Amidst Capcom’s renewed focus on revitalizing franchises and remaking old games, one of the names that’s come up in demands for something similar most often is Dino Crisis. The survival horror franchise is one that fans have wanted a comeback for for a long time- and it seems fans are not the only ones who did.

A new video by DidYouKnowGaming charting the history of Dead Rising developers Capcom Vancouver and everything that led to the studio being shuttered mentions that before it got closed, the studio pitched several projects to Capcom. One of these was a Dino Crisis revival, but apparently, their bosses in Japan shot down the project because they were “unwilling to make the significant investment in new technology that the project would have required.”

And that’s not the only project that Capcom Vancouver pitched to no avail. Other games that they reportedly wanted to develop that Capcom shot down were a new Onimusha entry, an action-focused RE game called Resident Evil X, and a new sidescrolling Mega Man game.

Finally, Capcom Vancouver were also supposedly working on Dead Rising 5 at the time of their shuttering. The game, which was being made on Unreal Engine 4, was going to feature Dead Rising 2 protagonist Chuck Greene. It was going to be set between the events of Dead Rising 2 and 3, and would have taken place in Santa Catarina, Mexico.

A Dino Crisis revival has been mentioned in recent reports as well, which have stated that no revival of the franchise is currently in development (or even being planned). Onimusha did get a remaster a couple years ago, but Capcom haven’t really talked much about the property since then.

The publisher has said that it will be focusing more on franchise revivals going forward, so… keep hope alive, I guess?

You probably expected this after news broke out earlier that Capcom had suspended all projects and development at the studio, but it seems like the publisher will be closing down Capcom Vancouver, the Canadian subsidiary primarily known for its work on the Dead Rising series, entirely.

In a statement made to Kotaku, Capcom said that the decision was made after an internal review, and the decision to focus the development of its major titles in Japan. Unfortunately, 158 people – a staggering number – will be losing their jobs as a result of this shutdown.

“As a result of reviewing titles in development at Capcom Vancouver, Capcom has decided to cancel the development projects at this studio and will concentrate development of major titles in Japan. A skeleton crew will remain until January 2019 to finalize closure operations and logistics,” the rep said.

This is a major shame, honestly. Dead Rising 4 underperformed, but there was always a chance for the studio to come back in a big way with its next game, a chance that they will now not have. Unfortunately, with game development being as expensive as it is, and Capcom being a financially constrained company, you can see why the decision was made to let Capcom Vancouver go.

I just hope that the people affected as a result of this closure can get back on their feet as soon as possible.

Capcom has announced today in a statement that it will be cancelling all projects currently under development at Capcom Vancouver, the studio that is behind the Dead Rising series. Capcom says that the studio, which was a subsidiary it had set up to create games for an international audience, went under review for the projects it was currently working on, which led to the cancellation of all of them.

The result of this cancellation is that Capcom now expects to take a massive ¥4.5 billion loss for the fiscal year. This is in spite of the incredible performance of titles like Monster Hunter World, and the vast profits that the game has brought them.

The last game that Capcom Vancouver worked on, Dead Rising 4, significantly underperformed. The game was meant to be a back to the basics approach for the franchise, but fans disliked how many regressions it made from previous games in the series, and the game didn’t do well. It’s not surprising that the studio is in crisis following that.

Announced today through Capcom’s website, It’s now known that Capcom Vancouver is as of now dropping support and further development of Puzzle Fighter Mobile, and working on the next entry in the irreverent zombie shooter series, Dead Rising.

Puzzle Fighter Mobile was the first game outside of the Dead Rising series that Capcom Vancouver has worked on in nearly 10 years, and their return to the series will mark the first since the last release in 2016. Nothing further is known about the game at this time.

The real question that’s up in the air right now, is whether or not Capcom will continue to partner with Microsoft on the series, as the last two Dead Rising titles have had some form of exclusivity to Microsoft’s platforms. Dead Rising 4 was timed exclusive while Dead Rising 3 can still only be found on Microsoft Platforms. Are you waiting for your next chance to cover wars? Let us know in the comments.

