It’s set in a shopping mall. Chop till you drop. Get it? Oh, never mind…
Though an interview in Weekly Famitsu (as paraphrased by 1UP) revealed that Dead Rising was coming to the Wii sans Photo Mode and notorious difficulty level, today we have the official U.S. confirmation — the Xbox 360 million-seller will hit North America this winter.
Using the same engine as Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, the title looks like a surprisingly solid rendition of the game in the screenshots provided, but we have to admit we’re a little worried about the creature count. Back in 2006, producer Yutaka Haruki had famously plugged the Xbox 360 as the only hardware that could “realize this vision of hundreds of enemies on screen at one time,” and we’re certainly not seeing hundreds in these screencaps.
However, there may be more to Dead Rising Wii than meets the eye. Christian Svensson, VP of Strategic Planning and Business Development, told the Capcom community forums that Chop Till You Drop is no mere port:
This is recreated from the ground up for the Wii. So while it borrows things like story and location, there are many changes from the 360 beyond the obvious graphical ones.
While Wii controls are a start, we’re looking forward to discovering exactly what Chop Till You Drop offers in exchange for its missing photos — and hordes — soon.
SAN MATEO, Calif. — July 21, 2008 — Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Dead Rising™: Chop Till You Drop is in development for the Wii™ home video game system. Based on the critically acclaimed Dead Rising™, which has sold in excess of one million units since its release in 2006, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop is scheduled to hit store shelves this Winter.
Taking advantage of the same proven technology that brought Resident Evil® 4 so successfully to Wii, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop delivers a more immersive, intuitive and interactive experience as players use the Wii Remote to shoot, slash and bludgeon their way through a zombie infested shopping mall, fighting for survival.
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance journalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to the small suburban town of Willamette only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. Frank escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety but it turns out to be anything but. It will be a true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, but players will have full reign of a realistic shopping centre and its varied stores offering an endless supply of real and makeshift weapons to fight off the flesh-hungry mob. If Frank is running low on health he can pay a visit to one of the many restaurants or cafes for a meal in order to restore his energy and continue the fight.
The game is split into a series of individual cases, all of which Frank must complete in order to gain vital information that will allow him to piece together the truth behind the horrendous epidemic. In addition to the cases, players will be faced with the dilemma of deciding the rescue priority of the residents of Wilamette who also sought sanctuary in the mall. Depending on the player’s skill, some may not be so fortunate as each rescue needs to be undertaken in a set time period, therefore players may need to delay completion of a case in order to save a fellow human.
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop’s infectious humor delivers some welcome relief from the incessant tide of zombies with players able to dress Frank up in a variety of comedic costumes and take on the undead hordes with a selection of improvised and sometimes highly ineffective weapons such as a toy sword or a football.
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop includes the following features:
• Utilizes the same engine as Resident Evil 4 Wii edition.
• New level of interaction – aim and fire guns, swing and throw weapons and shake off zombie attacks with added Wii Remote functionality
• Huge environment – expansive indoor and outdoor areas of the mall provide a variety of different locations to explore
• Improved save functionality allows for more seamless gameplay
• Hoards of enemies on screen at once resulting in non-stop, pulse-pounding action
• Anything in the mall is at Frank’s disposal
• Grab environmental objects like umbrellas and benches to use as improvised weapons
• Snatch items from different stores to use as weapons including golf clubs, lawnmowers, frying pans and more
• Consume food and drink to revive health
July 21st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
As much as I liked RE4, I’m not thrilled to hear that Rising Dead will be using the same engine. Although I know significant tweaks can be made to an engine, I’m still worried that will simply feel like RE4 in a new setting. Now that my initial excitement for this port is over, I’ll be watching carefully to see what capcom intends to do to make this game “worth it.”
July 21st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Personally, I consider RE4 one the best games I’ve ever played, and I’d be happy to try it in a new setting. Like Africa.
Seriously though, gameplay should be vastly different from RE4, even if they bring over the aiming system.