Review: Dead Rising 4 is a gory but funny experience

Zombie video games are common, although the Dead Rising series separates itself from the rest of the pack. This is because the franchise prides itself by being very whacky and humorous. After rotating main characters in previous entries, the first game's Frank West is back in Dead Rising 4 and he is haunted by returning to the area of Williamette. He even visits the same mall that was in the first game and he does not like it one bit. Even though Frank West is still the main character in Dead Rising 4, he is joined by one of his students named Vick Chu. Chu is also a determined journalist, but she has more heart than West. Anyway, the two have to find out why a recent zombie outbreak has again happened in Williamette. The story in Dead Rising 4 is actually pretty good and there are some mysteries that they have to uncover. The story is not predictable like other zombie video games and the characters are actually likeable. Frank West is humorous as always and has some of the best lines in any video game I have played in recent months. It's great to see him back as the other main characters in the series weren't as funny as him. A big change that some fans of the series will notice is that Dead Rising 4 forgoes the time limit factor. In the first game, you had 72 hours to survive the zombie outbreak and this led to multiple endings. In the new game, it's a more linear experience that makes it easier to play. The linearity is the game's only main downfall in my opinion. The other titles forced you to play the game multiple times to see all of the different scenarios you can get. Now in Dead Rising 4, it's not as fun playing the game multiple times. Not to mention the main story mode is quite short. Gameplay wise, Dead Rising games have never been easy to play as zombies will come at you relentlessly. Literally Dead Rising 4 is no different because there are thousands of them on the screen at once and things can get overwhelming. Thankfully, Dead Rising 4 forgoes realism and you're able to kill zombies in a variety of different ways. One of the things I love most about the game is that any weapon is available for you to pick up and wield. You can either steal weapons from other enemies or find them inside the shops in the mall. There was a medieval store and I was able to find a knight costume along with a huge axe. You can even find many Capcom easter eggs like a Blanka mask or even a Street Fighter t-shirt. My favourite outfit though was dressing up Frank West in a women's dress... Zombies are not the only enemy type in the game as there are military dudes and also maniacs that you have to encounter. If there's one thing I don't like about this game, it's that the main story sometimes spends too much time forcing Frank West to fight off military personnel. The combat in the game is quite cool, but the gunplay is a bit weak. Trying to shoot the military guys can be a pain sometimes. Thankfully there are some sections you can wear an exo-suit so those moments are cool at least. The exo-suit makes you feel like a robot and it has a lot of explosive power. Aside from normal enemies, there are also some cool boss battles in Dead Rising 4. I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but they are fun and the game is generous enough to leave you food on the floor in order to replenish your health. In terms of gameplay design, the mall in Dead Rising 4 is excellently designed. I searched the whole mall and the stores have some neat touches to them. There are a variety of stores to see such as a Capcom shop, toy shop, music shop and more. The mall is not the only thing you can see because you can go outside and see the wider area of Williamette. The streets are filled with zombies, but you can drive vehicles to run them over. The game world is not as large as other open-world titles, but there are lots of things to see and do as many side-missions populate the area. Graphically, Dead Rising 4 is a step up from the third game although it's not pushing the Xbox one hardware to its limits. The graphics are good, but it's not as pretty as other games on the console such as the recently released Gears of War 4 or Forza Horizon 3. Despite the linear game design, Dead Rising 4 makes up for it due to its humour and fun style of gameplay. It could be the funniest game I have played in 2016. It's worth checking out if you own a PC or Xbox One.  Verdict: 8.5/10