Capcom Vancouver best known for their work on the Dead Rising series, has been hit by quite a few layoffs. Capcom has stated that this has taken place as part of the company’s “periodic assessment of upcoming projects and overall studio goals”. They also revealed that the team is continue to work on Puzzle Fighter on mobile alongside their dedication to “flagship Dead Rising series.”

“Capcom Vancouver has undergone a restructure which has impacted approximately 30 percent of the studio, as part of its regular periodic assessment of upcoming projects and overall studio goals. The team is continuing to work to support the recent release of Puzzle Fighter for  mobile and is dedication to it flagship Dead Rising series,” reads a statement from Capcom.

Following reports by IGN and Kotaku, it seems that around 50 people were laid off from the studio. It was also reported that the scope of the next entry into the Dead Rising series has been reduced. Furthermore, they were also working on a new unannounced game which has now been canceled.

Dead Rising 4 had released back in 2016 for the Xbox One and PC and late last year for the PS4. We’ll have to wait and see just how much the next title in the series will be affected by these layoffs.

The Stocking Stuffer Holiday Pack for Dead Rising 4 is available now on Xbox One for $5 (free if you own the Season Pass); it will be coming to the PC some time in early 2017. The Stocking Stuffer Holiday Pack sees Frank West take on some Christmas themed zombies, including ones dressed as reindeer, gingerbread men, and elves, with Christmas themed weapons, including a baseball bat lined with Christmas lights.

The DLC also includes the option for Frank to dress up as Santa and ride around on a motorbike with a reindeer head strapped on the front of it that… shoots lasers. No, I’m not joking, that’s actually true. It should be enough to sell anyone on the game, actually.

Two new difficulty settings for the game’s Store Mode have also been announced, with more details on both coming in 2017. We do know that they will see enemies dish out more damage, weapons breaking more easily, and food restoring health a bit less. Maybe they’ll even add a timer back in? Who knows. Dead Rising 4 is available now on Xbox One and PC.

If you are one of those players, who just wants help trying to see everything that the game has for you to see, you have come to the right place. From blueprint locations to combo vehicles, from collectibles to upgrades, from leveling up faster to Achievements, this guide covers everything. You ready? Then let’s just right into it.

BLUEPRINT LOCATIONS

In Dead Rising 4, Blueprints are a special kind of collectible that Frank West can hunt down and use to be able to craft new weapons and vehicles. Crafting a weapon or a vehicle from a Blueprint leads to a stronger one, which is more powerful and has a wider range of effects that activate on the battlefield, too.

The videos below will help you track down all the blueprints in the game, across all areas, in the game.

COMBO WEAPONS

Combo weapons are exactly what the name suggests- custom made weapons created by fusing two or more items, often to devastating effect. These can also be created using the Blueprints we discussed above. But what are these weapons, and what do they do? The video below will walk you through just that:

COMBO VEHICLES

Much like combo weapons, combo vehicles are created when two vehicles come together. These, too, can either be found in the field, or created using blueprints. As for what they do? That’s what the video below will show you:

UPGRADES

Playing through Dead Rising 4 and finishing missions earns you PP and lets you level up, also letting you upgrade your skills in the process via Ability Points. This section of the guide walks you through all of those upgrades:

