Dead Rising 3: The Last Agent Review
The Untold Stories of Los Perdidos comes to an end with the quietly-released fourth episode, The Last Agent. The series as a whole has been something of a disappointment and many fans have seen it as a cheap cash-in, rather than something designed to make the most of the interesting concept. All three previous chapters have been fairly forgettable and standalone – but at least this third and final one expands upon the outcome of the main game in some way, and provides a slightly more compelling premise.
You take control of Zombie Defence & Control Network (ZDC) agent Brad Park, who is in serious trouble when we first find him. His Zombrex chip has seemingly malfunctioned and Park is slowly beginning to turn into one of the undead himself. Whereas all of the other DLC chapters end at the point where main campaign protagonist Nick Ramos meets the character, Brad is actually saved by Nick. In a scene that was only found in the Smartglass-exclusive missions, Nick shows compassion and gives Brad a Zombrex injection, despite the fact that the ZDC seems to be responsible for much of the trouble in Los Perdidos.
Brad is understandably shocked by this revelation, as he still believes that the ZDC is here to help and protect civilians. So he heads off to try and find out the truth behind the rumours, and to get some answers. This is actually far more intriguing than the stories of episodes one to three, which were all self-contained and fairly small in scope.
Unfortunately though, the actual gameplay and progression of the story in The Last Agent does not live up to its promise. Cutscenes are brief and cameos from other characters who featured in the main campaign are shoe-horned in but barely explained, and the actual missions are mundane and slow. Brad himself is also pretty one-dimensional and is unlikely to resonate with players in any meaningful way.
After Brad has been saved by Nick, and decides to find out what is really going on behind the ZDC, you might expect him to go on an exciting adventure full of lies and intrigue, right? Instead, he heads off immediately to find his doctor friend, who is treating a group of survivors. Rather than give you some treacherous tasks to complete, she sends you on a series of fetch-quests to recover faulty Zombrex chips and counterfeit Zombrex syringes – which soon become very repetitive. This part of the game feels quite lengthy, but that is purely because there are so many items to collect, and they are spread out so far across the game map, that it is horribly time-consuming.
The only other quests available are ones where you save random survivors. Rather than provide new side-quests like every other episode of DLC could at least manage to do, these quests are simply recycled from Nick’s campaign, which is just another disappointment. There are of course a handful of new weapons, a new combo vehicle and some new clothes to add to your wardrobe – all of which can then be used in the main game. The weapons in this episode are pretty crazy, with a turbine gun that literally blows your enemies away, a pistol that sets Zombies on fire and a Rail Gun that zaps multiple Zombies at once. These are all fun to use, but it is a shame that you never actually feel much motivation to use them as the quests are all so basic and dull.
VERDICT: Those of you who were hoping for a blockbuster end to the series of downloadable episodes will likely be disappointed. The Last Agent sets itself up well with a stronger premise, which actually expands upon the campaign plot, but falters in its execution. It suffers all of the same pitfalls that affected episodes one, two and three, whilst offering perhaps even less actual new content than each of those. A grand finale this definitely is not, and whilst The Untold Stories of Los Perdidos gave players a welcome reason to re-enter the city, they have short-changed loyal fans at almost every turn.
AVERAGE. The epitome of a 50/50 game, this title will be unspectacular but inoffensive, charmless but amiable. We aren’t condemning a game by scoring it a 5, but we certainly aren’t championing it, either.
Review code provided by publisher.
Robin Parker
If I'm not playing on a good Adventure Game - still longing for the long-past Golden Age of the genre, when Lucasarts and Sierra ruled supreme - you might find me searching for a local arcade, in the hopes that it still houses titles such as Sunset Riders or WindJammers.
