Dead Rising 4

Gameplay

Unlike its predecessors, the game does not feature a timer system or story co-op gameplay. As with the other games in the series, the game features an open world setting.

Plot

Set in 2022, a year after the zombie outbreak in Los Perdidos, California, Frank West, a former photojournalist now working as a college professor, is approached by one of his students, Vicky "Vick" Chu, who convinces him to help her investigate a military compound, situated on the outskirts of Willamette, Colorado - the site of the first zombie outbreak. Once inside, they discover that the place is being used for zombie research, but are discovered and forced to flee, with Frank labelled a fugitive after he is falsely accused by the government.

A few months later, near Christmas, Frank is found by Brad Park, an agent of the ZDC, who convinces him to help investigate a new zombie outbreak that started in Willamette during the Black Friday sales, in exchange for the means to clear his name and having exclusive rights to the story, revealing that Vick has already left to investigate the matter herself.

Just as they arrive at Willamette, Frank and Brad's helicopter is hit by a missile, forcing them to make a crash landing in the middle of the shopping mall. Upon confronting the zombies, they discover that they are infected with a new, more aggressive strain of the virus that previous treatments like Zombrex are ineffective against. Frank eventually discovers that an elusive organization called "Obscuris" is in the city looking for a monstrous creature called "Calder", and reunites with Vick on a few occasions, but their opposing views prevent them from working together.

Frank manages to approach an Obscuris truck carrying Calder, but it drives off, leaving him to confront an Obscuris lieutenant. Upon investigating the laboratory of Dr. Russell Barnaby, the main scientist behind the zombie outbreak in Santa Cabeza, Mexico, Frank learns that during his last days, Barnaby was developing ways to make zombies with their human intelligence intact, and that Calder was a human soldier enhanced with a military exoskeleton who was transformed by accident, but not before downloading Barnaby's data on a disk that he always carries with himself. Frank finds himself having to confront him in order to retrieve it.

Frank later invades the base of Obscuris and faces the leader of the organization - and the one responsible for bringing down the helicopter carrying him and Brad - Fontana. Fontana reveals that their group was not responsible for the outbreak, but was hired by an unknown client to obtain Calder's data, seeking to use the research on intelligent zombies to make cheap labor for factories and plantations in developing countries. Their confrontation is interrupted by Calder, who kills Fontana. After rescuing several survivors from a group of psychotic survivalists, Frank pursues Calder down to the sewers, where he steals the disk and transfers the data to his camera. Vick appears with a gun, forces Frank to give her his camera, and flees after destroying the disk. Frank runs after her all the way to the shopping mall where they are intercepted by Calder, who destroys the camera, and the two work together to kill him.

After the battle, Vick reveals to Frank that she took the camera's SD card, containing all of the disk's data, and they reconcile, agreeing to share the credit for the story. Frank, Vick and Brad leave for the rooftop to be extracted via helicopter, but a massive horde of zombies pursue them on the way there. Brad and Vick make it to the helicopter, but Frank is grabbed as he is boarding and, unable to break free from their grip, sacrifices himself to them so Vick and Brad can escape.

Development

In January 2016, Capcom Vancouver announced that it was working on two new open world projects. The game was announced at the 2016 Microsoft E3 conference with a trailer and 12 minutes of gameplay.

Terence J. Rotolo did not return to voice Frank West, who was instead portrayed by 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." This change proved controversial among some fans, leading them to petition the developer to restore Rotolo as West.

Update

Less than two months following the release of the game, a free downloadable update was released on January 30, 2017 that introduced two harder difficulty modes, Hard and Ultra-Hard (in which enemies do more damage, weapons break faster, and food heals less), and five in-game Street Fighter costumes, featuring the attires of Guile, M. Bison, Zangief, Cammy, and T. Hawk. On January 31, a timed demo was released on Xbox One that allows 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.

Release

The game was released worldwide on December 6, 2016. Microsoft also confirmed that the game is a timed-exclusive on Windows 10 for 90 days and a year on Xbox One. On February 22, 2017, Capcom announced that Dead Rising 4 will release for Steam on March 14, effectively ending the timed Windows 10 exclusivity.

Reception

Dead Rising 4 received "generally favorable" reviews on PC and "mixed or average" reviews on Xbox One on review aggregate website Metacritic.

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 that Capcom had balanced the absurdity of the gameplay with intelligence and feeling, but specifically found the safehouses too simple and underwhelming, writing that he "would’ve loved to see some sort of shelter defense system come into play." 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 that the storyline was a little rote, and was disappointed with the new 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. Conversely, GamesRadar's Sam Prell wrote that the "majority of Willamette is a sleepy, uninspiring blur", and felt that the story lacked a satisfying villain and that too many objectives were repetitious. He acknowledged that some players might not like the changes to Frank West's appearance and voice but wrote that "he has the same smartass-with-a-heart-of-gold personality he's always had" and "is still worth cheering on." Prell felt that the removal of the timer that was 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 that it succeeds more than it fails.

Writing a less positive review, Destructoid's Chris Carter wrote that while he liked the game's comic book-like animations and campy tone that 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 that 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 "a sleazy move" how Capcom Vancouver were going to bring back the timer in the upcoming Dead Rising 4: Frank Rising paid DLC. Writing for GameSpot, Scott Butterworth felt that "[f]or a game that's all about mindless zombie murder, the storytelling is remarkably adept", and that Frank and Vick's relationship was nuanced and believable. Butterworth believed that "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." Jim Sterling favorably compared the goofiness of the gameplay to the Saints Row series. He 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 couldn't help but find it "a damn fine, damn fun, damn funny game though."