So this past week saw the release of Dead Rising 4 on XBOX One and PC. I was going to save this game as something I’d ask my parents to get me for Christmas, but given the fact I’ve set myself this task of daily wintry gaming write ups, it made sense to find a way to buy it at release.
Well. I’m hear to tell you that if you’re asking for this game for Christmas. Show that lovely generous person this article. This is a heads up urge by me for you to play this game on Christmas Eve at the latest!
Scroll down to the bold “FUN PART” text for the reason for saying that>
I’ve been a big fan of the Dead Rising series since the beginning. The first Dead Rising game, back in 2006, was one of the major selling points for me on why I really wanted to get an XBOX 360. It just looked like a whole lot of fun, and when I finally got my hands on it I wasn’t disappointed. I may retro review the original’s re-release in coming months though so I’ll not go into the past too much.
Since 2006 I’ve played every Dead Rising game to date, including it’s downloadable spin-off games, and even the Wii de-make, and the not so fun iOS version (>_<). However in the build up to Dead Rising 4, through Capcom’s pre-release information, and media previews it was starting to look as though Dead Rising 4 wouldn’t be quite the same game I had garnered a lot of love for.
Dead Rising has usually been about mixing fun with micromanagement. You start off weak in every sense of the word. Through killing enemies, stage exploration, saving other survivors, killing psychopaths, and any other side quests you come across you’ll acquire experience. This experience helps make your character stronger, faster, able to hold more items, able to better use items, and so forth.
In the early stages of a game you’d be on edge. It was very easy to stray too far from a comfort zone and end up dead, and then have to decide whether to start the game from scratch but with your levelled up abilities in tact to help make retreading the same ground easier, or you could load your last save point (which could potentially be a while back in time). On top of this the game has a constantly ticking clock. Whilst you’re free to explore and have fun at your leisure, you need to do certain story elements before that time runs out. Otherwise you’ll potentially get a game over that way, or end up playing the rest of your game out for a lesser final ending.
Now all of the last paragraph could be taken as a negative, but it really isn’t. In fact I’d argue it was a brilliant way to make you play this game for many more hours than you may well have otherwise. You could see something new every play through, and the levelling up system was balanced well to make sure that even if you managed to beat the game on your first attempt you’d still not hit the lvl 50 cut off, and thus have the incentive to play again, do new things, and see what each new levels reward would be. As you progress in that way the game gets easier for the most part (except some boss encounters) but at the same time this makes the game more fun because now you’re really feeling like you’re in a toy box of a world.
So with that context in mind. Dead Rising 4 does away with the constant timer, it has an autosave system that happens quite regularly, and comparitively you don’t feel as fragile when you begin as previous games, and by the later levels you’ll be in the most absurd toy box reality the series has seen yet.
Thankfully I can say that this game has been very enjoyable so far. I’m only about 4 hours in as I write this and I’ve spent a good chunk of that time simply having fun as opposed to chasing the story objective.
At it’s core this is playing out as a new Dead Rising game as you’d of liked, but simply with some of the pressure toned back. I expect given freedom of time now I’ll of hit the max level for Frank (player character) by the time I reach end of the game. I’ll also likely wrap up every single sidequest and collectible (which you can get maps for in game) in one playthrough too.
My only concern with this game at the moment is that once I get to the end, unless it turns out their are things I can easily miss in a playthrough without knowing about them, that I’ll practically of done everything in one playthrough and this will be the only main series Dead Rising game that I didn’t keep revisiting due to a lack of things left to do.
I plan to buy the season pass for Dead Rising 4 and have access to all the DLC as it comes. Naturally once I’ve completed the game and seen what that extra content has to offer I’ll have a better opinion on if this game has the lasting legs it’s predecessors had, and at that point I’ll provide a final review of the game on the site too.
Now. With that series comparison and analysis bit out the way…
TIME FOR THE FUN PART!!
*show the below part of the article to your present giver*
Like I’ve attested, I’m a Dead Rising series fan. I’ve followed this game throughout it’s development and had this game firmly on my Christmas list.
I went against that though and managed to just barely make things work till my next payday and treat myself to this on it’s release day so that I could feature it in my month of wintry gaming, and by golly gosh am I glad I did.
This game is THE definitive yuletide themed game to play… for us adults that is, and very much for those of whom have a bah humbug approach to the season too.
By it’s very nature this game isn’t some warm feeling family friendly affair. This is an ever constant bloody massacre of the undead. Yet this goes hand in hand with the movie “Die Hard” as being another prime bit of action and death defiance to a festive backdrop, and it works beautifully.
Dead Rising 4 is a pretty huge sandbox for you to explore within, but you begin the game properly in Willamette mall (with a very desensitized Frank compared to his last trip here). Within this mall a lot of shops have just seen out Black Friday and are already decorated and themed for holiday shopping. So you can expect to see Christmas lavished everywhere just as you would do as a retail shopper in the real world.
If you’re a seasoned Dead Rising player you’ll be familiar with the premise of combo weapons. In which certain weapons or items can be paired with each other to create a more extravagant means to bring death. Well, thanks to the timing of the games setting you can pick up a whole load of Christmas themed items, and go nuts with them. Explosive singing Santa’s, electrocuting wreaths, and a whole load more.
Finally the thing that really cements this game as a Christmas classic is it’s soundtrack. It’s loaded with renditions of old timey Christmas music which you’d expect to pad out the soundtrack of “Jingle all the Way”, “Home Alone”, and so on. In fact you can be in midst of a whole load of zombies, covered in blood, constantly keeping an eye on your remaining health, and then see a notification that you’ve hit a new level and now have a new skill point to use to beef up your character. So you pause the game and start have a think of what you want to reward yourself with and be immediately greeted with some comically fitting christmas cheer (see video below for example)
I have a lot to play this month and really didn’t expect Dead Rising 4 to demand my attention and figured I could simply enjoy it in January or something, but honestly it’s just TOO good to pass up. It’s the ultimate December escape. Sure it’ll be fun to play within this games world at any time of year technically, but right now it’s perfect for it. It’s currently providing a great daily build up to Christmas whilst playing this in bursts. Once Christmas is past, some of this current seasonal charm it’s giving off will be lost.
I’m really hoping this game comes to light as being something great to revisit and replay over because I can honestly see this being the type of annual Christmas season activity that becomes as much a staple as watching many of the classic movies and specials is.