FORTITUDE

• Healing: Slow health regeneration, health regenerates outside of combat
• Increase Health +50: Increases Health by 50
• Increase Health +50: Increases Health by 50
• Increase Health +75: Increases Health by 75
• Increase Health +75: Increases Health by 75
• Increase Health +125: Increases Health by 125
• Increase Health +125: Increases Health by 125
• Increase Stamina 1: Increase Stamina by 25%
• Increase Stamina 2: Increase Stamina by 25%
• Increase Stamina 3: Increase Stamina by 25%
• Increase Stamina 4: Increase Stamina by 25%
• Athlete: Increase Stamina Recovery Speed
• Marathoner: Stamina is no longer consumed
• Damage Resistance (Melee): Reduces damage taken by melee attacks
• Damage Resistance (Ranged): Reduces damage taken by ranged attacks
• Damage Resistance (Elemental): Reduces damage taken by elemental attacks
• Evasion: Small chance to nullify all damage from every zombie attack
• Improve Dodge: Improves dodge speed
• Improve Reflexes: Improve recovery speed after a knockback
• Fast Healing: Health regenerates faster
• Metabolic Boost 1 Increases amount of health food recovers
• Metabolic Boost 2 Increases amount of health food recovers
• Overheal: Heal past maximum health (additional health gradually degenerates)
• Inspiring Presence: Friendly survivors have increased health
• Greater Healing 1: Health regeneration heals to a higher value
• Greater Healing 2: Health regeneration heals to a higher value
• Greater Healing 3: Health regeneration heals to a higher value
• Combat Healing: Health regenerates during combat

BRAWLING

• Melee Critical Hits: You can now land critical hits
• Improved Critical Hits: Chances of landing a critical hit are higher
• Increased Weapon Durability: Melee weapon durability increased
• Greater Improved Critical Hits: Chances of landing a critical hit are higher; may stun enemies in close quarters
• Grapple Counter Attack: Kill a zombie after escaping a grapple
• Double Strike: Perform skill moves twice
• Improved Critical Hits (Blunt): Chances of landing a critical hit with a blunt weapon are higher
• Improved Jump Attack: Improve jump attacks, and increase the distance enemies are knocked back
• Increased Weapon Durability (Blunt): Blunt weapon durability increased
• Greater Improved Critical Hits (Blunt): Chances of landing a critical hit are higher with blunt weapons
• Melee Fury: If melee weapons break, your damage output greatly increases for a short time
• Skill Move Efficiency: Reduces amount of hit counts needed to perform a skill move
• Improved Critical Hits (Blade): Chances of landing a critical hit with a blade weapon are higher
• Power Kick: Defensive kicks are now more powerful
• Increased Weapon Durability (Blade): Blade weapon durability increased
• Greater Improved Critical Hits (Blade): Chances of landing a critical hit are higher with blade weapons
• Final Blow: The last move from any weapon before it breaks is automatically a skill move
• Elemental Critical Hits (Ice): Chances of landing a critical hit with an ice attack are higher
• Elemental Critical Hits (Acid): Chances of landing a critical hit with an acid attack are higher
• Elemental Critical Hits (Fire): Chances of landing a critical hit with a fire attack are higher
• Elemental Critical Hits (Electricity): Chances of landing a critical hit with an electric attack are higher
• Exo Suit Durability: Exo Suit durability increased
• Exo Suit Skill Move Efficiency: Reduces amount of hit counts needed to perform a skill move in an Exo Suit
• Minor Vehicle Durability: Vehicle durability increased
• Reinforced Chassis: Vehicles don’t slow down as much when you drive them over enemies
• Vehicular Combat Efficiency: Reduces amount of hit counts needed to perform a skill move in vehicle
• Major Vehicle Durability: Significantly increases the durability of all vehicles
• Deadlier Vehicles: Increases the damage of Combo Vehicle attacks

