Frank West is back. That was the big pitch. When Capcom Vancouver revealed Dead Rising 4 at E3 2016, the hype was actually pretty real because we were going back to Willamette, Colorado. It was a Christmas-themed homecoming. But honestly? The game that arrived wasn't the Dead Rising fans remembered. It felt like a different series wearing a Frank West mask—and a weirdly different voice, too.
You’ve probably heard the backlash. Some people call it the "franchise killer." While that might sound dramatic, the fact that we haven't seen a mainline entry since 2016 speaks volumes. Dead Rising 4 tried to broaden the appeal by stripping away the "stress" of the original games. No timer. No psychopathic bosses with cinematic intros. No real danger. By trying to make the game for everyone, Capcom made it for almost nobody.
The Frank West Identity Crisis
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Ty Olsson. For years, TJ Rotolo was the voice of Frank West. He gave Frank that "I've covered wars, ya know" grit that felt authentic. When Dead Rising 4 swapped him out for Olsson, the character shifted. He became a cartoon. This Frank was a cynical, joke-a-minute caricature who felt more like a rejected Duke Nukem script than the photojournalist we loved in 2006.
It wasn't just the voice. Frank’s personality became mean-spirited. In the original game, Frank was an opportunist, sure, but he had a heart. He wanted the story to help people. In this fourth outing, he’s basically an jerk to his student, Vick Chu, and everyone else he meets. It’s hard to root for a protagonist who doesn't seem to like being in his own game.
The developer's defense at the time was that they wanted a "more mature" Frank. In reality, we got a guy who felt like he belonged in a different genre. This disconnect is a huge reason why the core fanbase felt alienated from minute one. If you change the face, the voice, and the heart of a mascot, is it even the same character? Most fans said no.
Where Did the Timer Go?
The timer was the soul of Dead Rising.
I know, I know. People hated it. It was stressful to watch those little bars tick down while you were trying to find a cool new hat. But that stress was the point. It forced you to make choices. Do you save that survivor or do you chase the lead on the conspiracy? Do you spend time crafting a "Sledge-Saw" or do you run to the next scoop?
Dead Rising 4 ditched the timer for the main campaign.
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Suddenly, the mall felt empty. Not empty of zombies—there are thousands of them—but empty of purpose. Without the clock, Willamette is just a giant playground where nothing really matters. You can stand in the middle of the food court for three hours and the story will just wait for you. It turned a survival-horror-action hybrid into a generic open-world brawler.
Capcom eventually added a "Hardest Bogey" mode and brought a timer back in the "Frank Rising" DLC, but the damage was done. The level design didn't support the timer anymore. The map was too big, the objectives were too spread out, and the tension was gone. It turns out that when you remove the one thing everyone complained about, you realize it was actually the thing holding the whole experience together.
The "Maniacs" vs. Psychopaths
If you ask any Dead Rising fan about their favorite moments, they’ll talk about Adam the Clown or the snipers on the entrance plaza. These were the "Psychopaths." They were survivors who snapped under the pressure of the outbreak. They had tragic backstories, unique cutscenes, and specialized boss music (usually some banger licensed metal or industrial tracks).
In Dead Rising 4, these were replaced by "Maniacs."
They don't get cutscenes. They don't have unique personalities. They’re basically just slightly tougher enemies wearing themed costumes who hang out in specific areas. You stumble upon them, they say a generic line of dialogue over a megaphone, and you kill them. That's it. No emotional payoff. No memorable "creepy" factor. It felt budget. It felt rushed. It felt like the developers forgot that the humans were always scarier than the zombies in this universe.
The Exo-Suit Problem
Power creep is a real thing in gaming. Dead Rising was originally about being a normal guy in an abnormal situation. You fought zombies with a bench or a lead pipe. By the time we got to the fourth game, Frank was jumping into Exo-Suits.
Don't get me wrong, ripping a parking meter out of the ground and swinging it like a baseball bat is fun for about ten minutes. But the Exo-Suit made the zombies completely irrelevant. They weren't a threat; they were just grass waiting to be mowed. When you have infinite health and super strength, the "survival" part of survival-horror goes out the window.
