Dead Rising 4 is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Capcom Vancouver and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on December 6, 2016 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One.[2][3] It is the fourth installment in the Dead Rising series. It was announced at Microsoft's E3 2016 press conference on June 13, 2016. It features the return of Frank West, and is set in a rebuilt Willamette, Colorado during the Winter holiday season.
The game received mixed reviews from critics, praising the gameplay and the return of Frank West; however, a decline in overall quality and some technical problems were cited as negatives. A Microsoft Windows version for Steam was released in March 2017, published by Capcom.[4] A PlayStation 4 version of the game, titled Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package, was released on December 5, 2017.[5]
Dead Rising 4 Game
Dead Rising 4 is an action-adventure game with a goal to explore the environment and battle against hordes of the undead.[6] Unlike its predecessors, the game does not feature a timer system[7] or story co-op gameplay.[8] As with the other games in the series, the game features an open world setting.[9][10][11]
Each region has a number of safe houses that must be free of zombies in order to unlock missions nearby. The safe houses can be leveled up by completing side missions, which in turn gives more stuff to buy.[15] The zombies are not the only enemies in the game, because Frank will also face soldiers carrying rifles and shotguns.[16]
If Frank does not collect all special wasps during the game, Frank escapes alone with Blackburne and retires from journalism, spending the rest of life in fear of becoming a zombie again. If he does, Hammond and her team escape with them and Frank becomes famous again, writing a book about his experience as a zombie that becomes a bestseller, and exposes the government's involvement with Obscuris with Vick's help. If the player runs out of time during 'The Cases', the story ends in a failed rescue due to bombardment commanded by the United States Government to prevent the zombie outbreak from spreading throughout the state.
In 2014, Dead Rising 4 was originally conceived as a reboot of the Dead Rising series, which was being developed at Capcom Vancouver in partnership with Microsoft. The game, codenamed Climber, was intended to be an Xbox One exclusive that was inspired by The Last of Us. This original version of the game was scrapped by Capcom Japan in Summer 2014, leading to the project being rebooted with Frank West as the main character.[17]
Terence J. Rotolo did not return to voice Frank West, who was instead portrayed by Ty Olsson (credited in-game as Victor Nosslo). Dead Rising asset manager Trant Lee-Aimes stated, "We wanted to work with someone to provide a more grizzled, older take on Frank at this stage."[19] This change proved controversial among some fans, leading them to petition the developer to restore Rotolo as West.[20]
The game was released worldwide on December 6, 2016.[21] Microsoft also confirmed the game is a timed-exclusive on Windows 10 for 90 days and a year on Xbox One.[9] On February 22, 2017, Capcom announced that Dead Rising 4 would be released for Steam on March 14.[4] The PlayStation 4 version, titled Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package, was released on December 5, 2017.
On January 30, 2017, a free downloadable update was released introducing two harder difficulty modes, Hard and Blackest Friday (in which enemies do more damage, weapons break faster, and food heals less), and five other in-game Super Street Fighter II Turbo costumes alongside Ryu and Akuma, such as the attires of Guile, M. Bison, Zangief, Cammy, and T. Hawk. On January 31, a timed demo released on Xbox One allowing players to experience both the single-player and multiplayer of Dead Rising 4 for one hour, and enables players to carry across their progress to the full game.[22][23] An update released on December 5 adding a new game mode called Capcom Heroes, which allows Frank to don 17 new outfits based on Capcom's video game franchises, each with their own moveset.[24][25][26]
IGN's Brandin Tyrrel liked the new Frank West and the game's take on Christmas consumerism, as well as the "detailed presentation and careful consideration that went into both the world and the story." Tyrrel felt Capcom had balanced the absurdity of the gameplay with intelligence and feeling, but specifically found the safehouses too simple and underwhelming, writing he "would've loved to see some sort of shelter defense system come into play."[36] Game Informer's Jeff Cork similarly praised the gameplay, writing that Capcom Vancouver "infused the series with fresh ideas and some of the best action that it's had in a decade." Cork felt the storyline was a little rote, and was disappointed with the new and original but bland and generic "maniacs" (which serve as the game's bosses and replace the previous games' psychopaths) and lack of campaign co-op, but praised the new gameplay features such as the camera enhancements and the exo-suit, as well as the improvements to the map compared to Dead Rising 3's map.