SHOOTING

• Critical Hits (Ranged): You can now land critical hits on ranged attacks
• Improved Critical Hits (Pistol): Increases chances of landing a critical hit with a pistol
• Focused Aiming: You can zoom with the right stick when using a pistol
• Increased Ammo 1 (Pistol): Increases ammo you can carry for pistols
• Increased Ammo 2 (Pistol): Increases ammo you can carry for pistols
• Pistol Adept: Reduces recoil for pistols
• Greater Improved Critical Hits (Pistol): Chances of landing a critical hit are higher with pistols
• Improved Critical Hits (Shotgun): Increases chances of landing a critical hit with a shotgun
• Increased Ammo 1 (Shotgun): Increases ammo you can carry for shotguns
• Increased Ammo 2 (Shotgun): Increases ammo you can carry for shotguns
• Shotgun Adept: Reduces recoil for shotguns
• Greater Improved Critical Hits (Shotgun): Chances of landing a critical hit are higher with shotguns
• Improved Critical Hits (Rifle): Increases chances of landing a critical hit with a rifle
• Focused Aiming: You can zoom with the right stick when using a rifle
• Increased Ammo 1 (Rifle): Increases ammo you can carry for rifle
• Increased Ammo 2 (Rifle): Increases ammo you can carry for rifle
• Rifle Adept: Reduces recoil for rifles
• Greater Improved Critical Hits (Rifle): Chances of landing a critical hit are higher with rifles
• Stingy Shooter: Small chance that a ranged attack won’t expend ammo
• Increased Capacity 1 (Thrown): Increases capacity of thrown weapons
• Increased Capacity 2 (Thrown): Increases capacity of thrown weapons
• Precision Targeting: When aiming, flick the right stick to aim at specific body parts
• Elemental Critical Hits (Explosive): Increases the effectiveness of explosive-based critical hits with ranged weapons

SURVIVAL

• Improved Crafting: You can use items on the ground in crafting
• Combat Pupil: Gain bonus PP upon achieving hit counter milestone during combat
• Improve Combat Flow: Increases time taken for hit counter to reset
• Hit Counter Resilience: You can resist one grapple and the hit counter won’t reset
• Near Death Focus: Chances of landing a critical hit when low HP go up
• Combat Scholar: Gain more bonus PP for every hit counter milestone reached in combat
• Combat Repairman: Upon scoring a critical hit with a melee weapon, that weapon may regain some durability
• Scrap Scrounger: Scrap drop rates go up when breaking destructible objects
• Keen Senses: While in photography mode, the controller will vibrate when something can be found with the Spectrum Analyzer
• Improved Scavenging: Scrap drop rates go up
• Lucky Find: Increases chances of finding a rare object
• Smart Shopper: Prices go down at vendors
• Instant Self-Defense: Break out of a zombie grapple instantly by hitting the Y Button
• Food Inventory Slot +1: Increases food inventory slot by 1
• Food Inventory Slot +2: Increases food inventory slot by 2
• Melee Inventory Slot +1: Increases Melee weapon inventory slot by 1
• Ranged Inventory Slot +1: Increases Ranged weapon inventory slot by 1
• Thrown Inventory Slot +1: Increases Thrown weapon inventory slot by 1
• Meele, Ranged, & Thrown Inventory Slots +1: Increase all inventory slots by 1
• Efficient Crafting: Small chance to gain Scrap when crafting combo weapon
• Fast Crafting: Increases crafting speed
• Speed Takedown: Sneak kills are faster and more effective
• Stealthy: Improves sneaking abilities
• Enemy Sense: Spot special enemies from a greater distance

COLLECTIBLES

There’s a fair few collectibles for you to hunt down in Dead Rising 4, and in this section of the guide, we help you find all of them:

GRAFFITI TAGS

VICK’S CLOUD UPLOADS

CELLPHONES

PODCASTS

NEWSPAPERS

LEVELING UP AND EARNING PRESTIGE POINTS FASTER

Leveling up and earning Prestige Points is not a new concept now- at this point, you know what that is, and what it does, and what benefits it can have for you. So of course, you want to level up as quickly as possible, as fast as possible, to be the best as soon as possible. This is where we come in- the tips in the videos below will help you level up faster than you otherwise would:

How To Level Up And Earn XP Faster And Unlimited Scrap:

