Dead Rising 4

PEAK CHRISTMAS VIBES. i get it, most people hate this game. and for good reasons. but this is my favorite game in the series because i get to do all the goofy stuff in dead rising without feeling restrained by time. i get to goof off as much as i want without a care in the world. most people have a christmas movie every year. this is my christmas game, and i hope it can be yours too.

i can recommend this game to those who just want dumb fun and to just kill zombies, get to wrack up huge combos and play with really fun toys

On the other hand there is a huge downside, if you are a fan of the previous titles this game is incredibly rough to play, Frank has been bastardized and ripped apart from what he once was, there is no combo weapons from the original games, the combo feature is cool but removes the dumbfun mechanics with weapons from previous games, Co-op has been ripped from the game and been replaced with a weird multiplayer 4 player co-op mode with much more to be desired

Its okay, its not dead rising though. Its fun for some mindless gameplay.

If you have a zombie killing itch. This game can scratch it... However, it is bottom of the barrel. Highly recommend Dead Rising 2 and 3. Unfortunately for me the new engine they used on this one was just not good. Feels suuuuper clunky compared to 2 and 3. It just feels like a husk of a Dead Rising game. They used all the same pieces but something was not fitting quite right.

Ok, so I went back to Dead Rising, what gives? Gotta admit the new remaster made me want to go back and revisit it so I might as well play the fourth one while I'm waiting right? And maybe see why it is so hated. I can't be that bad right? Right?
Well, it is not. It's decent actually, I think. Many of the mechanics from previous games are overhauled and/or improved. Movement and combat are way more fluid. And the new open world/town it's pretty detailed with many locations to visit. So. all in all, I kind of enjoyed it. It ain't that bad.
But wait, there's a reason why this game put the series on ice tho. And it is not just the fact that they took away the time limit. And thank god they did, boy do I hate to be rushing to do everything in an open world game, what a dumbass mechanic. I do, however, miss it. It's odd right? But yeah, that sense of urgency is completely gone in this one, and you could say that this game is less of a Dead Rising just because of it. For better or worse, the "72 hour" gameplay is one of the key things in the series. I hate that, but you know, I get it.
That is also why this game is so particularly easy. The easiest of all four of them. Part of it is because the game is definitively dumbed down in difficulty. Second is cause the mechanics are simply better. You no longer need to resort to idiotic exploits in order to kill a psychopath, or a "maniac" as this one decided to nonsensically call them.
Also, this was the worst era for Capcom, or Crapcom as some people called them back then. But honestly, this isn't the worst they released at the time. And to be fair, Capcom's shitty era started all the way back when Dead Rising hit the shelves as well, The first one might have been the last of the truly original games that made the company, you know, unique. The story is so cliched and standard, and Frank is by no means the same as he was in the first entry. I don't know what Capcom has against the original voice actor, but this guy isn't him. Frank is sometimes funny, sometimes unfunny, most of the times annoying. Also the ending sucks and was made specially so you get the DLC. Come on Capcom, come on!
Graphically it is ok, but there's tons of stuttering. And I do mean like, tons. Either this game was poorly optimized or it's that god damn fucking stupid DRM operating behind it. Like oh my god, just drop that fucking thing, jesus!
I have lots of other things to say about this one, but I feel like I already said the most important ones, and about the rest, well the rest you can find it out yourself. None of the Dead Rising franchise has really struck me like it was gold, to be honest, and I was there when the first one came out. I understand why so many people has strong feelings over it, some because it was part of their childhood, but come on, the game is unique but far from perfect. Like, really far. I do think that some of the criticism leveled towards this one is frankly justified (no pun intended). Capcom Vancouver took away many of the things that, again for better or worse, made Dead Rising, you know, "Dead Rising", but it is not as bad as other things Capcom put out in those years. Namely RE 6, Bionic Commando, Umbrella Chronicles anyone? Ugh.
There is definitively a decent game underneath the cliched story, the stupid characters, the "Hank East" replacing Frank West, the DRM, the shoddy clipping, the sometimes underwhelming graphics and the repetitive ad nauseum gameplay. After all, I played through the whole thing. I can understand hardcore fans being pissed with it, and they are essentially right in most of the criticism, but then again Dead Rising fans seem to enjoy the terrible mechanics that made the previous three games, so...
This is without a doubt the worst of the Dead Rising series. We can all agree on that.
3/5

