Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition: Complete Guide

A guide to Nick Ramos's escape from Los Perdidos: leveling and attributes, combo weapons and vehicles, the seven psychopaths, Nightmare Mode, the endings, the four Untold Stories DLC chapters, and collectibles.

Researched September 2026. Current as of the Apocalypse Edition on Steam (2014 PC release, no recent patches). Capcom's latest series activity is Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (2024). Check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Pick your mode. The standard story lets you save freely and gives you breathing room. Nightmare Mode is the classic Dead Rising experience with a time limit and restricted saving. Play standard first.
2. Collect blueprints everywhere. Blueprints unlock combo weapons and combo vehicles, and they're the core of the game. There are achievements at 5, 25, 50 and 100 blueprints.
3. Combine weapons on the fly. You don't need a workbench for combos in DR3. If you're carrying the parts and know the blueprint, you can build the combo anywhere.
4. Spend attribute points on health and inventory first. More health and more carrying slots make everything else easier.
5. Rescue survivors. They give XP (PP), can join your posse, and show up on the survivor bulletin board.
6. Use safe houses. They hold your weapons locker, clothing closet and more, and they're your save points.
7. Vehicles are weapons. Combo vehicles plough through hordes and are the fastest way to cross the city.
8. Psychopaths are optional bosses with big rewards. Each one is tied to one of the seven deadly sins.
9. The Apocalypse Edition includes all four "Untold Stories of Los Perdidos" DLC chapters, and weapons and vehicles from them carry into the main game.

Modes and Time

Story context: the game starts three days into the outbreak and the government plans to bomb Los Perdidos in six days. In Nightmare Mode that deadline is real, so running out of time gives Ending F.

Structure: Chapters

The story runs from Chapter 0 through Chapter 7, followed by Overtime. Each chapter has an achievement:

There's also a separate achievement, "Them's the Facts," for completing The Facts.

Endings

Dead Rising 3 has multiple endings based on your choices and timing. Ending S is the true ending. Finishing the main story in time gives Ending A, which Wikipedia calls the "gateway" ending: it leads into Chapter 8 (Overtime), where Nick and Chuck try to stop Hemlock's plan to turn the zombies into a biological weapon. Complete Overtime and you get Ending S.

For Ending S, don't ignore the Overtime objectives after Chapter 7. "Complete Package" is the Overtime achievement.

Leveling: PP, Levels and Attributes

• You earn PP from kills, rescues, missions, psychopath fights and PP Trials (small challenges that pop up during play).
• The level cap is 50 ("Maxed!").
• Each level gives attribute points to spend in categories such as health, inventory, speed and combo-related bonuses. "Specialist" asks you to max one attribute.

Suggested priority:

1. Health
2. Inventory slots
3. Combo weapon and vehicle upgrades
4. Everything else

Combo Weapons and Vehicles

• Blueprints are found in the world, in mission rewards and from psychopaths. Each one lists the two or more parts needed.
• Build anywhere: carry the parts and combine them from the weapon menu.
• Combo vehicles: the store page highlights ones like the Party Slapper, and weapons like the Boom Cannon. Build vehicles by parking the two base vehicles next to each other with the blueprint unlocked.
• Vehicle lot and weapons locker: vehicles and weapons you collect are stored for reuse. Achievements track 20 vehicles, 250 weapons and 100 clothing items.
• Making every combo weapon and every combo vehicle ("Duct Tape Master", "Master Mechanic") is a long-term goal.

Rule of thumb: keep one crowd-clearing combo, one boss-damage combo and a combo vehicle for travel. Swap as blueprints unlock.

The Seven Psychopaths

Each psychopath is tied to a deadly sin, and beating each one is an achievement:

General tips:

• Arrive with full health, food and your strongest combo.
• Learn the pattern before committing. Most of them punish rushing in.
• Use the environment. Vehicles and throwables are often allowed.
• Their rewards (blueprints and more) are worth the detour.

Side Content

• Stranded survivors: rescue them for PP. "Local Hero", "Man of the People" and "Sworn to Protect" track rescues.
• Survivor bulletin board and posse: recruited survivors can follow you. "Gang Banger" asks for a full posse.
• Side missions: "Sideswiped" asks for 20.
• PP Trials: 10, 25, then all for "Prestige Hound."
• Survival Training: bronze, silver and gold medal challenges, 25 of each for the three achievements.

Collectibles

Achievements cover a long list of collectible sets across the main game and DLC. They include ZDC cameras (destroy them or hack them), ZDC chips, propaganda posters, Special Reserve Whiskey, emergency phones, custom motorcycles for Torque, Bootleg Zombrex, biohazards, medical supplies and dog tags. Use an interactive map when you go for 100%, and do it in the standard story mode so the time limit doesn't matter.

