Over the weekend, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:early alpha footage𒊎 of Dead Rising 5 surfaced, giving us a glimpse into a series that has laid dormant for seven years. A series that, if it returned today, would be wildly out of place among its horror and zombie cohorts. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us paved the way for a trend of serious, gritty, meaningful stories, something 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dead Rising was pivoting toward with both shuttered iterations of its fifth game. One was inspired by TLoU itself, the other—weirdly enough—168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Bloodborne, moving away from the sandbox-style mix and match that made Dead Rising what it ൲is.
Because of The Last of Us, horror is now more commonly used as a vehicle to tell heartfelt stories driven by its characters, whether it’s Joe🌄l&rs𝔉quo;s flawed desperation to protect those he loves or Ellie’s conflicted quest for revenge. Dead Rising 5 felt the need to fit in, to make Chuck Greene’s story about keeping his daughter from turning intไo a zombie something more worthwhile, but that was never Dead Rising, and trying to fit in would have ultimately sacrificed its very identity—no wonder neither made it to store shelves. But now more than ever, there’s a space for it to carve out as its own all over again, without buckling to trends or throwing away the things that made so many fall in love with it to begin with.
Dead Rising originally stood next to Resident Evil and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Silent Hill and said, “Forget the fog, forget the gloomy, oppressive village—let’s go to a mall an🍎d mix together a teddy bear and a minigun.” And it was a literal blast. The goal was always simple, something like needing to find meds to keep your daughter alive. But those motives are just the introduction that thrusts us into the world so we can get on with putting together our makeshift weapons to mindlessly slaughter hundreds of zombies. It’s an arcade-style comedy horror that feels closer to Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland than The Road or 28 Days Later, and that not only made it stand out, but—like with those films—it kept the horror genre fresh.
Now it stands next to The Last of Us, and it’s time to do it all over again♛. The market is dominated by gritty and gloomy titles that tug at the heartstrings—don’t get me wrong, I love when a screen of pixels makes me cry, but sometimes you want to jump into a game of poker with your buds while a horde of zombies aimlessly wander the mall outside. And sometimes, you want to play Dead Rising (wahey). Right now, one of the only games looking to offer respite will be Dead Island 2, whenever it finally comes out, and if the first is anything to go b♚y, it probably won’t be all that good.
Besides Dead Island 2, the zombie games (or games featuring hordes of aliens and mindless enemies) chasing that action high tend to desperately emulate Left 4 Dead, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:often failing miserably. You’re handed a few firearms, some perks, sent on a path, and told to gun down everything in your way to diminishing returns. It’s dull, and often these games—like Back 4 Blood—lack meaningful forms of experimentation while still trying to chase more serious tones. One of the best parts of Dead Rising was struggling with a boss, circling the mall, and finding new blueprints and items t⛎o shove together Frankenstein-style to overcome chainsaw-wielding fetish enthusiast Randy Tugman. Subtle.
Not enough games are silly enough to play around with horror and zomb🔴ie tropes in such a way, using familiar backdrops lifted from movies only to throw the most bizarre enemies and we🌞apons into. You have a timer to find drugs, making everything in between the clock a blank slate for you to fill. There’s no right path, just a big sandbox.
Dead Rising 5 was clearly something else. Both iterations tried to become gaming’s equivalent of Oscar bait, no doubt chasing that blockbuster award season high. Dead Rising was never that. It was always the equivalent of dumb slasher shlock, the si♋lly 90-minute movie about idiots having fun in the bleakest of situations. In a world of Oscar bait and triple-A blockbusters desperately clambering to reach cinematic heights, we could use a Dead Rising or two. Chuck Chucke a remake if that’s what it takes, or finally commit to that elusive fifth game, only don’t make it Bloodborne with zombies, or The Last of Us with a washed-up reporter. Make it a stupid, mindlessly fun horde shooter with an arsenal we can only dream of.