ACHIEVEMENTS

Survive Holiday Hell
Survive Episode 1

Survive the Plaza 
Survive Episode 2

Survive the Boardwalk 
Survive Episode 3

Survive the Food Court 
Survive Episode 4

Craftsman 
Obtain all of the Multiplayer Combo Weapon Blueprints

Like a Boss 
Kill a Boss in Multiplayer Mode

Bareknuckle Boxing 
Complete an entire episode without using a weapon

Hangry 
Complete an entire episode without eating food

Busy Day
Complete 3 missions in a single day in Multiplayer Mode

Family Photo 
Take a photo of 3 players at the same time in Multiplayer Mode

Combat Ready 
Unlock 10 Multiplayer mode-only skills

All About the Points
Accumulate 1,000,000 points in Multiplayer Mode

Time For Mini Golf
Complete Case 0 of the Story

Door Crasher Special 
Complete Case 1 of the Story

Invasion on Main Street
Complete Case 2 of the Story

$#!&’s Getting Science
Complete Case 3 of the Story

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner 
Complete Case 4 of the Story

Man of the Year 
Complete Case 5 of the Story

Eyes on the Prize
Complete Case 6 of the Story

Rookie Journalist 
Solve one of the Mysteries

Seasoned Journalist
Solve all of the Mysteries

Elementary! 
Complete your first Investigation

Tinkerer 
Collect 5 Blueprints in Story Mode

Inventor 
Collect 30 Blueprints in Story Mode

Innovator 
Collect all Blueprints in Story Mode

Vehicular Manslaughter 
Create 8 unique combo vehicles

We Are Canceling The Apocalypse 
Create 5 unique Exo suit Power-Ups

A Whole New World 
Spend your first Skill Point

Building a New You 
Spend 25 total Skill Points

Skilled Brawler 
Spend 20 Skill Points on Brawling skills

Skilled Shooter 
Spend 20 Skill Points on Shooting skills

Skilled Survivalist 
Spend 20 Skill Points on Survival skills

Skilled Athlete 
Spend 20 Skill Points on Fortitude skills

Get to Work 
Complete 50 Trials

Workin’ Hard 
Complete all Trials

Story Completionist 
Complete all Story Trials

Otis Would Be Proud 
Fully level up the Mall Emergency Shelter

Hunting Grounds 
Discover every Location of Interest

Idol Worship 
Find the Frank West Statue. Didn’t there used to be more of these?

Master Journalist 
Get a Journalism Score of 100%

Fashionista 
Try on 100 different clothing items

Tape It or Die AGAIN 
Create 50 combo weapons

Tape It or Die Fanatic
Create 58 unique Combo Weapons

Zombie Destruction 
Kill 5,000 zombies

Z-Genocider 4: The Return
Kill 53,598 zombies

Left 100,004 Dead 2 
Kill 200,008 zombies

Faaantastic! 
Take an S-Rank Photograph

C-C-C-Combo!! 
Get a Hit Streak over 200 then use a Skill Move

Hey Big Spender 
Spend 100,000 Scrap

Stop Hitting Yourself
Kill a zombie with a hunk of meat

Dead Rising 4, the latest installment in Capcom’s other zombie action franchise, is now here. And even though it seems like it makes a lot of changes from the series’ previous games, there is hardly any denying that the end result is sufficiently fun and compelling enough regardless. While not as immediately arresting as Dead Rising or Dead Rising 3 were, it’s still a fun enough game to play.

And if you want help getting through it – which, there’s no shame if you do – or if you just want to see a Let’s Play of the game, because you’re sort of interested, but would rather not spend money on it for yourself, then you are in luck. The video walkthrough below will take you through the entire game, start to end. Just remember that it will have spoilers- so be very sure that you want to watch it all before you do.

Dead Rising 4 changes that by completely removing the timer in the single player campaign, thus allowing you to explore the town of Willamette without any restrictions. The tension of survival is still ever present thanks to a much more heavy handed narrative than the previous game and it actually feels more in line with the first Dead Rising. Unfortunately in terms of narrative and gameplay mechanics, Dead Rising 4 does very little to innovate on a franchise that – when it was first introduced – was quite unlike anything we’d seen at the time.

