====== Dead Rising ======

Released in 2006 by Capcom Production Studio 1.  Played during undergrad on my roommate's XBOX 360.

I'd never been thrilled about zombie-themed games - gore isn't my thing.  Then a roommate brought this back and, curiosity piqued, I gave it a try.  To my surprise this became one of my favorite games of all time, featuring an environment crammed with detail, loads of usable objects, a well-written story and shovels of quirky Capcom charm.  The game is hard, but fair, and has you always making interesting strategic decisions.  It also does a great job with its leveling system, where you are allowed to feel very powerful when you've leveled but the challenge increases to match. I don't know how they did both.  Anyway... worth all the bugs and janky controls and zombies.  From a pure game point of view, this is masterful.

{{tag>videogame played "played in 2007" "played on X360" recommended}}