Dead Rising 4 Is Still "Stupid" and That's What Makes It Great, Dev Says

The Dead Rising series isn't known for taking itself very seriously--and Dead Rising 4 will be no different. Capcom Vancouver studio head Joe Nickolls says in a new interview that the franchise's over-the-top and absurd nature is what makes it great; the developer has no plans to change that for the new game.

"It's still Dead Rising," he told Polygon. "It's gotta be stupid. We have to make sure the things we do in the game are still stupid."

This matches up with what Dead Rising 4 executive producer Bryce Cochrane said last month at San Diego Comic-Con. "We're still the fun zombie game," he said at the time. "We don't take ourselves seriously. That's not going to change with Dead Rising 4. There will just be more avenues for you to take if you want to vary the experience."

Another example of Dead Rising 4's absurdity is a move main character Frank West can perform called "the grilled cheese." This sees West rip a zombie in half, similar to how a person might eat a sandwich.

Additionally, players can use various items to perform combos in the game (combing an exo suit with Slurpee can freeze enemies is one example), and some items are military-themed, while others are "incredibly stupid," according to Nickolls. Players can also use an item called the Gandalf that shoots garden gnomes and even lets you perform a "you shall not pass" move. You can also take selfies.

Read the full Polygon interview here.

Dead Rising 4 releases December 6, 2016 for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC as a timed exclusive. Prior to that, remastered versions of some of the earlier games in the series are on the way.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced Dead Rising 4's numerous preorder bonuses, while GameSpot also spoke to Capcom about why the game is doing away with the series' most divisive mechanic.