Dead Rising 3 utilizes both the Kinect and Xbox SmartGlass. The optional Kinect feature gives zombies a certain level of situational awareness. Loud noises from the player could potentially trigger a rush of zombies; however, the player can also use the ability to shout at zombies through the Kinect in order to distract them. The microphone sensitivity is tuned to "a threshold that makes sense," so that attracting zombies will feel like an intentional decision. The Xbox SmartGlass feature, which is also optional, can be used to locate specific items, find abandoned storefronts, and set waypoints for mission objectives. It also provides players with exclusive missions that unlock apps within the SmartGlass, giving them the ability to call in airstrikes, drone support, or area-wide flares for fending off or drawing the attention of the undead.
Multiplayer
Dead Rising 3 offers two-player cooperative gameplay. Co-op play is accessible in all game modes with the exception of an explicit single player mode. In all other modes (Casual, Completionist, Speed Run, Hardcore), players may be paired with a second player seamlessly at any time should a match be found. Alternatively, players can directly select to play Multiplayer.
The primary player continues as Nick Ramos while the secondary player (who would have selected "Multiplayer" in the menus) assumes the role of Dick, a trucker who survives the outbreak. The two players can explore the entire map and complete side missions separately, but main story missions must be completed together. Any blueprints and collectibles found or completed challenges count for both players. On 9 June 2014, Capcom announced a new DLC known as Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha at the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2014, which features four-player co-op.
Plot
Dead Rising 3 takes place in 2021, 10 years after the events of the Fortune City outbreak and 15 years after the Willamette outbreak. The story follows a young mechanic named Nick Ramos and his attempt to survive a massive zombie outbreak in the fictional city of Los Perdidos, California.
The game begins three days after the initial outbreak. After returning from a failed search for supplies, Nick reunites with some other survivors at a diner including his boss Rhonda, a girl named Annie, a trucker named Dick, a man named Peter and his mother. After the zombies break into the diner and kill Peter and his mother, Annie runs back to her own group of survivors. Nick and the others make it to Rhonda's auto shop and learn that the government is going to bomb the city in six days to stop the outbreak. The group drives to a military checkpoint, only to find everyone there dead and be ambushed by a rogue biker gang. After defeating the bikers, Nick reunites with his old friend Diego, who is now a soldier, and learns from him that there is a plane at the old museum in town that can be fixed up and used to escape the city before it is destroyed. However, before starting to work on the plane, Nick is bitten by a zombie and heads to the crematorium in town to search for some Zombrex, meeting a man called Gary on the way, who is looking for a certain girl under orders from his boss. Unable to find any Zombrex, Nick loses all hope until Gary notices that his wound has healed, revealing that he is somehow immune from turning.
Realizing that the girl Gary is looking for is actually Annie, Nick agrees to help him retrieve her in exchange for fuel for the plane. Nick then tracks her down but fails to convince her to come with him. The leader of her group, Red, tells Nick that the military is in fact not evacuating survivors but killing them off instead, and Nick agrees to help them in exchange for the fuel he needs. After retrieving some evidence of the military's crimes, Nick learns from Red that all of his friends, including Annie, were captured by them. While infiltrating a military encampment to rescue the captives, Nick learns that government officials General Hemlock and Marion Mallon are responsible for the outbreak and witness them turning the U.S. President into a zombie as well to assume full control of the government. After rescuing the captives, Nick learns that the government is offering five million dollars as a reward for anyone who captures certain individuals with numbers tattooed on their neck, like him and Diego.
