The Best Xbox Game Every Year 2001 - 2024
19. 2006 - Dead Rising
The first year of the Xbox 360 was stacked. The original Gears of War, Oblivion, Rainbow Six Vegas: all of these games were not just fantastic experiences but pushed the industry forward. However, there was none so unique as Dead Rising.
Whilst Capcom had plenty of experiences with zombies thanks to Resident Evil, this brand-new IP allowed for a totally different take and feel. Instead of dark, cramped corridors where players fought tooth and nail against a couple of terrifying undead; Dead Rising put hundreds of zombies into the open space of a brightly-lit mall. It then thrust traffic cones, guitars and shopping trolleys into players' hands and basically said "go nuts".
Being designed specifically for the next generation did create issues with tiny on-screen text for players with standard definition TVs but if anything it just felt as though the future had arrived. Seeing so many enemies swarming photojournalist Frank West was mind-blowing, as was mowing them down in a sedan.
Dead Rising was one of the biggest flag-wavers for what the Xbox 360 was capable of, and sold over one million copies.