Capcom Vancouver is taking players back to the beginning with the fourth entry of Dead Rising. The series’ original protagonist Frank West once again finds himself in the zombie-infested town of Willamette. However, this time, he’s prepared. Or as prepared as the now-grizzled, world-weary war photographer can be after seeing his previous efforts erased as another conspiracy forms around reanimating the dead.
The years haven’t been kind to Frank. It’s not that he’s hit rock bottom or necessarily ended up in a bad position in life, if the glimpse given at his newfound life as a professor is any indication, but it’s clear that the events of Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record have left him bitter. That’s not surprising, given that he died innumerable times under my guidance, but it does add an unexpected underlying dour note to a game that has him frequently spouting goofy one-liners and shocking enemies into oblivion while in a makeshift Blanka costume and hot shorts.
That tonal juxtaposition also highlights the parallel storylines that play out during his time in Willamette. One follows Frank’s relationship with a promising journalism student, Vicky. After a dust-up, she separates from her mentor and begins to investigate the outbreak on her own. This is unknown to Frank until he is informed of her ongoing activities by ZDC agent Brad Park. Park wants Frank back in his old stomping grounds to find out the truth about what led to the most recent infection, which occurred during Black Friday. In exchange, he offers to help clear Frank’s name, after his previous work led some to question his culpability in prior events. It’s not a bad deal, but his prime motivation is to track down and save Vicky … or get the big scoop. Whichever is more convenient for the narrative at any given moment.
As Frank’s motivation ping-pongs back and forth between following up Brad’s leads and looking for Vicky, players will find themselves pursuing a number of different options throughout the town. As in the original Dead Rising, the game starts off in the local mall, with the various department stores offering all manner of everyday objects to use as weapons. Violent survivors are dotted amongst the undead hordes as either armed bands looking to loot and pillage, or those who have become so unhinged as to adopt new personas. The latter will be familiar to series fans, as these themed killers, now called Maniacs, have always added some flair to the hacking and slashing, be they Medieval knights or evil elves serving a psychotic Santa. Defeating enemies is again rewarded with experience to level up Frank’s stats (Brawling, Fortitude, Shooting, and Survival) and scrap to upgrade and purchase weapons as well as food, clothes, maps, and vehicles. Being a photographer, he’s also rewarded for taking particularly scary or brutal shots.
The first case feels like a return to yesteryear, with shambling corpses filling food courts and crowding escalators, with Frank bashing their heads in with cash registers and running them over with tricycles. The second case opens up the game world, with it and the next four being closer to Dead Rising 3. The world is bigger this time around, and as before, there are combo weapon blueprints to find, survivors to help, and special sights to photograph. There are a few changes this time around, with the survivors’ mini-stories of the game’s predecessor replaced with stranded townsfolk who will head to the nearest shelter once rescued. Thankfully, they no longer have to be escorted, and once there, they level up the facility so that better food, maps, weapons, and more are offered. Frank will need to clear them out first, but once they are safe, he will find a permanent refuge from the unfolding chaos.
Making the outside world even more dangerous are the armed contractors who join the looters and Maniacs. They have set up outposts and supply drops throughout the city, and are itching to take down anything and everything with an array of shotguns, assault rifles, rocket launchers, and even shields and axes. They are also known to protect the entry’s most powerful addition: Exo-Suits. These battery-powered body-sized mechanical augments allow Frank to wield even more impressive weapons, from an ice machine that creates small blizzards, to a massive flamethrower. Taking down their equipment also nets some experience and cash, while their armored Humvees, lovingly mounted with .50-caliber machine guns, make for excellent transports. They aren’t the brightest, though, which is saying something, given that most of their competition is literally braindead.
For all of the ravenous monsters, Uzi-toting strongmen, and psychos with quasi-magical abilities, the game is somehow on the easy side. One factor in this is the lack of any timed element, outside of a small section nestled within the final case. Dead Rising 3 loosened the time mechanic to give players more leeway to explore the newly expanded world while also taking certain actions into account. Dead Rising 4 goes even further than that already lax approach, with players capable of taking however long they want up until the very end. This allows them to rack up experience by tackling the numerous minor events that pop up and by simply running over hundreds and hundreds of zombies while in the various pick-up trucks, cars, scooters, and lawnmowers. The timed element remains controversial, with some finding it a necessary impetus to keep them focused on the task at hand while others find it too constricting in a world that offers so much to experiment with and explore. Player discipline can alleviate some of these issues for those who favor timers, but even that won’t make for too great of a challenge. My play time was around 20 hours, and by then, Frank had dawdled his way into being overpowered.
