Dead Rising

• Don't be afraid to start over.

• You can't save everyone and wont be able to until you are lvl 40+.

• Don't bother using guns until they are in abundance near the end of the 2nd or is it 3rd day? (you'll know when you get to this part).

• Killing Adam gives you away around the Convicts.

• Kent sucks. Kick his face in whenever you are goofing off and not playing seriously.

• Tell your survivors where to go. The auto-follow will get them mauled pretty often, and you'd be surprised how competent they become at avoiding zombies once they have a destination.

• As a more specific tip, every time you pass through the food court, it's worth it to grab all the wine you can carry. Wine is the best healing item in the game that doesn't require cooking. If you're got some injured survivors, the wine shop is also a great place to stop and heal everyone with the aforementioned wine because zombies rarely make their way up. It's an easy detour to make if you're going through the park once the gate between the food court and the way back to the security room is open.

• If you're in a situation where you can't use waypoints (typically when you're carrying a survivor), I find it helps to repeatedly hit the "follow me!" button, maybe once every few seconds. There are situations where a survivor's path will temporarily be blocked by another survivor, and I think hitting the button makes the survivor try again, as opposed to running off to find an alternate route.

• Also, take some time (which you'll have, if you don't try to do everything) to explore the mall. If you beeline between objectives, you'll never learn where the awesome food and weapons are. Explore not just the stores, but also any hard-but-not-impossible to reach areas you notice. Try using everything as a weapon at least once, and remember that your only goal is to be back on the helipad in 72 hours TEMPORARY-DASH-CHARACTER everything else is optional.

• Get the mini-chainsaws off of the psycho clown, then head to the bookstore. I don't know which ones you need, but there are three books that you can pick up to increase the durability of these weapons. With all three books in your possession, you can use the things for pretty much the entire game; they'll saw through a number of zombies in a single, quick hit, bosses will simply collapse before your sawing might, and if you ever need more you can just return to where the clown was and pick them up. You might need to get a couple more near the end of the game, if you cut through a high number of the undead.

• You're going to die. A lot. Hit continue to keep your XP, level, and unlocked abilities and keep on going. The hardware shop in the north side of the mall has wonderful weapons, especially if you grab the criminal biography book from the bookshop in Wonderland Plaza (the one with the roller coaster), fire axes and the boss's machete fucking rock.

• SAVE THE GUY AFTER THE CLOWN FIGHT, he shows you a very handy shortcut.

• I've often heard people suggest that if you find DR to be difficult, you should get the Zombie Genocider achievement and/or "triple book" the small chainsaws. NO! BAD! Don't do either of these things at all on your first playthrough, or the game will just be ruined! I'm not even going to tell you how to get either of these, look it up yourself if you want to ruin the game.

• If the game is seriously kicking your ass so bad you can't efficiently level or progress, go ahead and do the Zombie Genocider achievement or triple-book the small chainsaws (note that this is only an option for six-year-olds or people with a total of six fingers or less).

• If you want to do the Saint achievement, disregard the previous statements: you NEED the Real Mega Buster and/or triple-booked chainsaws. I don't care what anyone else says, get both of these items if you can.

• Don't get frustrated when you die; you can reload and try again, or start over with all of your experience. Note that single-run achievements can only be unlocked if you get an ending. The ending can be any ending at all, including missing the helicopter.

• The bosses all have a finite repetoire of moves and usually a finite pattern. The only exception to this is Adam the Clown who has a semi-random attack pattern and like eight different moves.

• You can give survivors items; some survivors can wield weapons. If a survivor is low on health, equip a food item, walk up to that survivor, and press (B). They will drop whatever item they may have had equipped on the ground, make sure to pick it up. Generally, only the infirm or female can not equip any weapons at all. Some females can equip handguns and some small weapons, but not shotguns or the like. Some people can equip any type of gun (other than the RMB) and any weapon that can be stored in your inventory.

• There's a gun shop in the North Plaza called the Huntin' Shack. Be warned, from night of Day 1 to night of Day 2, it is occupied by a gun-wielding boss named Cletus, who if you aren't prepared to deal with, will most likely kill the shit out of you. Of course, this is Dead Rising, you can reload and try again.

• Blenders can be used to mix special drinks. There are only two important drinks to concern yourself with: Quickstep and Nectar. Nectar summons a queen upon drinking, and increases queen spawn rates during its effect; it is obtained most easily by combining two OJs; it's so convenient I don't even know the other combinations to obtain Nectar. Quickstep can be created either by the combination of any two dairy products, or combining wine with anything other than cooking oil. It increases your movement speed to an incredibly high rate.

• Guns are pretty shit in your hands (not including the one that unlocks once you complete Zombie Genocider) due to the game's archaic aiming system. Melee weapons and, later on, your own bare hands are much more effective at clearing out packs of zombies.

• There's a katana (fast, powerful melee) on an awning that you can jump to from the Roastmasters. It will respawn every time you re-enter

• There's one SMG on top of the sign in the Food Court, a second on the overhangs in Paradise Plaza and a second in the fountain in Al Fresca Plaza. Keep these with you to arm female survivors.

• Although there are a ton of weapons available in the game, don't neglect to learn Frank's unarmed repertoire. The Somersault Kick is the best single-target unarmed attack in the game considering how fast it executes, how little recovery time it requires, and how much damage it does. Knowing how to use it makes the true final boss much easier than you'll initially think he is. The Double Lariat is a very efficient way to clear off a pack of zombies. The Knee Drop will allow you to fall from any height without taking damage.

• Weapons do not degrade or spend ammo when a survivor is using them. While most survivors are dumb as a sack of potatoes, a squad of them holding a few shotguns (most healthy young adult or middle age men) or SMGs (most healthy young adult or middle age men or women) can hold a position indefinitely. This is really useful when you don't want them to follow you while you finish off other objectives in the area.

• Disarm your survivors once you reach the rooftop! Take back anything useful (shotguns, SMGs, katanas, unique boss weapons, etc.) by handing that survivor something useless. If you don't have anything, bust open some of the boxes. Once you enter the air duct, anything they're carrying is gone and you'll have to go get new ones.

• A psycho appears in The Hunting Shack starting in the first afternoon. He's a pain the first time you fight him, but keep at it until you win. Once you do you'll have access to a large number of firearms which are useful for passing off to survivors.

• There's an easy way to defeat the psycho at the Wonderland roller coaster that works even if you're just starting the game. First, collect any combination of two shotguns or SMGs. Next, wait outside the entrance to Wonderland Plaza until you get the call informing you about the Japanese tourists. Now enter Wonderland and get the tourists to join your party (if you don't know how: pick up the Basic Japanese phrasebook in the shop you find them in, then talk to them until they join. Take a picture when they bow for large amounts of bonus PP!). Give each of them a gun, then go trigger the roller coaster psycho fight. Place a guard point for the two of them near the base of the stairs to the coaster, then wait near them. When the psycho comes near they'll open fire, causing him to block. With both of them using shotguns or SMGs, they'll keep him locked in his guard animation while slowly chipping away at his health until he dies. (If he breaks away to jump over the balcony, just wait. He's targeting you, so he'll eventually find his way back to the kill zone.) You can't contribute much since you have finite ammo, but it's still funny to watch and trivially easy.