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Angry Mobs

 

DATE:
25 YEARS AGO




GPOW 25TH

A N N I V E R S A R Y

     
PLAYSTATION 4 BAD DEAD RISING 4: FRANK'S BIG PACKAGE
       
   

When Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package came out, it came just as many Capcom games in the past. It was released as an update to an existing version of the game. We see this in Capcom's history with examples like Street Fighter Alpha 3, where its arcade, PlayStation, and DreamCast versions look the same on the surface, but are actually different under the hood. Capcom's success and rise to being a premier video game developer owes much of its success to this practice. Back then, Capcom released "Turbo" or "EX Editions", which have subsequently been replaced by "Definitive" or "Gold" versions in the present. Just as it was back then, these versions feature additional characters, weapons, vehicles, stages, graphical changes, and bug fixes. For better or for worse (depending on how you see it), Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package follows this tried-and-true Capcom model. As affectionately advertised, the game is "big in features, big in content".

     
   
 

Some may wonder if this game is if it's worth it. I'd say that it is. At first glance, it may look the same as the original XBox One-based version, but this PlayStation 4-based version is actually different. Like other non-multiplatform titles, both versions of Dead Rising 4 are impressive in different ways. The XBox One-based Dead Rising 4 looks brighter and more crisp with sharper edges, and the PlayStation 4-based Dead Rising 4 - Frank's Big Package looks dim and smooth with soft edges. This can be seen in the hair, facial features, and clothing of the characters. Airborne lood splatters also reveal this. The most noticeable area I saw this in was the stacked car part of the junkyard stage. Deciding which one looks better really comes down to preference. However, being built from the ground up specifically for the XBox One, conducting a large-scale move to different hardware comes with challenges, and it shows. It could be present to some extent in the XBox One version, but screen-tearing seemed more prevalent in the PlayStation 4 version. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just recalling my experience with the game. If there was any screen-tearing in the XBox One version, I certainly didn't notice it as much. I also feel the difference in CPU from XBox One to PlayStation 4 may have affected AI; enemy behavior seems different.

Even for all the great things it did, DR4 wasn't perfect, and the monstrous, sprawling bloodbath it had its share of glitches. Media idiots and other assorted losers on YouTube were quick to make it seem like DR4 was the only game to ever suffer from this affliction, but even some of the most beloved Capcom games of all-time were ridden with glitches, including the first version of Street Fighter II, the heralded Mega Man 3, and highly-idealized Marvel VS Capcom 2. From DR4 to DR4FBP, the occurence of some glitches was either lessened or removed entirely, while some new ones seemed to have popped-up in the transition. There were mild, virtually-unnoticeable instances of background flicker in the original DR4, but these have somehow become noticeable in DR4FBP. In some of the dark indoor areas, there's a lighting anomaly that rears its ugly head where the floors and walls meet. Some have pointed out that in the full-scale move from XBox One to PlayStation 4 that Dead Rising 4 retained glitches that suspended dispatched enemies in midair, among others. These occurrences were less in DR4FBP (from my experience), and in some areas it could be more stable than its XBox One-based predecessor. Though it was somewhat rare, the freezing from DR4 seems to have been fixed in DR4FBP, and some parts might even be running a little faster. It's hard to explain, but the XBox One version felt like a paradox that handled as light as a feather that could buckle under the immense weight of its own sprawling world. The PlayStation 4 version somehow feels heavier, overall. It's hard to tell whether or not more stable, but the game does have a solid feel to it. It's comparable to the handling difference in Street Fighter Alpha 3 from PlayStation to DreamCast (for those who noticed).

 
  01  
  BRAWL CALL  
  Calling all brawler fans.  
     
  02  
  SANTA WEST  
  Santa one of three.  
 
  03  
  ELITE SOLDIERS  
  The character design is better than it ever has been.  
     
  04  
  MYSTERY TECH  
  Mystery death disco ball to get you shambling.  
 
  05  
  WILLAMETTE  
  There's no escape...  
     
     
     
     
There are two glitches that are either new, or so rare in the original version that I never saw them. The first is the "blood fountain", in which fallen zombies trigger the blood-spurt animation that occurs with severed limbs from bladed weapons. With the glitch, however, the animation continues to the ground with the fallen zombie, then becomes a fountain of blood from the ground. In some cases, the culprit zombie disappears, never to be seen again. It's an odd glitch that I've seen on more than one occasion in DR4FBP, but cannot remember seeing at all in DR4. While running to the location of a survivor in need, I noticed that Frank became basically glued to the ground no matter where he went. He would walk over bodies and such, but stayed grounded and was only able to do shallow, quick jumps. Crawling on top of things can still be performed, and it is the eventual cure to snapping Frank out of the glitch. The game did run normal after doing this, and it never froze or required a reset, but it's still concerning, nonetheless.
 
  06  
  LIDZ  
  Keep a lid on it.  
     
     
     
     
The transition to PlayStation 4 seems to have been a little harder than thought, and the resulting glitches are all the proof needed to show that Dead Rising 4 was, in fact, developed on an XBox One-based engine. Despite how much the media says that the XBO and PS4 "are just PCs", this is the type of thing that really calls that into question because these proprietary engines are defining machines the way wardware specs and components did in past generations. Seeing as how the PlayStation 4 is seen as the more powerful machine by many (I see the strengths of both as equals), and Frank's Big Package is the latest release, it is somewhat disappointing to see that not only were some glitches unfixed, but that it may have even gained some new ones. This actually marks a rare case in Capcom history where the latest version of a title might have more glitches than the previous version(s). This includes the decreased stability of 4-Player network play, which disconnected less on XBO.
 
  07  
  BRAD  
  Perhaps he should have been playable in this version of the game?  
     
  08  
  THE PROTOGE  
  Frank's favorite frienemy.  
 
  09  
  ZOMBIE FRANK  
  Any version of yourself that wears aviators is your enemy.  
     
  10  
  SOME WEIRDO  
  This guy really deserves what happens to him...  
 
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