The Dead Rising saga has had as protagonists several characters, all more or less unfortunate, but the one that most of all has remained in the hearts of the players is Frank West, shrewd reporter now known as "Hero of Willamette". It was therefore a pleasure to see him return in better shape than ever in the fourth chapter of the beat 'em up by Capcom and Capcom Vancouver and, consequently, also in the Playstation 4 edition of Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package.
This version of the game includes all the DLC released so far: the crazy golf mode in which, between one hole and another, you will have to slaughter zombies with swings to score; the Christmas and Valentine's Day packages, which will change the aesthetics of enemies and NPCs with themed skins; the mini-adventure Frank Rising, set during the last case of the main story and during which events take a completely unexpected turn; the Hard and Blackest Friday difficulties and, finally, the mode Capcom heroes, which allows you to retrace the entire history of Dead Rising 4, but with the possibility of equipping (after unlocking) 17 costumes inspired by the protagonists of the various brands of the company, each of which is equipped with unique moveset and special attacks and a crazy aesthetic.
With a list price of 49,99 euros, Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package is a tempting opportunity and an excellent quantity / quality / price ratio: the new chapter of the saga is set during the umpteenth - and extremely suspicious - zombie epidemic, which broke out in a shopping center during the Black Friday discounts. Despite himself, Frank finds himself involved, blackmailed by Agent Brad Park and pushed to investigate the disaster in exchange for the exclusive on the scoop and the possibility of cleaning his criminal record from a military scandal in which he had found himself framed four months ago.
It goes without saying that Frank's uncomfortable discoveries of the previous months will be closely linked to the new epidemic and that therefore the reporter will find himself once again forced to face something much more "cumbersome" than a simple zombie infection. As typical of the saga, the story of Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package is placed in a setting similar but alternative to our world; yet, although realism is certainly not the priority in the script, the writing of the supporting actors is really convincing, if compared to the paradoxical situations in which they will find themselves.
Frank West himself, even if spotted and over the top, has a not just basic coherence and manages to amalgamate irony and cynicism, exaltation and self-pity in a surprising way.
Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package offers the usual and always welcome plentiful hundreds of on-screen enemies within sandbox maps extremely accurate in every detail. The polygonal density is obviously not the best of this generation, but the fluid animations, the aforementioned care in the setting and the stable framerate they manage to make up for the graphics that are not always exciting.
The interaction with the environment has also remained typical of the Dead Rising brand, for better or for worse: it is You can pick up almost any object on the screen and use it as an offensive tool against zombies, maniacs and bad soldiers; the merchants hidden inside the shelters will sell food, weapons and vehicles, many of which will be obtainable in a much cheaper way with the right exploration.
In fact, by retrieving the projects scattered in the maps, Frank will have access to the menu of combination of recovered resources and can create deadly and crazy tools to eliminate enemies and roam the areas in (almost) maximum safety. Welcome newcomer is theexoskeleton, which once equipped - and for an extremely short period of time - will allow the reporter to cause massive damage to everything around him and interact with otherwise immovable map elements.
As always, there will be the opportunity to change clothes during the adventure and face the zombie threat in the most unlikely outfits. Same goes for the photos (selfies included) that have always been part of Frank's adventures and that will give you little extras during the game… and some black humor smiles.
The only real movable criticism of Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package - and Dead Rising 4 in general - is its having significantly lowered the difficulty curve of the story mode. The absence of a countdown, combined with the increasingly lethal arsenal available to the protagonist and boss fights that are not always inspired, makes the challenge at the standard difficulty level almost nothing, in which just a few precautions will be enough to never run out. of care and / or surrounded by hungry zombies.
All this also undermines the replayability factor which, although still present, remains linked to the subjective desire to approach situations in a different way, rather than wanting to achieve a high score, easily achievable even in a blind run.
Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package is certainly an excellent bundle for all owners of a Sony console, as well as a possible starting point to approach the Dead Rising brand. This is not the most complex title in the saga, but this should not necessarily be seen as a defect or as a step backwards, but as an opportunity to take stock of the situation and experience new, imaginative ways of breaking up zombies and become national heroes.