"Am I meant to laugh or be depressed? It’s all probably meant to make you feel heavily drugged and/or hallucinogenic like a zombie-fueled fever dream."

In Dead Rising 4, Frank West is on his way back to Willamette with Vick Chu, his student. West is now a professor but still infiltrates a “Reservationist Training Facility” at the behest of Chu. Spooky experiments are afoot involving zombies but why? When West tries to stick to his reporting guns and Chu abandons him, it’s fast-forward to four months later when the entire town has become overrun by zombies. West is now being recruited to crack the story wide open and hopefully before Vick, already on the scene and several steps ahead of him, can be even further out of her depth.

I’m not going to lie – it was really weird to see such a vivid nightmare of Frank’s demons to start the game off with only to see budget Bruce Campbell gleefully chopping up zombies and being “professional” a few minutes later. Leaps in logic aren’t anything new for this franchise but Frank seems to lack a lot of the endearably jerkish traits that, well, endearing jerks are supposed to have, at least in the beginning. This improves a bit later on but there are plenty of occasions where Frank’s wise-cracking feels odd (TJ Rotolo’s replacement does an alright job though). Vick is a more complex character, coming off as indignant and annoying at first but generally righteous overall. Other characters like stern government agent who clicks hot selfies of himself and stern military woman who has something to do with the outbreak pop up and they’re decent side-attractions when they’re around.

The entire motif of the game can be very strange. One minute I’m knee-deep in a nightmarish scenario, being questioned about Frank’s morals as a journalist, human being and overall jerk. The next minute, a helpful little pop-up with joyous Holiday music informs me of Panic Rooms and Safehouses. Heading to the menus will have this upbeat soundtrack blaring as well. While the general game is meant to be taken seriously, you have moments like racing in a go-kart around a track full of zombies or taking on various Maniacs with different gimmicks like demented Santa and his elves or Lady Sandra and her knights. Yes, they have cool weapons but it’s just…weird at times. Am I meant to laugh or be depressed? It’s all probably meant to make you feel heavily drugged and/or hallucinogenic like a zombie-fueled fever dream. It’s not full-on campy nor is it Dawn of the Dead reborn. It’s mostly weird.

"The game does a good job of throwing challenges at you. At times, you’ll have to deal with hostile survivors mixed in with the horde."

In between these bizarre occurrences and activities is the usual open world romp. You know the drill here – head to this way-point, kill some zombies along the way, meet up with an NPC, do some investigating, rinse, repeat. Random events and encounters pop up along the way, distracting you for the intention of earning dank loot, scrap, money and experience. Maybe there’s a blueprint for a new weapon or vehicle by the wayside that you want to pick up and honestly, who doesn’t want a neat little frost sword to harass hordes with? The pacing of the overall campaign is actually pretty decent but there’s very little innovation about the majority of quests and activities. And no, you can’t skip some of the more banal interactions you have with NPCs.

“Which is fine,” you say. “I just want to kill zombies.” Dead Rising 4 has you covered there. There’s an extensively ridiculous list of weaponry to murder enemies with from an electric ax that channels the power of Thor to a flaming sword that would make the Lords of Cinder smile. There’s the sledgehammer-grenade combo that can blow enemies apart with his each swing. There’s a fully automatic assault shotgun and fireworks launching crossbow that doubles up as an explosive projectile launcher. Vehicles can be driven through the hordes, racking up kills along the way and it’s possible to create some truly sick combinations like the Warmonger to strafe and shoot zombies as you waltz by (admittedly, the controls for shooting and driving simultaneously could be more intuitive). Finally, there are exo-suits to discover and various weapons that can only be used with said exo-suits. These are your “go out and have fun” items – the exo-suit has a timer to it, makes you generally invincible and also facilitates the use of flamethrowers and mini-guns.

