It's about damn time.
That's how I reacted after watching the quirky viral video teaser for Dead Rising 2. I was really into Dead Rising; it was the "killer app" that got me to buy an Xbox 360. An open-world game that's basically a digital version of Dawn of the Dead? A game where I got to chop zombies with a katana, drink power smoothies that repelled zombies, and fight a variety of non-zombie psychopaths (Dead Rising maintained the "we are the real monsters!" theme of many zombie movies)? Yes please.
So, after seeing how crazy successful Dead Rising was, I waited. And waited. And waited for any news of a sequel. In my ideal world, I was hoping that since Dead Rising took place in a mall, that the next game, if it exists, would go to an amusement park. While Dead Rising 2 doesn't go for the amusement park, it does go for the awesome locale of a casino town (Fortune City, a.k.a. some sort of analogue to Las Vegas, I'm assuming). While showing off an isolated, casino-lined street in Fortune City for a brief Dead Rising 2 demo at a recent press event, a lot of questions and statements came up, and here's my attempt to break down and address said questions and statements.
Why Blue Castle Games?
Executive Producer Keiji Inafune joked that Dead Rising was his attempt to create a Western style of game, but that everyone saw through his trick and realized that as Western as it is, it still had that "Japanese feel." So he then decided to have a Western developer deliver a Western experience, and did some sort of soul-searching for a while. He finally decided on Blue Castle Games because Dan Brady, CEO and General Manager of Blue Castle Games, commented that the original Dead Rising isn't just a Western-style game, but a game that blended both Japanese and Western design philosophies. That's when he realized that he found his developer.
So far, even though Brady's demonstration of Dead Rising 2 consisted of showing off some open-world sandbox gameplay systems and technical improvements (while not touching on the single-player storyline at all), Blue Castle has done some nice work for Dead Rising 2 already. First off, the engine is completely new and original, and written specifically for this title. Also, the gunplay is a lot closer to something like Gears of War or Dead Space, in that you can move around while aiming and shooting in over-the-shoulder perspective. Brady also liked showing off the "procedural cutting" technology, which means that wherever your bladed implement (sword, chainsaw, etc) cuts, that specific body part gets lopped off.
Though, Blue Castle's most impressive feat is the zombie count. Inafune describes the zombie threat as being akin to a "great force, or a large amount of pressure, or raging rapids." He was very proud of how Dead Rising managed to cram 800 zombies on-screen. And he greatly enjoys how Blue Castle can not only cram 1000 zombies on-screen, but that number can double to 2000, and at its highest, can hit 7000. Okay, the framerate took a significantly noticeable dip, but it is pretty cool to see so many zombies clogging the screen and filling all the available volume in the area.
What's the save system?
The first opportunity I had, I directly asked Inafune to address the save system (for the record, I'm a fan, though I completely understand why people tend to hate it), and he says: "It is kind of controversial; some people like it, some people don't. Even during the course of designing this game, people at Blue Castle games had a certain vision about it, while people internally, we, had a certain vision about it. There is no clearcut single answer on which is the right way to go. Which makes it difficult to adjust something like this. That being said, I know for the first one, a lot of internal Capcom Japan staff read some of the comments, and it's very easy to get negative on it and want to fix it a certain way, but maybe something isn't as broken as it may appear. So again, trying to drill down to what is 'right', what is going to be the most satisfactory method of fixing this, is going to be a difficult thing."
What's interesting/telling is that Inafune is somewhat noncommittal about the save system. I somewhat assumed that Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop's change to the save system would be the "standard save mechanic" moving forward, but that might not be so. Then again, a Blue Castle staffer joked, "We'll have a 'classic frustration mode' for players like you, and the new system will be the default." Whatever the case, the save system might still be in flux, or it might be locked down until an announcement at E3 or somesuch.
So, is Dead Rising 2 going to have co-op?
I also asked if Inafune has considered adding co-op play to Dead Rising 2, and he answers, "While it does sound like a simple addition on paper, if you sat there and played through several hours with another person by your side, it may become quite boring. It may be too similar to the single player aspect and not much more than that. If we were going to add multiplayer in the game, we'd want to make it mean something -- make it unique or cool. That's what we're planning to do right now."
It's not the definitive "Dead Rising 2 will/will not have co-op!" statement we're looking for, but it leaves the team open enough to go either way. Though, I'm going to revisit this topic a bit later when I get into my weirdest speculation about this game.
Meet Chuck Greene
Capcom hasn't given out any details of the story yet, so we technically don't know what happened to Dead Rising protagonist Frank West. I didn't even get an answer for which Dead Rising ending is considered canon. Whatever happened to Frank, I don't know, but for now, let's look at Dead Rising 2's protagonist: Chuck Greene.
