Dead Rising 4: Frank’s Big Package was a special delivery for the PlayStation 4 players to unwrap the Dead Rising 4 main game, in addition to all other previously released game content. The Frank’s Big Package bundle introduced a game mode called “Capcom Heroes,” an all-new way to experience the Dead Rising 4 story that lets Frank West wear outfits and perform outrageous special attacks inspired by classic Capcom characters, along with the Frank Rising DLC.The game got released worldwide for PS4 users on 5th December, 2017.
Detailed Review
Gameplay & Sound
Killing zombies is always fun. Many developers have tried the zombie mantra in their games, but hardly anyone could replicate the ambience of the Dead Rising series. Dead Rising 4, unfortunately is a disappointment to the critically acclaimed Dead Rising series. There had been a lot of experimentation with the series, with the introduction of crafting new vehicles , ability to take selfies (taking selfies with zombies is indeed the only fun part of the game) and what not, but the real motive of the game is to just kill whoever you meet.
The game doesn’t include many mechanics and the combat encounters are reduced to mere button mashing loops. There are many weapon combos though, but they hardly affect the core gameplay. The skill tree is the only mechanic which doesn’t disappoint in the game, but then again, the character progression as a whole is flawed. Levelling up in the game is a cup of tea, and powerful weapons are handed over at the very beginning. The scarcity of in-depth mechanics could have been ignored if the gameplay was equally challenging and immersive, but, Dead Rising 4 disappoints here again with the game’s unbalanced difficulty level. While most of the time the game becomes a walk in the park even though you will be thrown into a sea of zombies, with button mashing being the only thing to do, there are instances when you encounter real military soldiers wielding a plethora of weapons, which become increasingly difficult to fight without the ability to counter their ranged attacks, but then again, the military AI is no less feeble than the brain eaters.
The major core elements of the series which gave the series its own identity, have been dropped in the latest title of the series, i.e., timers for missions and the necessity to escort survivors to safe houses; but that was done to improve the open world immersion. The game’s world demands ample exploration to get hold of the blueprints of guns, and reveal some hidden secrets and collectibles. The game’s most commendable (and probably only) aspect is the variety of weapons which it arms the players with. The weapon combos can be unlocked by acquiring the blueprints which are spread in the game’s world. You can wield a sword which turns zombies to ice (GoT fans, take note), or a Dynameat (a really very bad bait for zombies), which explodes when zombies come near it. There are a variety of suits available too, which in turn gives you more fancy ways too kill zombies.
Dead Rising 4: Frank’s Big Package carries the flaws from the vanilla game and makes a futile attempt to overshadow them by the addition of a few extra elements. The Capcom heroes DLC keeps the base game intact, but allows players to run through the main story, this time, as one of the 15 Capcom heroes. The only thing changing your outfit to Megaman does is increases the fun aspects of the game and serves as a reminiscent of the Capcom heroes, in short, the game literally remains the same. For players who have already played the base game, the Capcom heroes is not a worthy DLC. Turning into your favorite heroes to kill Zombies might look extremely fun, but, the poor mechanics of the game make it mundane pretty soon. Speaking of Frank’s Rising, the DLC is a single player addition to the base game, and provides a couple of hours long epilogue to the main game, along with a few more abilities being granted to Frank. The two hour timer to the DLC makes sure the game carries some of the elements present in its predecessors and which was lacking in the rest of the game.
The game feature pretty good sound design. The audio cues in the action sequences, were at times not synced, but they were hardly noticeable. The game’s OST was indeed well composed with a thrilling touch to it. The OST itself overshadows the other flaws in the sound design of the game.
Story
The game doesn’t have a very intriguing story to boast of, and, relies completely on the frivolous and preposterous character of Frank West to overcome the lackluster and shallow story. Frank West, himself, disappoints though. His character is no longer amusing and he tries hard to instil some humor in the game by cracking satirical, dark, and vulgar jokes, but then fails miserably again. (Potential Spoilers Ahead) The main game’s ending had ample touch of suspense as Frank West falls in a sea of zombies and succumbs to it, but, the epilogue, i.e., the Frank Rising DLC, spoils the show as it focuses on how Frank West’s attempt to recover after being a semi zombie and he eventually recovers. Overall the story is pretty below mediocre and Frank’s quips makes the storytelling terrible, instead of improving it.
Graphics
The game ran pretty smoothly on our PS4 and we didnt face any hiccups as such. The game features pretty decent graphics and the slo-mo sequences are indeed well animated, but then the facial animations look horrible at times. The action sequences featuring the Capcom heroes are indeed well worked upon as each of the heroes feature their own move-sets which are graphically well constructed. The shadows in the game, look a bit weird though. It looks like the shadows are rendered in a somewhat lower resolution and don’t seem to match up well with the rest of the environment. Overall, the game’s graphics are just close to being mediocre and isn’t praiseworthy as such.
Verdict
Dead Rising 4 Frank’s Big Package might well suit the needs of a player who is looking for a mediocre story and a somewhat fun zombie killing experience. For people looking for a game that is a reminiscent of the critically acclaimed Dead Rising series, and offers some equally immersive gameplay experience amidst the usual zombie mashing, then this is probably not the game to look for.