Untold Stories of Los Perdidos (DLC, Included)

Each is a shorter campaign with its own weapons and vehicles, which carry over to the main game. The DLC achievements double as an objective checklist. Across the four chapters they include: locate the President, prep Base Camp for Bravo Team, collect precious cargo, collect Charlie's supplies, escape the Los Perdidos Police Department, survive Spider's trial, collect special supplies for the Safe Zone, help Torque build a special bike, question Winnie, defend the school, defeat all Bikers and all Captains, recover all Squad Members, find Nelson, discover the source of the military signal, collect evidence, interrogate Spec Ops, obtain Torque's surprise, rescue all survivors ("Guardian Angel"), and infect all Safe Zones. Steam doesn't say which chapter each belongs to, so check the list after each chapter to see what you missed; DLC collectible sets (Dog Tags, Custom Motorcycles for Torque) are part of the same checklist. Play them after Chapter 2 or 3 of the main story for a mid-game power boost, or after you finish it.

There was also an arcade-style four-player DLC, "Super Ultra Dead Rising 3' Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha," with Frank West, Chuck Greene, Katey Greene and Nick Ramos as the playable characters. The store page's Apocalypse Edition description only lists the four Untold Stories packs, so check your DLC list to see if your copy includes it.

Co-op

A second player joins as Dick, a trucker survivor, with seamless drop-in two-player online co-op in most modes. XP earned in co-op carries back to your single-player save. "Be a Dick!" is the achievement for joining a co-op game.

PC Notes

• Frame rate: the PC port is locked at 30 fps by default. Capcom said an option to unlock the frame rate would be available but that it couldn't guarantee the game would run smoothly or stably with it. If you unlock it and see physics or timing oddities, go back to 30.
• Controllers are fully supported, and the game plays best with a pad.
• Single GPU only. Capcom's Patch #4 notes state plainly that "DR3 PC does not make use of dual-GPUs," so SLI/CrossFire setups gain nothing.
• Bonus extras are already on your drive. The Steam release came with a digital artbook and a shortened strategy guide, found in the Digital Extras folder inside the game's install directory. Worth a look before you hunt for blueprints online.

Patch history (all 2014 to 2015)

Capcom's Steam news feed lists six PC patches and none after 2015. If something breaks now, don't expect an official fix.

Achievement Roadmap

There are 88 Steam achievements. About 72% of players finish Chapter 0, but only about 21% finish Overtime. A sensible order:

1. First playthrough (standard mode): story, Overtime ("Complete Package"), the seven psychopaths and "Them's the Facts". Grab blueprints, survivors and side missions as you go.
2. Untold Stories DLC: each completion achievement sits at 4 to 8%. Play them early for the gear carryover.
3. Collectibles (standard mode, with a map): ZDC cameras count twice, "No Peeking!" (destroy all) and "Eyes in the Sky" (hack all), both about 3%. Then chips, posters, whiskey, phones, Bootleg Zombrex, biohazards and medical supplies.
4. Grinds: "Duct Tape Master" (every combo weapon, 5%), "Master Mechanic" (every combo vehicle, 3.9%), "Collector", "Fashion Plate", and "Prestige Hound" (all PP Trials, 1.6%, the rarest).
5. Survival Training: 25 bronze, silver and gold medals (about 3% each).
6. Nightmare Mode last: "Nightmare Master" (2.9%) is easier once you know the routes.
7. Kill counts: "Master of Massacre" (53,597), "Genius of Zombie Slaying" (72,000) and "Left 100,004 Dead" are the longest grinds, so chip away with crowd-clearing combos.

"Be a Dick!" just needs one co-op game you join.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Starting in Nightmare Mode. Learn the city first.
• Ignoring blueprints. Your power comes from combos, not levels.
• Wasting attribute points on speed early. Health and inventory come first.
• Walking everywhere. Vehicles save huge amounts of time.
• Fighting psychopaths underprepared. Stock food and your best combo.
• Skipping Overtime. You'll miss Ending S.

Advanced Tips

• PP farming: PP Trials and psychopaths give the biggest chunks. Mass zombie-kill combos help with the zombie-count achievements. "Zombie Slayer" needs 10,000, and the joke achievements go up to 100,004.
• Nightmare Mode routing: plan your route to main missions and use combo vehicles to cut travel time.
• Carry combo parts: keep the parts for your favorite combo in your inventory so you can rebuild it after it breaks.
• DLC gear carryover: finishing the DLC chapters early gives Nick strong unique weapons and vehicles in the main campaign.
• Use safe houses to swap outfits and weapons before big story beats.

FAQ

What's in the Apocalypse Edition? The base game plus all four "Untold Stories of Los Perdidos" add-on chapters, according to the Steam store page.

How do I get the true ending? Finish the story and complete Overtime to reach Ending S, the canon ending.

Is there a time limit? Only in Nightmare Mode. The standard story lets you play at your own pace.

What's the level cap? Level 50.

Can I play co-op? Yes. Two-player online co-op, with the second player as Dick.

Does Dead Rising 3 still get patches? No. The last PC patch listed on Steam is Patch #6 (version 1.0.0.6, August 26, 2015), which fixed stability on AMD hardware and Windows 10.

Where can I play the first game? Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (2024) is Capcom's modern version of the original.

Sources

• Dead Rising 3 on Wikipedia
• Steam store page (app 265550)
• Steam global achievements list
• Steam news for Dead Rising 3 and the series
• Steam news API: PC patch notes #1 to #6 (2014 to 2015)