"DEAD RISING" SHOPPING MALL RULES ('CEPT FOR THE ZOMBIES)

I've been playing a lot of Dead Rising lately, and I have to say the mall in this game is just incredible. Now, I know this isn't a "new" game, but it's eminently replayable, and I have some tips for you if you can just keep patiently reading along, but first I just want to say: why aren't more malls like this?

Sans undead, naturally.

This mall has a "leisure park," complete with lakes and bridges, right smack-dab in the middle. It's got a gym with LOTS of weights and barbells (okay, in a real gym I would like some more actual workout equipment, but you can't have everything). It has restaurants of all kinds in a Western-style food court (where you can mix interesting things up in a blender, btw. Like what, you ask? I'm getting to that).

There's even a kid's play area with a cool rocket shuttle monorail ride and neat blocks (and a crazy clown with two chainsaws, which I would leave out of the blueprints).

Little rivers of water with cascading waterfalls run along the sides of corridors (and make excellent short-cuts through the crowds of undead). Potted plants, heck, even trees inside the mall add to the scenery.

There's not one, but several bookstores, toy stores, clothes stores and sporting goods stores with everything from skateboards to bowling balls.

In short, it's an awesome mall.

The only problem is: how are they going to top this in Dead Rising, II? The game's popularity has guaranteed there will be a sequel. How can they possibly create another setting that can compare with this inter-active Utopia? That's really had me worried for a while.

Now, an airport has much of the same amenities, but people would just load onto the planes and take off to get the heck out of there when the zombies came around, so that wouldn't really be very realistic (obviously, I have no problem altering my reality to accept that scores of zombies are infesting the airport. But that people would stick around when there are planes available? Now THAT'S stretching it!).

Finally, though, I came up with the perfect setting. Yes, thank you, I am a genius. Ahem.

So here's what I thought of, and Capcom, you can thank me later: an amusement park! Told you it was genius. I'm just basking right now. Not convinced? Can't see the big picture? Let me cast some light on the black hole of your feeble brain.

In an amusement park, you can have rides, shops, carnival games (good place to insert a mini-game, Capcom!). You can even have animals if you make the amusement park a zoo. Add in show performers with flamboyant costumes (push B to change clothes! Yea!) and you have another winner. Plus, for those of us who haven't joined the legion of undead, there are ice cream stands, cotton candy machines (probably have to find sugar for those), and popcorn to eat. Junk food goodness galore.

Whew. That's a relief. I was really worried there for a while. Now I can sleep nights, knowing they have options for the sequel.

So, you stuck it out, huh? All right, here are my personal Dead Rising tips:

Mix orange juice with just about anything in a blender. Does the word "untouchable" sound good to you?

Hey, you know those people you have to save? You can give them weapons. Also food. And they get head-shot kills. Who knew?

Milk and something else in a blender is not a good combination, unless you LIKE being Zombait.

Try heating up a frying pan on the stove and THEN wielding it as a weapon.

When Frank dies, DON'T save status and quit, unless you like starting the game over every frickin' time. LOAD instead. This is an especially useful tip for those of us who saved money by buying the game used and freaked out at the ridiculous saving system before we (doh!) figured it out.

See you later (at UndeadWorld)!

---Viv


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