Dead Rising is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Capcom Production Studio 1 and published by Capcom. The game's story sees players controlling Frank West, a photo journalist who becomes trapped in a shopping mall within the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, that is suffering from a zombie outbreak and finds himself not only surviving by salvaging various items for weapons, but also rescuing survivors trapped in the complex and dealing with crazed psychopaths, while attempting to stay alive to uncover the truth behind the incident. While players must complete major missions to advance the main story, the sandbox element of the game means that optional tasks can be done, with several additional endings available if the player does not complete certain conditions towards the true ending of the story.
Originally released for the Xbox 360 video game console on August 8, 2006, the game became a commercial success, leading it to being introduced as part of the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup, while also spawning three sequels – Dead Rising 2 in September 2010, Dead Rising 3 in November 2013, and Dead Rising 4 in December 2016. A remake of the game was made for the Wii, entitled Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, and released in February 2009, with a mobile phone version also created. As part of its tenth anniversary, the game was re-released on September 13, 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Plot[]
In 2006, photojournalist Frank West is alerted by a source that something is happening in the town of Willamette, Colorado. Flying into the town with helicopter pilot Ed DeLuca, he learns that the town is subject to a military quarantine and observes several violent incidents throughout the town. He is dropped onto the Willamette Parkview Mall's helipad, after asking Ed to return in three days.
Arriving in the mall, he learns that the quarantine is due to an outbreak of zombies. The mall is breached, forcing Frank to take refuge in the mall's security room. With the help of janitor Otis Washington, he travels into the mall. After helping D.H.S. agent Brad Garrison in a firefight against an unknown assailant, the two strike an alliance. Person of interest to Brad, Russell Barnaby is located by the two, hidden in a bookstore. Barnaby refuses to be escorted to safety, forcing the two to return to the security room. Unable to call for assistance due to a communications jammer, the two rescue Barnaby from the unknown assailant. Brad is injured, forcing Frank to search for medicine.
In his search, he comes across a woman he met during the mall's breach. The woman rebukes him, mentioning Santa Cabeza. Frank learns from Barnaby that Santa Cabeza was ostensibly a Central American town linked to the drug trade; which distributed drugs that had a zombifying effect. Locating the woman again on security monitors, he questions her. Revealing herself to be Isabela Keyes, sister of the unknown assailant, Carlito, she promises to set up an interview between the two.
Isabela comes to the meeting alone, after being shot in a rage by Carlito. Frank escorts Isabela to the security room, where she reveals that Santa Cabeza was home to an American research facility experimenting on cattle and that Barnaby was its head. Isabela, as a research assistant, was privy to the fact that a species of native wasp was used in an attempt to boost the performance of cattle, but instead had a zombifying effect. The wasps escaped and infected humans, forcing a U.S. military cleanup of all life in the town, with few escapees. Barnaby begins to zombify and attacks Brad's partner, Jessie McCarney, and is killed.
Isabela reveals that Carlito is planning to use the mall as a staging point to spread the parasites across the country, using bombs located in trucks. Brad and Frank disable the bombs. Brad and Carlito engage in a firefight, and Carlito is mortally wounded. Carlito manages to kick Brad out of the room, where he is injured by zombies off-screen. Frank can find him in the tunnels, where he tells Frank not to tell Jessie, and slides his handgun to Frank, implying that he wants Frank to shoot him. He will then fully turn.
Frank locates Carlito and receives his locket, before Carlito dies. The locket causes Isabela to realize the password of Carlito's computer, allowing her to shut down the jammer. However, U.S. Special Forces arrive in the mall regardless, and have cleanup orders. Jessie is allowed to live, but she zombifies. Otis escapes with a helicopter and possible survivors that Frank rescued. Frank returns to the helipad alone, and DeLuca's helicopter arrives, but crashes into the mall's clock tower.
Isabela arrives, but Frank passes out. Isabela realises that Frank has been infected by the wasp larval parasite. Frank gathers supplies for a drug that can suppress the parasite, and discovers an exit from the mall created by DeLuca's crash. Isabela learns from Carlito's computer that he has manufactured the drug before, and used it on fifty infected orphans, spreading them across the country. After exiting the mall, Frank encounters the cleanup operation's commander, Brock Mason, who also commanded Santa Cabeza's operation. The two fight, until Mason is knocked into a crowd of zombies.
Frank and Isabela escape from Willamette, but Isabela is taken into custody as a perpetrator of the incident. Frank manages to report on the incident and Santa Cabeza, but the truth of Carlito's orphans remain unknown.