The new trailer flashes a lot of phrases and descriptors about Chuck, and pairs each one with a goofy in-game interpretation. The list of descriptors include: "hardcore sports fan, loving father, occasional gambler, social drinker, music lover, touchy feely, handyman," and "snappy dresser." What stood out the most are the first two phrases. "Loving father" is paired with a goofy scene of Chuck walking around with a giant teddy bear, but maybe it provides a plot motivation for Chuck. While Frank wanted to investigate the Willamette Incident, maybe Chuck is in Fortune City to help his kid somehow.
The other phrase, "hardcore sports fan", further fuels a comment that Inafune made about Chuck's profession. While neither Inafune nor the staff at Blue Castle will outright spell out what Chuck's job is, Inafune did advise people to think of Chuck as a "motocross guy," and noted Chuck's slick-looking jacket (with the Ijiek logo, which is Inafune's first name spelled backwards). Is Chuck much more physically capable than Frank, and does he have a more personal stake than a potential Pulitzer? Hmm.
Okay, but what can Chuck do?
At the moment, Chuck resembles a new and improved Frank. As mentioned earlier, the benefit of a Western developer is that Chuck handles guns a lot better; he has better over-the-shoulder aim and can actually strafe, by god. Chuck is also pretty darn good at grabbing anything nearby and using it as a weapon; during the demonstration, he ably wields a baseball bat, a guitar, a chair, a roulette wheel, and even a cash register. But one thing that Chuck clearly excels at compared to Frank is creating improvised weapons; that is, he can combine items to create even crazier weapons.
Brady first showed off Chuck's version of the bucket. In Dead Rising, the bucket was just a simple way to stun a zombie; slam one onto the head and use something else to put it down for real. What Chuck can do to that same bucket is attach three power drills onto it (the drillbits are driven through the bucket's bottom; meaning the drill handles will stick out of the top when shoved onto a zombie's head). So now, the bucket is a sort of inverse blender; when Chuck slams a bucket onto a zombie's noggin, he can further activate the drills and turn the zombie's head into mush instantly.
Then we have the paddlesaw. It's pretty much as you'd expect: two chainsaws strapped onto opposite ends of a paddle. It's also an absolutely vicious weapon, as a good one-two heave-ho motion easily shears through multiple zombies swarming around Chuck. It looks almost unfair. It's what I wanted when I picked up Adam's pair of handheld mini-chainsaws, but realized that I couldn't dual-wield them back in Dead Rising. I also would like to strap some sledgehammers to a paddle; sure, it doesn't result in super-gory procedural cutting like the paddlesaw, but imagine the ragdoll physics fun you'd have from swinging a dual-head hammer around a bunch of zombies!
One other way that Chuck surpasses Frank is that he can use costumes as weapons more frequently. Brady had Chuck take down a mounted moose head from a nearby wall and strapped it to his head, and barreled through zombie crowd. Along those same lines, Chuck can also combine his love of vehicles with his love of weird weapons. This is exemplified by Chuck strapping chainsaws onto his motorcycle -- turning it into a literal zombie chopper. If you thought using the car to plow through the zombies in the tunnels was a fun and fast way to get the Zombie Genocide Achievement, then you'll have a hell of a time with Chuck's ride.
Is Dead Rising 2...a gameshow?
Okay, this is crazy speculation that is either completely wrong or totally, utterly wrong, and is mostly based on one word: "contestant."
In the character art that Capcom supplied, prominently placed on the "photo" of Chuck Greene is a Post-It note with "latest TiR contestant" written on it. That is a loaded word; while I have no idea what "TiR" stands for, the fact that Chuck is described as a contestant seems to be very specific and deliberate word choice. Also, when discussing the Prestige Points mechanic (in Dead Rising, Frank earns Prestige Points to level up his skills and abilities in a variety of ways), Inafune pointed out, "the main character is not a photojournalist. [The Prestige Points system] is not going to be something based on taking photos like in the original game, it's going to involve a different system. It's something I can't talk about yet."
So when you put together clues like "motocross guy," "contestant," and "new Prestige Points system," you can sort of see why I think Dead Rising 2 might be about some type of Running Man-style game show where you earn Prestige Points by doing crazy stunts or taking out zombies in wacky ways. It'd also be a twist on the previous game's photography mechanic; instead of you going around trying to capture the perfect shot for maximum Prestige Points, instead, you have to create the perfect moment for maximum Prestige. Heck, maybe the gameshow structure is how multiplayer will be handled -- with different players all competing as contestants in one crazy open-world casino arena.
Or maybe I've just been playing too much MadWorld lately. Whatever the case, I'm super-curious to see if my guess is at all correct, or if I'm falling for a spectacular red herring on Capcom's part. Either way, I just want to see more Dead Rising 2...and the crazy chainsaw motorcycle.
Source OPEN ME
IGNS Hands On OPEN ME
Play Me