The game does a good job of throwing challenges at you. At times, you’ll have to deal with hostile survivors mixed in with the horde. Militia soldiers could then suddenly roll up, encouraging you to switch to long-range weaponry and the transition – though clunky at first – is pretty good when you get the hang of it. Then there’s the new zombie breed which acts more aggressively and needs heavy firepower to bring down. Various special attacks, accentuating dramatic slow-mo homicides, never cease to impress. Dodging is a thing but movement as a whole feels clumsy despite its responsiveness.

"You’re better off just charging and weaving through the horde, stopping to kill a few while your stamina regenerates and then running again. Hail to the West we suppose."

Various challenges and trials will reward you for killing zombies with different types of weaponry. Put down a specific number of zombies and be randomly rewarded, that too with level-ups and skill points. It would be nice if the skill point notification didn’t occupy the exact centre of my screen during a skirmish. The upgrades themselves are also fairly typical, allowing you to score critical hits, increase health, make vehicles more durable and so on. Let it not be said that Dead Rising 4 doesn’t reward you frequently and make you stronger as you discover more and more crazy equipment.

However, for the most part, the horde is mindless and just there to slow you down. Which is funny because there isn’t a timer anymore so what exactly are they stopping you from doing? After seeing the gameplay demo for Days Gone and how much more relentless that zombie horde is, it’s kind of disappointing to see Dead Rising 4’s crowds of zombies stay so…stagnant. Yes, it makes for some awesome crowd-clearing moments with heavy weaponry rinsing and road-sign posts pancaking dozens of bodies at once. But most times when you want to progress, you’re better off just charging and weaving through the horde, stopping to kill a few while your stamina regenerates and then running again. Hail to the West we suppose.

Dead Rising 4 does try to mix things up by introducing some new mechanics. Frank’s camera can be used to take pictures, which award experience and such depending on the subject matter, but it also has different modes. Night vision mode helps you find files and other clues while Spectrum Analyzer acts like a UV light of sorts, highlighting hidden text and fingerprints and absurdly leading to codes for locked doors. These form the basis for the new investigations which could have been handled well (like, say, the Detective Mode scenes in Batman: Arkham Knight) but instead see you scanning the room for just the right little detail to ping your camera. It’s not frustrating but there could have been so much more done with it.

"Maybe I expected too much from Dead Rising 4 and wanted it to do something more especially in this day and age."

“Could have been so much more” is a criticism that could be leveled against the visuals as well but I’ll give Dead Rising 4 a pass for this. It definitely looks better than the third game with decent draw distances and character detail, though nothing absurdly impressive. The sheer ease with which the engine renders crowds of zombies is still cool and the engine handles all the intense action on-screen with nary a frame rate skip (which is equally weird considering some slight frame rate drops seen in an initial cut scene). Despite how odd the entire atmosphere can get at times, the music and soundtrack are generally well done though the only really memorable voice performance comes from West.

Maybe I expected too much from Dead Rising 4 and wanted it to do something more especially in this day and age. It’s not all that progressive from the previous game which released three years ago but that was a title still very much grounded in previous gen mechanics. Three years later and here we are again, completing the same side missions, hacking the same crowds of zombies, navigating through vast streets caked with the undead and trying to complete the story without Frank driving us insane. It’s not like Dead Rising 4 is a horrible game. There are certainly moments of amusement to be had but it could have offered so much more beyond filling its expanses with more corpses, walking or otherwise.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox One.

Dead Rising 4 is almost here, and Capcom and Capcom Vancouver are celebrating its impending launch with a brand new launch trailer for the game. The launch trailer, which has the spirit of Christmas and the Holidays, and some of the classic over the top humor that the Dead Rising series is known for, may ebt eh most Dead Rising thing about Dead Rising 4.

Why? Because the game is such a dramatic departure (seemingly in all the wrong ways) from the other games in the franchise otherwise. Take, for instance, the lack of co-op in the story mode- this is a Dead Rising classic, why would Capcom Vancouver do something like that at all?

You can check out the trailer for yourself below. Dead Rising 4 launches December 6 on the Xbox One and on PCs running Windows 10. It will be made available for Steam three months down the line, and for other consoles later still.