In Capcom’s upcoming Dead Rising 4, players will reunite with snarky Frank West, the hero of the original Dead Rising. It’s the Christmas season and Frank has returned to the rebuilt mall to slaughter zombies in every way imaginable. In a series known for over-the-top kills and even more over-the-top weapons, Dead Rising 4 does not hold back.
As soon as the demo starts, I’m dropped in the middle of a street swarming with zombies. Tasked with finding a survivor, I dash for my first weapon, the umbrella gun. Think of an open umbrella without fabric, but now each of those metal spikes has the ability to shoot frickin’ laser beams.
Running through the streets of an abandoned town and fending off zombies along the way, I actually stop for a moment to check out the beautifully rendered body parts that I hack off, because the graphics are that great.
There are three distinct types of zombies in Dead Rising 4:the regular, slow-moving zombies that you’re used to blasting away; freshly infected zombies who can climb and move faster than normal; and then there are the super-evolved zombies—big bosses that require you to concoct a plan to defeat them.
Fans of the franchise will notice some changes to the control systems. In an effort to streamline the combat system, all weapons now fall into three categories: range, melee and thrown, each with a dedicated button. You can select your weapons in each of these categories using the D-pad. This control scheme makes switching weapons seamless while on the move, and the crafting system has also been updated, allowing players to craft new weapons wherever they are as opposed to finding a crafting bench. Speaking of weapons, in the short time I had with the game, I also got my hands on the Electrified Axe, the Ice Sword, and a classic RPG.
Further into my adventures, I came across the all-new Exo-Suit. This metal exo-skeleton armor enables you to carry huge guns like the flamethrower, which I could not pick up before putting the suit on. You can’t just go all Terminator on everyone, though, as the Exo-Suit is battery powered and drains with each use until it powers down. The power status is shown on your HUD (head-up display), along with the ability to use night vision or take a selfie with hordes of the undead behind you—the choice is yours.
Being that Frank is a photojournalist, his camera also comes into play throughout Dead Rising 4. In the demo I played, one objective was to find missing soldiers. Once I found their bodies, I took a photo for evidence. Photos also have a ranking system for your character. For example, I snapped a photo of hundreds of zombies burnt to a crisp in the streets after an attack from my flamethrower, and a screen appeared saying that I got an “A” for Terror.
By and large, fans of the Dead Rising series should enjoy what this latest entry has to offer, as it provides everything we have enjoyed from the other games, but also has several new features that worked seamlessly with my gameplay experience.
Dead Rising 4 will be released for Xbox One and PC this holiday season.
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To watch over 12 minutes of Dead Rising 4 gameplay footage (courtesy of IGN), visit:
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