‘Dead Rising 4’ Dev Talks On New Features Ahead Of Holiday Release Date, Explains Timer Removal

Gamescom 2016 in Cologne, Germany is now hotly underway and with it are a host of new highly anticipated updates to upcoming titles both near and far; one of them is about the newest installment in the "Dead Rising" franchise, and why "Dead Rising 4" got rid of that previously all-important timed mechanic.

The original "Dead Rising" released just a little over a decade ago, with the production backed up by "Mega Man" illustrator Keiji Inafune and developed by Capcom. The game pioneered the sandbox zombie apocalypse setting in video games, while the 2010 sequel "Dead Rising 2" codified the weapon building conventions that now litter the genre. While the series has met with widespread success however, is also had an aspect that was highly contentious.

That aspect being the time limit mechanic which some thought added to the hectic nature of the games, while others felt it detracted to the games' presented opportunity for players to indulge in their zombie-killing fantasies. The limit was severely restrictive in the first "Dead Rising," with "Dead Rising 2" expanding its restriction and failing to meet them meant an instant game over.

For 2013's "Dead Rising 3," the time limit was made optional with the upcoming "Dead Rising 4" completely removing the feature. According to Capcom Vancouver, the studio that developed "Dead Rising 4," lead Joe Nickolls, the reason is simply the number of those who hated the mechanic far outweighed those who actually liked it.

Speaking to reporters at this year's Gamescom, Nickolls said that they asked the game's fanbase and found that people would much rather explore than be forced into a tight schedule when they played a game. As a series famed for its open world and sandbox mechanics, "Dead Rising" players only felt that the time limit meant they could not get what the games fully had to offer.

For "Dead Rising 4," Nickolls said that the exploration aspect is set to get even more complex and placing a limit on just how much players could engage in it just would not make sense. Furthermore; while replay value is sought after in a game, having to do and go through the same things each and every time just to get more out of a game is contrary to that point.

NIckolls also said that removing the time limit is a way to differentiate "Dead Rising 4" from its predecessors as "if we keep making the same Dead Rising over and over, the people that just want the very same thing are going to get what they want. But people want to see growth, they want to see us adapting as we go."

Noting the change's expected divisive reception, Nickolls said that "you're going to piss someone off no matter what you do, right?"