The world is less friendly this time around, too. Drop-in multiplayer has been replaced with supplemental co-op missions, leaving Frank to tackle the hordes solo. This is a shame, as clearing out zombie-filled intersections with other players, or arriving just in time to save them, remain fond memories from Dead Rising 3. In a twist, the timed mechanic returns for these standalone missions. Players are tasked with teaming up alongside three others to work through four episodes, each set in areas found throughout the campaign. Characters from the story are given weapons that slot them into traditional party-style roles, though surprisingly, Frank is nowhere to be found. Teams are given objectives, such as killing all of the zombies within a zone, with the end of the session building to a mad dash for a safe room. Characters level accordingly and have their own abilities, but the weapon blueprints and cash they accrue carry over to the campaign. Excluding Frank from the mode is an interesting approach to give some of the other characters a chance to shine, and the short bouts make it easy to get in a few rounds without a serious time commitment. That said, I miss the drop-in/drop-out support from Dead Rising 3.
One of the reasons that multiplayer was sequestered is likely due to the story playing a more prominent role in Dead Rising 4. It’s a shame, then, that it’s not a very good one. Vicky is a perennially annoying character who is constantly belittling a surprisingly acquiescing Frank. Despite the game, and even Frank himself, constantly reminding the player that he’s an asshole, the entire crux of their falling out just didn’t make any sense in the context of their current and aspiring professions. We also don’t get to know her long enough to care if she lives, as their initial interaction is limited to a short intro sequence. Instead, we’re given a glimpse at a seemingly ambitious character who quickly turns from adventurous rookie to an obnoxious hardhead, nearly at the expense of their lives. Numerous cloud saves, phone calls, and recordings document her findings, and amidst everything that’s going on, she often finds a few moments to spare to insult Frank. A mentor failing to live up to expectations is an understandable disappointment, but dragging that out, with a minimalist setup, makes for a weak narrative foundation. Granted, Frank still has a few genuinely funny one-liners up his sleeve, and being spared from some of the more awkward survivor storylines from Dead Rising 3 was a relief, but it’s hard to be motivated when the prize is the life of someone whose existence means so little.
Also of note is the almost complete absence of the developer’s lofty talk of depth and social commentary. In an interview, players were told that there would be a richer subtext behind the outbreak, touching on the frenzied consumerism of Black Friday, and more involved backstories to explain how and why the Maniacs broke with reality. Save for the scattered cell phones and newspapers that offer a brief glimpse into the wider world and recent history, the “depth” never materializes.
Despite these shortcomings, the series’ core mechanics remain solid and the campaign enjoyable. With more zombies than ever before, it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer scale of the carnage. Hundreds to thousands of the undead shamble around wrecked cars, fires, and in an great seasonal touch, Christmas decorations strewn about the city. Frank’s camera can also highlight drivable cars with one of its two new vision features, which are primarily used to pinpoint clues during investigations. Running from a horde and whipping out the camera to find an ice cream van in reach just before being devoured, and then using it to run down the pursuers, never got old. As mentioned, the absence of the time element means that players can–and most likely will–run through that scenario dozens of times. The aforementioned investigations, which are nothing more than Frank framing and taking a shot of general evidence, progress the story, but players can plod along for however long before actually taking the photos.
That extra time can be spent rummaging through the many businesses, homes, and panic rooms. These contain clothes to wear, food to eat, and items to combine for makeshift weaponry. The latter is made easier with each weapon comprising one of three types—melee, ranged, and thrown—and players being capable of putting together even the biggest, weirdest combinations on the spot. Not every change has made things more convenient, however, as the bathroom saves from Dead Rising 3 have been replaced by a checkpoint system that auto-saves at some questionable spots; that said, this is a minor issue, given the difficulty. Fortunately, nothing was changed in terms of combat, which is by far the series’ strongest suit, and the game is all the better for it. The absurdity of the weapons, goofy visual gags, and lovingly decorated city all made my 20 hours time well spent.
Overall: 7/10
Dead Rising 4 brings back the addictive over-the-top action of its predecessors, but not all of the changes made to the open-world formula are positive. The story hinges on some unlikable characters and weak writing, but the lack of a timed system allows players to largely ignore it and progress at their leisure. It’s not an improvement over Dead Rising 3, with its changes and additions failing to advance the series in any meaningful way, but it does allow for hours of gloriously gory zombie crushing, smashing, impaling, and burning, and there’s a lot to be said for that.
(This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher.)