"The war...it wasn't over... Not for me. It never ended."
It may not feel like it with a game like Dead Rising, but there are moments that will remind you what the situation is like for everyone...and it could get depressing quick.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- The game pits you against many psychopaths as you progress. Most of them are just normal people who snapped and went crazy when the zombies arrived, and you must kill them in order to protect other survivors.
- Cliff Hudson is a crazed Vietnam War veteran carrying a machete, who wanders around in a hardware store. Only after fighting and nearly killing him does he reveal that he has been suffering from flashbacks to Vietnam the entire time. While this was obvious to most players, what he revealed next came as a shock: He had been out on a shopping trip with his young granddaughter when the zombies arrived, and he watched as she was torn apart and eaten by zombies. He tells you this as he hands you his wallet with a bloodstained photo of his family. After hearing his granddaughter's dying scream, his vision "flashed white" and he starting suffering from flashbacks. He tells you this after you, the player, have just ensured his death.
- Steven Chapman is an odd case — while best remembered for either being horrifying, or a hilarious Fountain of Memes, his defeat cutscene opens rather somberly. Stumbling to a checkout counter, Steve falls, and cradles the cash register. Far from being the screeching Large Ham who doesn't want vandals in HIS STOOOOOOOOOOORRRRREEEE — he's gone deathly quiet, softly sobbing, wondering who will run his store now.My store... My... store! (softly crying) Who will run my store when I'm gone? My store... My food... My sales... My...... Customers... (a little smile curls on his lips) Have a nice day... (falls over...) CLEAN-UP! REGISTER 6!
- It's also worth considering just how long he must've been protecting his store, alone, likely with no sleep and facing people who could've been willing to kill him for supplies. No wonder the poor guy lost it.
- His expression when he says "customers" make it seems like he realized that Frank was innocent after all. Which would mean that his last words towards Frank are, in his own crazy store-obsessed way, an apologetic goodbye.
- Adam the Clown is simultaneously tragic and horrifying, having gone insane after witnessing his audience (which would've included children) getting eaten by zombies, and convinced that running the Space Rider roller coaster at breakneck speed will keep the zombies at bay to the point that he's willing to kill Frank over it.
- Cletus Samson is among the most debated psychopaths in the game, since people can't decide if he was a terrified survivor with trust issues or a selfish, violent drunk man who attacked Frank for no reason. Most agree that Cletus had every reason to fear for his life since he had a stockpile of weapons and ammo, was surrounded by survivors who could kill him for these weapons, and Cletus was in a situation where he felt the need to stand his ground. After the fight, Cletus runs out of the store and is devoured by a passing zombie, right in front of Frank as he was trying to reassure Cletus that he wasn't trying to rob or kill him. In Chop Till You Drop, Cletus is actually spared and becomes a merchant until the military arrives.
- Each member of the Hall family will react in horror when Frank kills one of them. They were still a family who cared for each other, and were trying to survive the outbreak together. The absence of a matriarch, Roger's behavior and his line "We're doing this to survive" indicates that their do-or-die attitude is actually a result of grief and rage on Roger's part. Additionally, just ask any longtime fan of the game and they'll all agree on one thing: Thomas didn't deserve to die, and the fact that the game refuses to let you save him is a tragically missed opportunity.
- Brad's death... Or, rather, undeath. The music
doesn’t help either.- Same with Jessie. Probably more so as she turned shortly after the army told her that they intend to purge the survivors to silence news of the outbreak.
- Ending A. Watching Frank fall down in defeat at the Helipad while he gets swarmed by zombies... thank God for Overtime.
- No wait, forget Overtime, that ending is worse because it seems Isabella and Frank are both completely screwed. It seems like a massive Player Punch at first, though it's quickly revealed in the epilogue, through text, that Frank survived along with Isabella.
- In Dead Rising 3, it's revealed that Isabella made a deal with the devil with Phenotrans by giving them the antidote recipe and was unable to give out the permanent cure, and that she was unceremoniously kidnapped under the Phenotrans CEO's orders.
- No wait, forget Overtime, that ending is worse because it seems Isabella and Frank are both completely screwed. It seems like a massive Player Punch at first, though it's quickly revealed in the epilogue, through text, that Frank survived along with Isabella.
- While he was an insane asshole, Carlito clearly had some good traits, like his love for his sister. His death is fairly sad, especially because he was taken out not by Frank, but by some random psychopath.
- If the act wasn't so mind-bogglingly stupid, you'd feel bad for Lindsay when she frantically tried to save her dog from the zombies. Even though they were clearly disinterested and the act only allowed the entire horde to enter and overwhelm the mall and the survivors within the entrance.
- Many of the death animations of the survivors if they're killed by the zombies. While they're annoyingly incompetent and can be hard to lead to the saferoom, you'll feel like a complete jerk as they scream Frank's name while they're being devoured.
- Heather's clear guilt about abandoning her sister and concern as she watches Frank try to save Pamela can be surprisingly sad despite her Dirty Coward status.
