Can the open world zombie game deliver a great next-gen experience?

Aug 24, 2013 12:21 GMT  ·  By

Dead Rising titles have delighted a variety of gamers across many different platforms over the years but, with Dead Rising 3, Capcom has decided to partner exclusively with Microsoft and release the new zombie game only for the Xbox One next-gen console.

With the promise of a new protagonist, a huge open world, all sorts of crazy items that can be crafted, and thousands upon thousands of undead roaming the streets, Dead Rising 3 is looking set to be a great new installment in the series.

The special gameplay demo shown by Capcom at Gamescom 2013 shows hero Nick Ramos roam around the streets of the zombie-infested city, as well as through a shopping mall that, you guessed it, is filled with the undead.

The level of detail in the world is much, much higher than before, as even if previous games didn't have that open environments, their graphical quality was significantly lower than other titles just to make sure the big number of zombies didn't affect performance.

Here, however, Capcom's Vancouver team has worked closely with Microsoft's Xbox One developers to make sure that the title will maintain a 30fps framerate at 1080p resolution in all conditions.

While the early build showed at Gamescom still encountered a few slowdowns, they usually occurred only when Nick used powerful vehicles to smash through hordes of zombies in quick succession.

Besides killing zombies with regular weapons that can be found on the ground, Nick can combine them in many different ways on the fly, using blueprints that are scattered around the world. He can also wear various suits and even combine vehicles to create awesome variations that can withstand many hordes of undead.

He can also summon survivors he rescued during the campaign to aid him when roaming the streets of the city, as well as access a certain number of side missions via the companion Smartglass application, which allows players to do other things like examine the mini-map.

While previous games had a basic progression system, Dead Rising 3 will have a full-fledged one that allows Nick to bolster his abilities and unlock special bonuses that help with his crafting and zombie killing.

Dead Rising 3 is out worldwide in November alongside the Xbox One.