Dead Rising/Survivors

Frank West is a fictional photojournalist in the video game Dead Rising. He is the main protagonist of the game and is voiced by T.J. Rotolo, previously heard in the Zork: Nemesis game. In Dead Rising, Frank finds himself in the biggest scoop of his career after hearing of a small town, Willamette, Colorado, being blockaded by the National Guard. Frank hires a helicopter, and flies over the town.

Frank first suspects that the civilians are rioting, but soon discovers otherwise. Frank asks the helicopter pilot to drop him on a roof of a shopping mall, and to pick him up in three days. He meets a strange man on the roof of the mall, and when asking the man what has happened here, he tells Frank to go in and see for himself. Once he in the mall, Frank realizes this is not merely a riot.. The town is infested with zombies, with him stuck in the middle of it. As he tries to help survivors, and win the Pulitzer Prize, he slowly starts to unravel the mystery behind the zombie infestation.

72 Hour Mode
The game starts by Frank going to Willamette searching for a scoop. While airborne, he sees what looks like a riot and starts taking pictures. Interested, he tells the pilot to drop him off at the mall but are cut off by military helicopters. The pilot drops Frank off and Frank reminds him to pick him up in exactly 3 days (72 hours). On the helipad, Frank is immediately met by a strange man named Carlito, who seems to know more than he is letting on. Frank then goes downstairs into the safety room and out through the door leading to the Entrace Plaza. As Frank prepares to help barricade the entrance he sees an old man who blames him for being summoned to the mall and takes a picture of him. After the zombies get inside the mall, Frank escapes to the security room with Brad, Jessie, and Otis. In the security room, Otis welds the door shut. Brad then leaves the security room through the ventilation duct and Frank follows a short time later. Later, Frank accidently hurts Jessie as she rushes to assist Brad and Frank offers to take her place. Jessie is hesitant about allowing a "civilian" to becoming involved, but gives him her handgun after he assures her that he has experience with one by saying, "I've covered wars ya know". (Only minutes later, however, he admits that he's never actually fired a gun "at a person".)

Upon reaching Brad, the attacker turns out to be Carlito, continously firing at him (and now also Frank) with a P90 machine gun. After Brad and Frank defeat him, Carlito takes off. While Frank presses Brad for info, Brad tells him nothing until Frank shows him a picture of Barnaby, which he took in the Entrance Plaze of the mall. Brad seems to have an interest in the photo. Since he does, Frank makes him a deal: Frank shows him the photo, if Brad tells him some info. Brad agrees, and Frank soon finds out both Jessie and Brad are DHS (Department of Homeland Security) agents.

Frank and Brad eventually go to find Dr. Barnaby, someone whom Brad desperately tries to convince to return to the Security Room with him and Frank. Dr. Barnaby declines, saying he will only leave once he is guaranteed safe passage out of the city first.

The Keyes Siblings
After returning to the Security Room, Frank is just in time to see Carlito dragging Dr. Barnaby from his hiding place. Brad takes action, Frank quickly following behind. They make their way back to the Entrance Plaza to find Carlito now carrying an M82 sniper rifle, firing at Brad and Frank from afar. While Frank and Brad take cover, Frank notices Dr. Barnaby is tied up and hanging in the middle of the Entrance Plaza with zombies under him, reaching for him. After some fierce combat, Frank and Brad corner the man when he is out of rifle ammo. He ditches the rifle, and he pulls out a handgun. He and Brad have a small shoot out, leaving them both wounded. Frank and Brad return to the security room with the unconscious Dr. Barnaby.

Brad is seriously wounded and needs medicine from a pharmacy in the North Plaza. Before Frank can try and retrieve it, however, he's attacked by the store owner, who has a mysterious woman (Isabela) unconscious in his cart. Frank manages to defeat the manager, and tries to help the woman. However, she breaks away from him, telling him it is "your fault, not ours" for the zombie outbreak and mentioning something about a place called "Santa Cabeza". She runs away, and Frank steals the key from the manager to get access to the pharamacy where the medicine is.