- The Good: The suit looks cool and has some fun elemental upgrades.
- The Bad: It has a limited battery life that feels arbitrary.
- The Ugly: It makes the game way too easy, even on higher difficulties.
The Willamette Memorial Megaplex
Credit where it’s due: the mall itself is actually pretty well-designed. The Willamette Memorial Megaplex is a massive, multi-wing shopping center that genuinely feels like a modern American monument to consumerism. The developers did a great job of making it look "Christmas-y" in a depressing, post-apocalyptic way.
There are four main areas:
- Amazon Food Court: High-end dining and bright lights.
- Caribbean Cove: A pirate-themed water park area.
- Medieval Village: Exactly what it sounds like, lots of axes and armor.
- Kiwi's World: A bright, neon-soaked toy and electronics hub.
The problem isn't the mall; it's the world outside of it. The game forces you out into the town of Willamette frequently. These sections feel like any other generic open-world game. Grey streets, identical houses, and a lot of driving. Dead Rising works best when it's contained. When you're in a confined space with 5,000 zombies, it's intense. When you're on a wide-open street, you just drive a car through them and keep going.
Examining the Investigation Mechanics
Since Frank is a photographer, the game leans into his camera more than ever. You have different lenses now: Night Vision and Spectrum Analyzer.
The investigation segments are basically "detective vision" from the Batman Arkham games. You go into a room, find the glowing object, take a picture, and Frank makes a comment. It’s supposed to make you feel like a journalist, but it feels like busywork. There’s no actual deduction. You’re just pointing and clicking at the things the game tells you to point and click at.
The photography scoring system—Brutality, Outtake, Horror—is still there, and it’s still one of the best parts of the game. Snapping a photo of a zombie wearing a dress right before a propane tank explodes is inherently funny. It's just a shame the story investigations didn't have that same spark of creativity.
Why It Flopped and What We Can Learn
Dead Rising 4 didn't meet Capcom's sales expectations. It wasn't a "bad" game in a vacuum—it’s a perfectly functional zombie-slaying simulator—but it was a bad Dead Rising game.
It fell into the trap of trying to chase a mainstream audience that didn't care about the IP, while actively insulting the fans who did. The removal of the timer, the recast of Frank, and the simplified boss fights were all attempts to make the game more "accessible." Instead, they made it forgettable.
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In 2024, we saw the release of the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. This wasn't just a port; it was a rebuilt version of the 2006 original. The fact that Capcom went back to the first game—timer and all—shows that they finally realized what makes this series special. They even brought back the original character design for Frank.
Actionable Insights for Players Today
If you’re thinking about playing Dead Rising 4 in 2026, here is the best way to approach it so you don't end up disappointed:
- Treat it as a spin-off: Don't go in expecting a sequel to Dead Rising 3. Treat it as a "What If?" Christmas special. It’s much more enjoyable if you don't take the canon seriously.
- Play the "Capcom Heroes" mode: This was added later and it's honestly more fun than the main game. You can play as characters like Ryu, Dante, and Mega Man, using their actual moves to kill zombies. It leans into the absurdity that the series is known for.
- Check out the Deluxe Remaster first: If you want the real Dead Rising experience, play the 2024 Remaster of the first game. It has the modern controls (like moving while shooting) but keeps the soul of the franchise intact.
- Co-op is the way to go: The campaign isn't co-op (a huge step back from DR3), but there is a separate four-player multiplayer mode. It’s a series of challenges in the mall. It’s mindless fun with friends.
- Wait for a sale: Dead Rising 4 is frequently on sale for under $10. At that price point, the "zombie-slaying sandbox" value is high enough to justify a weekend of play.
The legacy of Dead Rising 4 is a cautionary tale for game developers. It’s a reminder that "quality of life" improvements can sometimes strip away the very identity that made a game popular in the first place. You can't just put a camera in a guy's hand and call him Frank West. You need the tension, the weirdness, and the difficulty that comes with it.
If you want to experience the peak of the series, look backward, not forward. The mall is still there, but the magic stayed in 2006.