A lot has been said about Dead Rising 4, and the critics weren't kind to it. Although some of it is fair, at the end of the day it's still more Dead Rising for the fans. From there, it will be about managing your expectations.
Let's also get something out of the way right off the bat : the impression I got after a a few hours was "This is just bad Dead Rising 3". 80 hours later, that impression hasn't changed.
Now, the previous entry wasn't gorgeous by any means, but it looked fine. Dead Rising 4 is just... ugly. Between constant pop-up, screen tearing and missing shadows, it's clear that something went wrong. The zombies all look alike, glass reflections and texture details are poor... It's pretty much Dead Rising 3 on low settings, unexplainably.
At least the game offers quite an extensive map, with the Willamette Mall and the surrounding city making up a locale that is pleasant to explore. Tons of places to discover, items and collectibles to find, while trying out the new combo weapons on large crowds of zombies that still look impressive on screen.
Those combo weapons however, are a disappointment. And it's really unfortunate, because they are at the heart of Dead Rising and will usually dictate how much fun you're having.
With fewer than 50 combo weapons, most of which we've seen before, they needed to be great. They're not. There is only a handful of weapons that are actually powerful, so you'll go back to those very often. Otherwise, you run the risk of the "Fish Launcher situation" : Look everywhere for a rare component to craft a fancy new weapon, notice that the ammo is limited and deduce it must be devastating, line some zombies up... And realize that it takes two shots to kill a single zombie. Now that's just sad.
The same goes for the combo vehicles : they don't last very long, and are mostly reserved to certain areas. Nowhere near as powerful or entertaining as they used to be.
Then you have the big, shiny novelty : the Exo Suit. It is powerful, and has a few sets of weapons exclusive to it, but it makes Frank even clunkier and heavier than usual... I ended up using it only when the story made it mandatory.
Speaking of Frank being clumsy, he has a new voice actor, but it's for the worse. Admittedly the guy is doing a decent job, the real problem comes from cringy dialogues, jokes that all fall flat and a story that just isn't interesting. I didn't even mind the lack of a timer which could have allowed more time for side quests, but they're the same three missions randomly generated over and over. Lame !
Another thing comes to mind when I say lame, it's the Psychopaths, or as they're called now, the Maniacs. No more cutscenes, no more personality, just random enemies with more health than the others. Dead Rising 4 deserved better than those.
You also can't play the story in co-op anymore, the multiplayer being limited to timed missions instead. While the concept is an interesting idea, it is unfortunately extremely buggy. Even more so than the single-player, because it's often game-breaking : Disconnections, 5 minute delays everytime someone joins or activates something, crashes... When it works it's pretty fun, but you'll get into a playable game one time out of ten. Rough.
A quick word on the three Dlcs ?
The first one, Frank Rising, lets you play the epilogue of the game as Zombie Frank. A 90-minute timed story mission with a new but very repetitive gameplay that is at best "all right". And it sucks to have to buy a Dlc to see the actual ending...
Capcom Heroes is a new mode that has you play the story with iconic Capcom costumes and their associated powers. Every costume only lasts 5 minutes and you beat challenges scattered all over the map to unlock new, stronger ones. I've never found those costumes fun for very long, so I wouldn't recommend that one.
Finally you have... Minigolf ! Why ? ... Your guess is as good as mine. Frank in his Exo Suit hitting the ball on 24 holes, while unlocking upgrades and new skins, timing his shots to use vents, and aiming at explosive barrels for zombie kills or lucky bounces ! Really unexpected, but... I've actually really enjoyed this one. It's just fun and satisfying, for a few hours.
Now, all of those Dlcs have one thing in common : If you aren't buying Frank's Big Package, they're probably not worth buying on their own.
As you can see, there's a lot to do in Dead Rising 4, especially if you own the Dlcs.
It may be a bad Dead Rising, but it's definitely not a bad game, despite all that was mentioned previously. Had some of the resources been allocated to more important things than the ability to take selfies (Why can I take selfies ? I don't want to take selfies), and had the game not been rushed for a release at Christmas, it could have turned out better.
I'll give it a 6, because it's still more Dead Rising, and I'll never say no to that. Even if it's a pretty gloomy Christmas.

its alright.

i mean i get why alot of people dislike the game. cuz i mean its lacking the usual psychopath and also lacking the timer.

but i still find it fun myself, its a big map, fun combat, fun missions.