apcom just sent out the E3 build of Dead Rising for us to enjoy in the comfort of our own office. Though the demo is timed to restart after 50 minutes, we were able to go through it a few times, discover more about the flow of the game, and capture tons of video. It turns out there’s actually a lot more to this Xbox 360 gore-fest than smashing as many zombies as you can in the face.

In previous coverage of Dead Rising, we talked about the overall gameplay structure and story elements (February, April). With this latest build we can now speak to the progression system, alternate unlockable game modes, the first boss fight, and how far the game is coming as a whole.

As you work your way through the game, you can earn prestige points by escorting survivors to safety, killing zombies, completing cases, and taking pictures. Every time you level up, photojournalist Frank West will gain either an attribute upgrade or one of approximately 45 different skill maneuvers (including a jump kick, shoulder climb, and various other wrestling style moves). Different attributes include attack power, speed, maximum health, item capacity, and throw distance.

The main story moves along by completing cases. In the past, Capcom has maintained that these were a completely optional part of the game. But now they have decided to require the player to complete case files in order to progress past predetermined points. “You cannot, as previously stated, sit in a closet for the whole 72 hours,” Capcom said in a statement.

But as soon as you’re off trying to complete a case file, Frank will receive radio requests to save various people trapped inside the mall (approximately 78 throughout the entire game). It seems as though players will always be forced to choose from several different objectives at once. Thankfully, objectives are listed next to a color coded time bar that shows how long it is before they expire. You can then select one of the objectives, and a guide arrow will point you in the right direction. Since it’s so easy to get lost in a real mall, this is a huge help.

But saving people and completing case files isn’t all that’s out there. We ran into a fellow photographer who gave us some picture taking tips and offered some photo challenges. He is the first to explain the five different photo scoring categories: brutality, drama, outtake, horror, and erotica. After you take a shot, your camera will highlight various elements of your picture with color coded circles and calculate a total prestige point score. Shots that don’t satisfy at least one category will be deemed “generic” and only result in a handful of points. But if you can take shots at just the right moment or catch a prescripted photo op moment, then you’ll be in the money.

We also discovered that books and magazines in the game serve a lot more useful purpose than merely something to chuck at zombies. If you keep reading material in your inventory, you’ll experience temporary bonuses like stronger items, the ability to ride a skateboard, or increased points per photo. It may be tough to justify taking up an entire inventory slot in the beginning, but after you gain extra space later in the game, players will probably be collecting a mini library.

Aside from the zombies, Capcom has pledged that there will be no more supernatural creatures in the game, so all of the bosses are expected to be psychopathic humans. The first boss we encountered runs along some rafters shooting off a machine gun and tossing grenades at you. Frank will have to take a few shots here and there while running between cover. Fortunately, this battle takes place in the food court so you’re always one burrito away from full health. The traditional run and gun action of this fight feels very familiar to a standard third person shooter, except you can’t move while aiming. This can feel clunky at times, but perhaps Capcom is purposely discouraging too much gunplay in favor of gory bashing.

We also received some new information about Dead Rising’s unlockables and Live features. After completing certain requirements, players can unlock two new game modes. Overtime mode allows you to import your character into the fourth day of the game (this is apparently after the 72 hour chopper pickup). And Infinity mode lets you go nuts in the mall with your saved character without any time limits. Xbox Live achievements haven’t been announced yet, but we did learn that Dead Rising will feature online leaderboards. Who knows how gamers will be ranked? Will it be based on number of zombies killed? Most survivors rescued? Hopefully we’ll know more about this and any other online features very soon.

In past builds of Dead Rising there have been some major issues with slowdown and loading. I can at least say that one of these problems seems to be fixed. No matter how many characters were onscreen at one time, the framerate remained constant and true. However, loading screens were annoyingly frequent and lengthy. Obviously, things haven’t been completely optimized yet, but if Capcom can’t severely reduce these load times it could be a serious problem for many impatient gamers.

But if you can look past that pesky flaw, Dead Rising is looking great. A wide open mall filled with a staggering amount of potential weapons, the constant juggling of intriguing tasks, and the endless search for that perfect photo looks to be a whole lot of fun. But one thing has me a little suspicious. The latest screenshots showing an elderly cult leader, along with the presence of morally ambiguous Latino character in the demo, reminds me a little too much of Capcom’s “other” horror title, Resident Evil 4. But maybe once it gets closer to Dead Rising’s August release date, these similarities will be a little more cleared up.