Dead Rising 4

[CT Phipps]

I just started this game after all the bad reviews and I have to say I think I'm going to give this one a lot higher marks than anyone else. I'm not one of the fans who was ever hugely in love with the timer business so I think the fact it's a "free-roam" game works very well.

It's really a nice bunch of brainless fun in a town overrun by the undead.

My only regret is it's too dark.

Literally. I've turned it up to maximum lighting and it's still pretty damn shadowy. Dead Rising is a bright and colorful series. Who directed this? Zack Snyder?*

Anyone else played this?

* Poor guy. My thoughts and prayers go to him.

 

[R.Graves]

The lack of a time limit sucks. Other than that its as good as the other three.

 

[CerberusGate]

To me, taking out the timer from the game is taking out one of the key elements out of the game. Part of the challenge of the original two games was managing your time (and a skilled, or rather patient, player can figure this out). In fact, part of the fun is figuring out how to optimize your time in the games (i.e figuring out the optimal moment to rescue certain survivors etc.). Without that timer, the game becomes a typical free-roam sandbox game with little to no identity.

That said, I preferred what they did with 2 and not the original whereby you still have to deal with that timer but you can unlock a shortcut and can manage time better, the systems are streamlined to an extent, and there is better AI. Not sure if I would enjoy the original but from what I can tell, 4 was a step in the wrong direction.

Wrong in terms of writing, wrong in terms of mechanics etc. (Plus that whole DLC for the real ending bullshit...)

Zach Snyder

It's Zack, not Zach btw. Aside from that, I agree that what happened to him was tragic.

 

[Big No]

Pretty much.

 

[lolpop109]

Its very much a gamer I wanted to get becaus eI enver played a dead rising gam eprobably. It was also seasson around Christmas so I thought about getting it then. Now it does't apeal to me at all because of the christmas theme. I played the demo a few month back and realy really didn't like it. I was pretty drunk at the time but it was pretty crap

 

[CT Phipps]

Ouch,

Can't believe I misspelled Zack Snyder's name. I think that's because I knew a guy in high school who spelled it that way.

Now, speaking as a long-time dead rising fan (the only game I haven't played is DR3), I've got to say that I generally disagree with a lot of these so-called fan's complaints. Then again, I never liked the core gameplay of time management and resource management versus the more enjoyable exploration as well as rampant zombie slaughter. I really loved the fact in Off the Record you had the option to just explore the settings at your leisure so

I was all set for Dead Rising 4.

I also feel like the game did an excellent job of giving us a really good sandbox for exploring and slaughtering zombies. The variety in the types of zombies was also extremely good. I enjoyed the mercenaries, the evolved zombies, and had a generally good time not having to escort the survivors back to their survival bases.

Are there flaws?

Yeah, the fact Psychopaths no longer have cutscenes or endings is bullshit. That's just cheap cost-cutting and I do not like it one bit. I also didn't like the retcons about the Beef experiments being remade as experiments into human immortality--which reduces a fairly clever bit of social satire to MAD SCIENCE. Weirdly, the damn GAME is aware of this since they said they gave up immortality research for zombie migrant labor.

Still, it's the Dead Rising game I enjoyed....well, second most after DR2.

 

[ThatZenoGuy]

 

[CerberusGate]

these so-called fan's complaints

Those complaints are still valid complaints nonetheless (also, it is rather disingenuous to use the term "so-called" to describe fans who complain about DR4's changes). The game's mixed (or average) reception and/or lack of impact is indicative of that.

At least the hassle of inventory and time management made the previous games memorable (memorably annoying but better that than forgettable since it gave a unique feature to the games). Some of the fun, as I said, comes from figuring the best builds and optimal plan to complete everything. It's not perfect for people wanting free sandboxes but that's what Off the Record fixed with Sandbox Mode (which is a separate feature). This choice gave options for people who want DR's difficulty and those who want the sandbox, something sadly not repeated with 3 and 4 as far as I can tell.

If I wanted a mindless sandbox, I'd go back to a modded Skyrim or go through Sandbox Mode (while not opting for that mission which converts everyone into super zombies). If I want a challenging zombie sandbox with surmountable obstacles, I'd go Dead Rising 2 or Off the Record. 4 took a wrong step and the mixed reception shows.

 

[Prone Squanderer]

Getting rid of the timer was a mistake. If they kept it and the separate Sandbox Mode like Off the Record it would satisfy both camps.

Yeah, the fact Psychopaths no longer have cutscenes or endings is bullshit. That's just cheap cost-cutting and I do not like it one bit.

IIRC they're not even called Psychopaths anymore right? Something I don't agree with. They are one of the core elements of the series.

I also didn't like the retcons about the Beef experiments being remade as experiments into human immortality--which reduces a fairly clever bit of social satire to MAD SCIENCE. .

