when leaving the air duct. Useful books for boosting PP effects are:
- Wartime Photography- +25% PP from photos (Everyone Luvs Books in Entrance Plaza);
- Camera 1- +25% PP from photos (Contemporary Reading in Paradise Plaza);
- Weekly Photo Magazine- allows Frank to see PP markers above a zombie’s head (Contemporary Reading in Paradise Plaza).
There are many easy PP stickers to be found in the Colby’s Movieland lobby.
Kill the clown
On September 19th, 9 PM take the Out of Control scoop in Wonderland Plaza and take out Adam the Clown. I used the uzi found on the balcony in Paradise Plaza and a few handguns and kept my distance. Pop his poison balloons to open him up for more damage. Once defeated you can pick up his Small Chainsaws which in combination with the Engineering (Bachman’s Bookporium in Paradise Plaza), Criminal Biography (Sir Book-a-Lot in Wonderland Plaza) and Entertainment (Bachman’s Bookporium in Paradise Plaza) books will increase the longevity of the chainsaws by a factor of 27. Factor 27 Chainsaw lasts practically forever and is great for quickly hacking through psychopaths and safely escorting survivors through the big crowds. This also unlocks a vital shortcut between Wonderland Plaza and Paradise Plaza via the bathrooms.
Infinity Mode
Unlocked after completing the main story to its fullest extent, Infinity Mode is where masochists call home. It’s brutal. Please read the following as you would having received a ransom letter and your loved one’s little finger:
- Frank’s health drops by one block every 100 seconds
- Food items no longer respawn and unlimited supplies of food are disabled. So don’t bother going to Sean’s supermarket
- No saves
- Unlocking the 7 Day Survivor achievement requires 14 straight hours of gameplay. Pretend the Xbox 360 is an NES and get ready to leave it on all night
- A common fault of the Xbox 360 is the risk of overheating when the unit is left running for excessive amounts of time and may result in a terminal Red Ring of Death
- All survivors are now hostile and spawn in different locations. If defeated they may drop food
- All psychopaths and survivors respawn three times each day. Some of them do not drop any food
- All blenders are disabled. Blended juices would restore Frank’s health completely
- Frank no longer has a watch. To check the time you must squint at the clocks around the mall
- There are many extensive guides out there on how to survive seven days. All of them recommend reading a book during the 14 hours to pass the time
Zombie Genocider
Do it. Kill 53,594 zombies in 72 hour Mode. The Real Mega Man Blaster with its respawning 300 ammo chops through psychopaths, special forces and cult members. It’s the god weapon of Dead Rising.
Use the route shown on the map below to drive around the maintenance tunnels. Rotate through the three vehicles and make use of the maintenance tunnel key to reach a savepoint via the underground stairs.
I averaged between 400 and 700 zombies per cycle and it took me maybe 5 or so hours. Make it worth your while and grab the Horror Novel 1 (The Sinister Read in Entrance Plaza) and Horror Novel 2 (Bachman’s Bookporium in Paradise Plaza) which each boost PP from killing zombies by 25% to do some serious levelling. Remember to actually survive to the end of the three days (any ending will suffice) or it will all be in vain.
Frank the Pimp and Gourmet
There are a number of excellent guides out there but the team of PJthePlayer and Perplexr have two expert videos to get the Frank the Pimp and Gourmet achievements. Glimpse the madness.
Ball Park Frank
PJthePlayer and Perplexr have also made my favourite piece of machinima. I hope you enjoy the saga as much as I do!