Santa Cabeza
Frank gets it, and returns to the Security Room, giving Brad the medicine. Later, Isabela reappears on the monitors in North Plaza once again, and Frank goes to question her. Not willing to trust Frank, she attacks him on her motorcycle and Frank is forced to defend himself. He manages to disable her and pin her to the ground. She tells Frank that if he wants an interview about the zombie outbreak, then Carlito is the one to speak to. She says she can "persuade" him as she is, after all, his little sister. However, when Frank shows up at their designated meeting place, Isabela is hurt and about to be killed by a zombie. Frank rescues her and he learns that Carlito, in frustration and anger, shot her. Frank carries her on his back to the Security Room where Brad and Jessie wait.

After Isabella awakes, the group discovers that she and Carlito are survivors of a similar outbreak in a Central American town called Santa Cabeza, where the US government covered up the incident. Carlito caused the outbreak in Willamette in order to expose the truth to the world and take revenge. They discover that he has set time bombs all over the Maintenance Tunnels of the mall, preparing to send the larvae that caused the zombie outbreak into the atmosphere, leaving millions at risk.

Time Bombs
Frank and Brad go about trying to collect the bombs. Frank goes down into the Maintenance Tunnels by motorcycle and proceeds to collect the bombs stowed away inside the cars. Carlito tries to stop Frank by running him over, but Frank successfully takes out Carlito's truck. Carlito retreats to a shed in the Maintenance Tunnel where Brad tells Frank to collect the rest of the bombs before chasing Carlito. Carlito and Brad have a standoff inside of the shed, where Carlito becomes fatally wounded and Brad is pushed though a door into a pack of zombies. Frank successfully gets rid of the bombs and goes back into the Maintenance Tunnels to find that Brad has been seriously injured by zombies, Brad makes him promise not to tell Jessie and gives him his gun. Frank dispatches the zombified Brad and returns to the Security Room. While watching the monitors, he sees that Carlito is being dragged by a crazed butcher. Frank goes to the meat processing area and engages in battle with the butcher. Frank attempts to get the wounded Carlito to talk, but Carlito refuses, instead giving Frank a necklace for Isabella just before he dies.

Special Forces
Frank leaves the Maintenance Tunnels and returns to Carlito's hideout. Frank gives Isabella the necklace and she recalls a phrase that turns out to be the computer's password. Then the two of them attempt to figure out and foil the rest of Carlito's plans. In the meantime, Jessie finally gets a line to DHS headquarters, only to find out the government has chosen to cover up this incident too. The Special Forces are on their way to "clean up" the mess. Namely, they will kill everything they find: zombie or human. When the Special Forces attempt to convince Jessie that she could live if she kept quiet, she becomes a zombie and kills two of them.

The Special Forces sweep through the mall, exterminating all the zombies in their path. Meanwhile, Frank notices the helicopter is about to arrive and talks to Isabella, but she tells him to "save himself". He goes through the Security Room and puts zombified Jessie out of her misery. Frank makes his way back to the helipad to meet his pickup. After a short delay, the helicopter approaches, but the pilot is attacked by a stowaway zombie, causing the helicopter to crash. Despondent, Frank collapses on the roof as zombies spill outside. Just as he's about to submit to the inevitable, Isabella arrives and rescues him.

Overtime
Frank discovers he has been infected somehow, and Isabela tells him that there is a way to retard the larva's incubation period and slow zombification, albeit temporarily. Frank goes on a hunt to find the items needed to make the serum and, along the way, discovers the rest of Carlito's plans. There are a series of children, infected with larvae and injected with serum, spread all over the USA; "zombie time bombs" as Frank calls them. He and Isabela discover a way out through a long cave within the clock tower created by the helicopter crash. However, the cave is filled with zombies and their only protection is a pheromone Isabella made that repels zombies. After escaping the cave and stealing a military jeep, Isabela and Frank meet Brock, the Special Forces commander. Brock chases them in a prototype tank while Frank drives a jeep and Isabella uses the mounted gun. The tank takes a significant amount of damage but Brock still manages to knock over their jeep. Brock gets out of his tank to boast, but gets distracted when a massive amount of zombies approach from the horizon. Frank takes advantage of this moment and attacks Brock. The two engage in a brawl on top of the tank, then Frank defeats Brock and escapes.

Whether Isabella escaped with Frank is unknown. Nor is it known what becomes of Frank afterwards.

Appearance
Frank usually, as seen in the picture, wears a black jacket with a white button-up shirt, khaki pants, and brown loafers. However, you can change Frank's appearance by visiting various shops for different clothing. With one outfit that the player can unlock, Frank is dressed in the same suit as Megaman X from the video game series of the same name. In fact, the executive producer of the game, Keiji Inafune, is the same person who created the Megaman series.