Wait really?

Whoever came up with that needs a slap.

 

[CT Phipps]

Yeah, in Dead Rising 4, we discover Doctor Barnaby's secret laboratory under Willamette (which makes no sense because why experiment in Mexico then?) which is where the virus was originally made. It was going to immortality research versus research into beef. However, after that failed, the government decided they would use zombies as INEXHAUSTIBLE LABOR.

Which....okay, why retcon it to immortality if you're going to ditch it anyway?

Ugh.

And yeah, they're retconned from being Psychopaths to "Maniacs." They're also significantly easier as is the whole of the game.

So yes, it's not right to call them so-called fans either. There's some genuinely good complaints, not the least being you can't use everything as a weapon.

 

[CerberusGate]

Yeah, in Dead Rising 4, we discover Doctor Barnaby's secret laboratory under Willamette (which makes no sense because why experiment in Mexico then?) which is where the virus was originally made. It was going to immortality research versus research into beef. However, after that failed, the government decided they would use zombies as INEXHAUSTIBLE LABOR.

Which....okay, why retcon it to immortality if you're going to ditch it anyway?

Ugh.

Okay... that is a stupid retcon even by Capcom standards.

 

[CT Phipps]

Okay... that is a stupid retcon even by Capcom standards.

Yes, yes it is.

SO honest complaints I agree with are:

* Retconning a lore which is actually fairly straight-forward and sensible in Capcom's usual fashion (at least in the context of "zombies are a metaphor for capitalism's stupid consumption of lives for profit")
* Removing the ability to use everything as a weapon
* Frank's new jackass personality (which I happen to like as a development since it's Off the Record-like)
* Getting rid of the timer
* The fact the game is so damned dark you can't enjoy the scenery in the mall.

 

[Prone Squanderer]

I'm not one of the fans who was ever hugely in love with the timer business so I think the fact it's a "free-roam" game works very well.

SO honest complaints I agree with are:

* Getting rid of the timer

​

 

[CT Phipps]

Here's a review of the game which explains my thoughts.

Thanks everyone for your posts.

http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2017/06/dead-rising-4-review.html

I gave it out of a 7/10

 

[lolpop109]

Thats all the evidence I ever need to never buy dead rising 4

 

[TorontoReign]

All that video does is make me want to replay the first two games. I did not know it was so screwed up to be degraded to that level as a series. How the fuck could they do this? HOW CAN YOU EVEN LIKE THIS GAME PHIPPS!? That shit makes me sad. The game looks rushed much like Andromeda actually. They keep trying to go bigger and better every time but it just mucks it all up, leaving it unpolished and broken beyond saving. They changed Frank's voice actor, they messed with the lore for "reasons", and worst of all they stripped the only unique mechanic out of the game that made it worth playing - the timer and environment interactions.

 

[lolpop109]

The reassons you played dead rising was to pick up stuff and kill zombies with it. They manged to screw that up some how. Destroying all the tiny details along the way. To miss on little details that an order games is pathetic. Sometimes I wonder why cant they work on the same engine because atleast that way the game would't be missing so many things

 

[ThatZenoGuy]

Thats all the evidence I ever need to never buy dead rising 4

Eyup. ;D

 

[Prone Squanderer]

All that video does is make me want to replay the first two games. I did not know it was so screwed up to be degraded to that level as a series. How the fuck could they do this? HOW CAN YOU EVEN LIKE THIS GAME PHIPPS!?

Every crap/mediocre game is 7 or above/10 regardless of how bad said game may be.

They keep trying to go bigger and better every time but it just mucks it all up, leaving it unpolished and broken beyond saving. They changed Frank's voice actor, they messed with the lore for "reasons", and worst of all they stripped the only unique mechanic out of the game that made it worth playing - the timer and environment interactions.

Fallout 4 then?

 

[CT Phipps]

All that video does is make me want to replay the first two games. I did not know it was so screwed up to be degraded to that level as a series. How the fuck could they do this? HOW CAN YOU EVEN LIKE THIS GAME PHIPPS!? That shit makes me sad. The game looks rushed much like Andromeda actually. They keep trying to go bigger and better every time but it just mucks it all up, leaving it unpolished and broken beyond saving. They changed Frank's voice actor, they messed with the lore for "reasons", and worst of all they stripped the only unique mechanic out of the game that made it worth playing - the timer and environment interactions.

Because killing zombies is fun? It was a game without anything frustrating and I was able to complete without difficulty. Entertaining throughout. Can anyone who has played the game say what they thought wasn't fun?

It was fun.

Very fun.

It just had a lot of what made the game unique removed.

Every crap/mediocre game is 7 or above/10 regardless of how bad said game may be.

I was going to give it a higher rating for fun but there was just too much removed.