Of the many things the Dead Rising series has been known for, the time limit on players that imposed restrictions on what you could and couldn’t do is perhaps one of the less appreciated features. While Dead Rising 3 made it an option with Nightmare mode, Capcom’s Dead Rising 4 will remove the time limit for its campaign complete.
Capcom Vancouver head Joe Nickolls explained why to GameSpot. “We did a ton of user research on it, and the majority of the people said they didn’t really love the timer – they wanted to explore. There’s so much hidden side content that when we did it with a timer, people were just getting pissed off because they couldn’t finish half of what they wanted to finish.”
Given that the game encourages exploration this time around, an option for a time limit wouldn’t work either. “The world has been designed with multiple levels of exploration. It’s so dense this time. There are stores, there are apartments above the stores, there are hidden areas and rooms.”
Of course, the other benefit is players not having to repeat the same areas again and again for different results like previous games with the time limit. Those who crave that extra challenge can still do so online though. “We put a timer in the online mode because we wanted people to have that kind of experience with their friends. It’s four-player co-op online with distinct, specific missions and stuff to do in that mode.”
Nickolls also noted that, “If we keep making the same Dead Rising over and over, the people that just want the very same thing are going to get what they want. But people want to see growth, they want to see us adapting as we go. You’re going to piss someone off no matter what you do, right?”
Dead Rising 4 is out on December 6th for Xbox One and Windows 10.