Moves
This is a list of the various moves Frank can perform in the game as his levels progress. Frank starts the game very weak and dependent on the various weapons found inside of the mall, but as his abilities grow, he becomes a juggernaut capable of dispatching most threats even while unarmed.

Standard Attacks
At his base level, when not equipped with any weapons, Frank has three standard attacks at his disposal.
 * Punches
 * Normal punches performed by lightly tapping the attack button.


 * Kick
 * By holding the attack button, Frank performs a hard kick that's slightly stronger than the punches and can hit downed enemies.


 * Spitting
 * In "Aim" view, Frank will spit on enemies and objects.

Skills
These are the various skills which Frank can learn as he increases in level.
 * Jump Kick
 * Frank performs a powerful kick while in mid-air that can knock over one or several zombies.


 * Zombie Ride
 * Frank can climb onto a zombie and even walk across entire crowds of them, keeping himself relatively safe.


 * Flying Dodge
 * A quick dive with frames of invincibility that can be used to avoid taking damage.


 * Power Push
 * When Frank is grabbed by a zombie, he can push it off with a forceful shove.


 * Football Tackle
 * Frank uses his momentum to knock over zombies in his path. The most useful attribute of this move is that, if it is used again upon contact with a zombie, Frank will immediately do another, enabling him to perform a chain of tackles in succession.


 * Judo Throw
 * When Frank is grabbed by a zombie, he can throw it over his shoulder for an instant kill and a PP bonus.


 * Double Lariat
 * Frank will spread his arms out and begin spinning in place, knocking down or killing enemies around him. Enemies killed in this fashion will net extra Prestige Points.  If Frank is holding an item in his hand while doing this move, it will provide him with extra range.  However, he will automatically throw the item once the move is complete.


 * Roundhouse Kick
 * A "just frame" move that must be executed upon the very moment Frank's feet touch the ground from a jump, fall, or Flying Dodge. Frank will spin around and kick a nearby enemy for massive damage.  Also, if the player holds down on the left analog stick while performing the move, Frank will perform a sweep kick instead.


 * Lift Up
 * Frank grabs an enemy and lifts them over his head. At this point, Frank can then move about and toss the enemy into other enemies.  Most enemies Frank lifts will be killed instantly, netting him a PP bonus.


 * Knee Drop
 * While in mid-air, Frank can stomp the ground with his knees, crushing anything underneath him. Enemies killed this way will net a PP bonus.


 * Suplex
 * Frank will grapple and enemy from behind and perform a Release German Suplex. The move can be aimed slightly in order to hit other enemies.  Enemies killed with this move will net a PP bonus.


 * Wall Kick
 * When Frank leaps toward a wall, a properly timed attack will cause him to bounce off of the wall and dart back with a powerful flying kick.


 * Hammer Throw
 * Frank grabs an enemy's arm and turns it about. He then sends the enemy running forward, knocking down other enemies in its path.  Any enemy killed with the throw nets a PP bonus.


 * Neck Twist
 * Frank grabs the head of a downed enemy and twists it violently until its head pops off. This move nets a PP bonus.


 * Giant Swing
 * Frank grabs a downed enemy's legs and spins around, swinging its body in a circular motion. The longer Frank spins, the more dizzy he will be after he releases the enemy.  Also, the enemy's body will gradually break apart, lowering the move's effectiveness.  Killing an enemy with this move nets a PP bonus.


 * Facecrusher
 * Frank grabs an enemy from behind and performs a Facecrusher on it, crushing its head on the ground. This move will instantly kill most enemies and nets Frank a PP bonus.


 * Disembowel
 * Frank grabs and enemies and punches his fist through his abdomen. Against zombies, he also rips out their entrails.  Arguably the best move in Frank's arsenal, it is instant death to any enemy it can be performed against.  It nets a PP bonus.


 * Somersault Kick
 * Frank performs a somersault kick akin to Street Fighter character, Guile. This move inflicts massive damage, often beheading enemies.  Enemies killed with it will net a PP bonus.


 * Karate Chop
 * When in close quarters, Frank will begin performing chops on enemies behind him deliving more damage than with standard punches.


 * Zombie Walk
 * Frank will walk slowly and erratically much like a zombie would. This allows him to past by the undead without being attacked.