They had me at boomcannon. Shotgun, meet grenades.

Dead Rising 3 is a continuation of the franchise with only rumors so far of a connection to the story of the previous games. This Xbox One exclusive launch title has vastly expanded the scope of gameplay by eliminating load times and allowing you to look out upon a sea of zombies.

From the second game returns the combination weapons, thanks to the main character being a mechanic he is a bit more crafty in assembling these joyous weapons of death dig into combinations such as the Sledgesaw, the boomcannon, and the flamesword. Back is also the PP (prestige point) system, points are spent to level up your character’s health or to unlock new combinations for either weapons or fighting.

Driving was a vastly under used mechanic in the previous games but now it appears that it will take center stage in DR3. There are 4 large districts to explore and travel around so you are going to want some wheels. As you mow your way through the masses zombies will begin to kling onto your auto and start to impact performance while trying to get to the tasty people treats inside, so you’ll want to be as nimble as an F1 driver with the heart of a Rally Cross Champion. Or just pretend you’re running some moonshine for Uncle Jesse.

SmartGlass brings an interesting presence to the franchise in allowing you to boondoggle Max Brook’s logic and call in airstrikes, of either the lead rain or fire and brimstone, to smite your undead foes. In addition you can use your SmartGlass device as a store finder to better help you navigate to key destinations.

Co-op game play returns, which is awesome considering the scale of the landscape and the large number hungry, hungry zombies roaming around. One bonus of co-op is trying to out do your buddy with a crazy outfit. From what we say at E3 you will have  large varied wardrobe present, ranging from a mascot shark to a hazmat suit.

One thing that Dead Rising games excel at is avoiding the cliche “boss” zombies, instead they insert human characters properly label psychopaths. While non of the them were revealed we did get to see the main character run into an ax party with a bunch of zombified firemen, it was a harrowing fight and a great way to change up the horde without resorting to cheap zombie bosses. This title is for sure on my pre-order list.