Dead Rising has always been about slaughtering legions of the undead with the wackiest of weapons, and the latest entry in the series doubles down on that with bigger arenas, better weapons, and a badass-er attitude. Let’s take a look at how well the latest entry in the zombie apocalypse slaughter-play-house does in our Dead Rising 4 review.
The game is set in Williamette, Colorado, which had also hosted the previous zombie breakout, and takes place during Christmas time, around the central mall where the populace had crowded to in order to satiate consumerism. The mystery in the game revolves around the fact that the citizens of Williamette were supposed to have been vaccinated, and yet got infected. This calls for series veteran Frank West, and his sidekick Vivk Chu to uncover the shady going-ons in and around the city, and uncover the cause of the pandemic.
Returning protagonist, and photojournalist, Frank West is what’s changed most about the game. He’s 16 years older, and voiced by a new actor. His sarcastic attitude towards the zombie apocalypse however, is still unchanged, and he is the perfect man for whatever job this apocalypse offers. Frank and Vick have a rather enjoyable back and forth banter, which makes of for the lacklustre story. The writing is witty and goofy for the most part, and delivers good laughs throughout. Hey, when you’ve shoved a plunger up a zombie’s face, laughs come easy anyways.
Gameplay has been improved in an iterative manner, meaning it’s more of the same, only better. There are more weapons to pick from, and way more zombies to kill. Crafting and combining weapons is still fun, and can often lead to some hilarious combinations. I rarely bothered with gun. Getting up close and bashing their heads in with a melee weapon of choice never got old. And throwing explosives in the middle of a crowd is even better. Also, weapons can now be crafted on the fly, instead of having to craft them at a workbench.
While I would have appreciated greater depth to the gameplay, it’s hard to deny how much fun the game is without that. While saving the world from the zombie pandemic wields urgency to the main plot, there’s also plenty to do on the side. There are optional bosses to tackle, survivors to rescue, and photography skills to be put to the test. You’ll find yourself doing a lot more of these side activities than from the previous games, as some of the tedious elements, including the timer, escorting survivors, and the workbench mechanism have been removed.
Campaign Co-op has been removed, and instead replaced with a multiplayer mode where you and your friends are dropped into a small area with a bunch of objectives, at the end of which you head to the safe zone. It’s fun for a while, but gets stale soon.
Overall, Dead Rising 4 is a worthy entry in the series, and if you’re looking for some hilariously intense zombie beatdown , then this game doles that out aplenty.
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