Capcom has what most would call a clusterfuck of an idea when it comes to what DLC should be, by containing locked content on the disc, overcharging for content they release a month later on the Super Mega Hyper Limited ADD Remix edition, or locking the full ending behind the DLC pay wall. While unlike the majority of Dead Rising fans, I found Dead Rising 4 to be a flawed but enjoyable experience. With this content, Capcom listened to their fans and fixed one of the biggest gripes: the game’s lack of Overtime mode. Of course, they are charging us for it.

For anyone who is not familiar the Overtime feature, the previous Dead Rising entries offered additional missions after completion of the main story, which typically required certain actions to be completed prior to accessing. The Frank Rising expansion essentially adds this mode to the original game’s ending, picking up immediately after the credits rolled. I would like to point out that further information included in this review may contain spoilers for the Dead Rising 4 campaign, as this takes place after the main game.

So, awaking from being mauled by zombies after falling from a helicopter, we meet a fresh zombie Frank West. Instead of tasking the player to survive by creating or finding various weapons to combat the zombies, you have to rely on the added zombie abilities. These abilities are all ripped straight from the special types of zombies you dealt with throughout the main game and are limited to a pounce attack, puking on your enemies, and a Skyrim-ish scream (Fus Roh Dah?). Instead of finding food pickups to replenish health, you are able to feast on the enemies, because how else would a zombie regain hit points? Most of these abilities are a fun novelty, and most work as they should, but this feeling wore off pretty quick leaving me yearning for the option to pick up the nearest item and start bashing zombie’s heads in. The pounce ability could have used some additional polish, as it requires you to lock on to the enemy, which is a chore when a swarm of zombies is closing in on you. All in all, your combat abilities are only effective in small groups and I only used them in situations where I was backed into a corner with no other option.

Luckily, the entire experience is limited to a 1 and a half hour time limit, which starts after a short tutorial, and serves to show you how to control your new zombie avatar and bring you up to speed on why Frank is a zombie. Who can talk…? And follow instructions…? And really just looks like a zombie skinned version of Frank West. You will spend the limited time in this expansion gathering ingredients to turn Frank back into a human by yet another mad scientist. Most of these can be done with little effort or opposition from the enemies which makes the timer feel irrelevant, as I completed an additional playthrough finishing up collectibles in under 45 minutes.

The only additional content Frank Rising offers is a set of 16 challenges, which range from killing a certain number of enemies or racing between checkpoints, all within a few minutes. Each challenge offers a slight upgrade to one of your core powers and unlike previous entries in the series; you cannot carry the upgrades between multiple playthroughs. There is also the standard set of collectibles that have become common in the series, but they offer upgrades to Frank’s core strengths this time around, as XP has been phased out of this entry. Collecting all of them is not a requirement to complete the short chapter, but it will make your time spent less frustrating.

The fact that you spend all of your time retreading a small portion of Willamette opposed to a new area is both a blessing and a curse. While playing the core game, I felt overwhelmed at times due to massive map the game offered. Here you will find yourself limited to a third of the same map, fighting the same enemies with the exception of one with a purple cloud of what I am only assuming is zombie AIDS. Why could this be good you ask? Well, Frank forgot how to drive or open car doors during his brief period of being dead, so you’ll have to walk everywhere.

I feel that if Capcom had offered this expansion for free, via an update instead of as paid content, it would have felt less like a waste of time. Instead they chose the low road yet again by charging the consumer for something that could and should have been included in the original game. This offers no replay value beyond the 2 additional phoned in endings, which are no better than the original half assed attempt at one.

While Dead Rising 4 was one of my personal favorites of 2016, I would only recommend acquiring this in the event you can get it discounted, like I did, or Capcom includes it in a future complete package.

2 out of 10

Pros:

• Short
• Playing as a Zombie is a Fun Novelty

Cons:

• Rehash of Old Content and Lack of New Content
• Price

Dead Rising 4: Frank Rising was developed by Capcom Vancouver and published by Microsoft Studios for X1 and PC. The expansion was released on April 4, 2017 as part of the Dead Rising 4 season pass or $9.99 individually. The DLC was purchased by us for review on X1. For more information on Dead Rising 4, please visit their official site.

 

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