[32] Conversely, GamesRadar+'s Sam Prell wrote the "majority of Willamette is a sleepy, uninspiring blur", and felt the story lacked a satisfying final boss and too many objectives were repetitive. He acknowledged some players might not like the changes to Frank West's appearance and voice but wrote "he has the same smartass-with-a-heart-of-gold personality he's always had" and "is still worth cheering on." Prell felt the removal of the timer present in previous games was a "fantastic improvement" and wrote that together with the simplification of the game's bosses and save points, Dead Rising 4 was a "more casual, easygoing entry than its older siblings", but ultimately believed it succeeds more than it fails.[35]
Writing a less positive review, Destructoid's Chris Carter wrote that while he liked the game's comic book-like animations and campy tone, it felt like there "was a concerted amount of effort put into it". He disliked the new Frank West, who reminded him of a less-interesting Ash Williams, and he "straight up [did] not like that the timer is gone in the main mode". He felt the lack of story co-op and specific save points were understandable, but the removal of the timer system removed the tension, and felt it was "a sleazy move" that Capcom Vancouver were going to bring back the timer in the upcoming Dead Rising 4: Frank Rising paid DLC.[30] Writing for GameSpot, Scott Butterworth felt that "[f]or a game that's all about mindless zombie murder, the storytelling is remarkably adept", and Frank and Vick's relationship was nuanced and believable. Butterworth believed "Dead Rising's juxtaposition of slaughter and silliness makes for a memorable world", and summarized his review by writing that despite the series' zombie-slaughtering formula wearing a bit thin after all these years, the "surprisingly well-crafted story, [...] new combo weapons, and expansive open world elements [...] turn Dead Rising 4 into an over-the-top piece of popcorn entertainment that captures the series' best elements."[34] Jim Sterling favorably compared the goofiness of the gameplay to the Saints Row series. They recognized and sympathized with long-time Dead Rising players who were put off by the changes Dead Rising 4 made, such as the removal of the timer system, the replacement of Frank West's voice actor and his new appearance, and the more comedic tone of the game, but could not help but find it "a damn fine, damn fun, damn funny game though."[37]
Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation ranked both the game and Frank's Big Package third on his list of the Five Worst Games of 2017, calling them "a stripped-down, tarted-up holiday special of a Dead Rising game with none of what makes Dead Rising good."[39]
A sequel to the game, titled Dead Rising 5, was in development at Capcom Vancouver. The game was set between Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 3, and would have followed the adventures of Chuck and Katey Greene in Mexico. The project was canceled when Capcom Vancouver shut down in September 2018.[45]
With 47 different combo weapons and eight combo vehicles, you can spend a lot of time finding out what each one is like. And as in past games, Dead Rising 4 contains a lot of references to other Capcom franchises. I was excited when I discovered that the Blanka costumes I was seeing around town were also a part of the combo system.
Zombies often herald the end of all things, but for Frank West, their reemergence marks a new beginning. Frank, former photojournalist extraordinaire, has been off the radar since the first Dead Rising a decade ago, and this third Christmas-themed sequel finds him eking out his days as a college professor teaching novices his craft. But when the dead come, he again finds life. Even in Frank's opening nightmare in which he knocks back zombies like a wrecking ball, there's a sense amid his snarky complaints that he wants this. And even though Capcom's approach here stumbles here in parts, I was surprised by how much I wanted this as well.
Still, this is a tale about blasting zombies with a gnome-capped staff called the "Gandelf" and gleefully plowing through literally hundreds of zombies in a city park with a lawnmower. It's about strapping on hulking (and rare) exosuits after zombies overrun the Willamette Memorial Megaplex after Black Friday and cutting down them with an electrified battleaxe or using blueprints to make quirky weapons like an "Ice Sword" from scattered items like liquid nitrogen and machetes. The melee controls are satisfying and intuitive, although the removal of throwable melee weapons stings bitterly and ranged weapons suffer from poor aiming. Never before has the series tossed the undead at you with such relentlessness. I'm inclined to believe there's no way a town like Willamette was home to that many people in the first place, but the crowds make the yuletide slaughter consistently enjoyable. 2ff7e9595c
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