It’s been a while since the lastDead Risinggame.Dead Rising 4came out in December 2016, a timely release to match the digital Willamette Mall’s own holiday season. Unfortunately, the gradual slide in fan reception hit rock bottom with that entry, and the game proved to be a disappointment in reputation and sales. Within a couple of years, series developer Capcom Vancouver had shut down, and references toDead Risinghave dried up since then. Even Frank West’s April 2021 debut in theTeppencard game was barely advertised, withDead Rising’s presence being deemphasized in favor of anAce Attorneyevent.
That doesn’t meanDead Risingis gone for good, but it will need a major shot in the arm to come back.Dead Rising 5was supposedly in development before Capcom Vancouver closed, although development was turbulent. The pitch was for a gameset betweenDead Rising 2and3featuring Chuck Greene and his daughter Katey as playable characters. The game sounded like another attempt to return to what made the series good, but there were still conflicting elements like Katey’s new control over zombie hordes. Innovation isn’t bad for an aging franchise, but it’s vital for a newDead Risingto re-establish what made it good in the first place.
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Ever sinceDead Rising 2: Off the Record, it feels likeDead Risinghas lost sight of itself.Dead Rising 3still had a lot of whatmadeDead Rising1,2, andOff the Recordgreat, although its darker visual style, defanged timer, and diminished Psychopaths were worrying.Dead Rising 4was advertised as a return to form, featuring Frank West as the player character again and even the first game’s town of Willamette. The loss of Frank West’s original voice actor and the series’ iconic time limit were both major blows, but some purists were still willing to give the final game a chance. Tragically, even lowered expectations failed to be met.
Dead Rising 4was the worstDead Risingtitle by a large margin, and seemed caught between trying to pander to old fans while failing to replicate any past strengths. Frank’s new voice and appearance would be acceptable if the story hadn’treframed Frank West as a selfish, washed-up coward. No other characters stand out, and Psychopaths have been fully replaced by cookie cutter, almost fully optional Maniacs. The game’s action and environmental interactions were more basic thanDead Rising 1, escorting Survivors was reduced to pointless combat trials, and the game was so easy that patches with new difficulty modes and a restored timer weren’t enough. To top it all off, the game had no campaign co-op or Overtime true ending, with the former being replaced by a survival mode and a lackluster golf DLC, and the latter just being paid DLC.Dead Rising 4failed, and the franchise fell with it.
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If Capcom ever decides to giveDead Risinganother chance, it needs tolook atDead Rising 1and2for inspiration. These games and their spin-offs hold true to the core ofDead Rising:a campy-yet-tense trip through a zombie apocalypse that balances player expression with time management.Dead Rising’s humor and charm paradoxically come from its dramatic B-movie tone, something thatDead Rising 4failed to understand with its attempts at relatable comedy. Even Frank West’s catchphrase, “I’ve covered wars, you know,” was only said once in an appropriate context at the beginning ofDR1.
As seen byDead Rising 2’s success andDead Rising 4’s failure,Dead Rising 5does not need to be a clone ofDead Rising 1. It can branch out into new locations, a more seamless world, and even include newer mechanics like Combo Weapons and the skill tree fromDead Rising 3and4. However, it must maintain the spirit ofDead Risingwith a strict time limitand even harsher difficulty. The notion of zombies becoming more aggressive at night should return, and encounters should feel appropriately lethal.
The pomp and circumstance behind the original game’s Psychopath boss fights ought to be reclaimed, and more should be around. Even if more difficulty toggles for time and damage are included, the feeling of escorting survivors through hordes of zombies while an ever-present clock ticks down to failure iswhatDead Risingis all about.
With that said, these games are not about oppressive hopelessness and being forced to ignore sidequests for more time. Failure to keep up with the story’s time limits should prompt the option to keep playing, just like in the original. A tightly-designed set of days that go through the same non-critical events would promote mastery over locales and their hurdles like they werelooping throughMajora’s Mask.
Dead Risingis meant to be fun and challenging, so players should be encouraged to learn through messing around in the games’ sandbox environment. Bringing back multiple endings to accommodate freedom, as well as the Overtime true ending and co-op to further the player’s antics would be ideal. A great bonus that pushes this fun climb to mastery is the original game’s Survival Mode where Frank’s health is the clock and resources are limited. Something like it to truly test both players and the in-game schedule would make fora betterDead Rising 5.
There is one more major aspect that the nextDead Risingshould take from its predecessor, and that’s combat. There is a surprisingly high skill ceiling in the originalDead Risingas the player gradually unlocks more skills. What looks like an overly-simplifiedDynasty Warriorsgame with zombies gives way to a 3D conversion ofFinal Fightwith in-depth grappling mechanics. Thelack of Combo Weaponsmeant that Frank’s barehanded arsenal needed to be powerful, and it rewards players with experience points for skilled use. On top of that, many items had unique movesets in the firstDead Rising, and they were all objects physically integrated into the environment. That most of this was gone inDead Rising 4speaks to how far this series has fallen.Dead Rising 5’s predecessors hold all the tools it needs.
Dead Rising 4is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
