Yesterday's release of Dead Rising 2 on PC presents us with an interesting example of all that is good and bad about mainstream gaming releases on the computer platform. By default it is the best version of Capcom's zombie sequel, and if you shop around it is by far the cheapest. However, it also highlights quite dramatically just how much PC gaming technology is being held back by the technical limitations of the current generation of HD consoles.
Dead Rising™ follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance photojournalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to a small suburban town only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. He escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety, but it turns out to be anything but.
Capcom has been very tight lipped about facets of Dead Rising 2, with much of the information about the zombie killing action sequel released in one press release and a few screens. We were keeping our fingers crossed that there would be something – anything – released about the upcoming game at GDC, and luckily, we managed to glean a few little nuggets from the show.
There is a significant difference (for gameplay, suspense etc) between 10 on-screen zombies and 50 on-screen zombies. However, I don't think there is big difference between 50 on-screen zombies and 6000 on-screen zombies.
Dead Rising was great not for the sluggish controls, or the annoying mission structure, or Otis. It was great because it had a zombie horde. Well, Dead Rising 2 is looking to trump that.
Speaking at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Izmeth Siddeek, from developers Blue Castle Games, reckons that "Dead Rising 2′ deal[s] with the rendering of the greatest number of characters ever seen in a video game. Everything else needed to be subordinated to this requirement".
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