While the original Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 has endeared itself to many fans, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop for the Wii has not… and it’s not even out yet.
What’s more, fans of the series seem to be receiving mixed signals from the likes of Capcom and Nintendo Power.
First came this quote from Capcom’s Christian Svennson:
“DR: CTYD is not all about the number of zombies on screen. That said, the game is shipping in a couple months. You’ll see for yourself soon enough…The point of Dead Rising is to be able to pick up and use hundreds of objects in the environment to defeat your enemies (zombies and psychopaths). It’s about gameplay variety and flexibility, not technology. It’s the Tony-Hawk-of-death if you will. In our focus tests of CTYD, that uniqueness and the game’s tongue in cheek nature has been received very well as compared to [those] who haven’t played it. Naturally, your millage may vary and please make your purchasing decisions accordingly.” – Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer/VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development, via GoNintendo
Unfortunately for Sven, Nintendo Power’s recent preview would seem to contradict what he says pretty heavily, particularly this part:
“On the other hand, there are far fewer items strewn throughout the mall with which to bludgeon zombies, and you can now carry only one melee weapon at a time. A much great emphasis is placed on firearms and collecting ammunition, making the whole affair feel less visceral. Perhaps the strangest difference, though, is Frank can no longer jump. We’ll see if Dead Rising still lives up to its billing as “zombie paradise action” when we review the game in a future issue.” — Nintendo Power, via GoNintendo and the Capcom*Unity
In addition, don’t forget that for CPU space reasons, they’ve had to include fewer weapons, usually making hybrids of similar types. And as also mentioned earlier on, you’re no longer able to take photographs, which is sort of a key point to Frank West’s character as a photojournalist (he’s covered wars, you know).
At least there’s no time limit, you can’t hurt survivors, and there is more than one save file. But is that enough to save what’s slowly becoming a Resident Evil 4 mod hack?
I’m really not sure that it is. I hope I can pick the original up cheap whenever I manage to upgrade my TV to actually be able to read the fine print.
