Just recently, Capcom released the new Dead Rising 4 on December 6, whereas everyone is also hyped for their release on January 24 of the new Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. They’re both fantastic franchises that have gone a long way since the start of their journey. Let’s take a look at the two games together.
First, let’s look at the simple things. Dead Rising 4 has been released and is available for Windows and Xbox whereas Resident Evil 7 is going to be released on Windows, Xbox, and PS4 which is also compatible for the PlayStation VR. I feel like this is a good move by Capcom considering the stunning visuals of Resident Evil.
It is evident that Resident Evil has better visuals than Dead Rising. The new Resident Evil 7 is very graphic and detailed that makes it even more terrifying. Dead Rising 4 also has good combat visuals as the game now focuses more on action.
Now, let’s look at the gameplay, this is where the two games are alike. Both franchises have gone stray from their traditional themes.
Screenshot: Dead Rising 4
Dead Rising 4 brings back their debut character from Dead Rising 1, Frank West. It also lost the timer system and story co-op gameplay. In the previous games, the timer was annoying for many players because it would tell you that you only had this number of minutes left before you needed to complete a task. Now, it gives you more time to explore the open-world terrain and hack some zombies. As stated above, the new game focuses more on fighting zombies more than anything else. I also love the way you can take selfies along the middle of the game as if there was not a zombie apocalypse happening.
As for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, it is the first game in the series to ever include both names across all regions. In Japan, it is widely known as “Biohazard” and in other areas it’s called “Resident Evil”, some say this could be a clue to the plot. This time around you control a civilian named Ethan Winters, which cuts you off from the extreme capabilities other Resident Evil protagonists had. You can still expect a wide variety of weapons; however, the developers already gave us a heads-up that we should not expect a gun-fest.
From the demo, Resident Evil 7 Teaser: Beginning Hour, it starts off entirely like any other escape game where everything is locked and you have to find various items, but halfway through, the story is revealed and it is absolutely intense. It was a good demo, compared to the majority of games coming out with demos nowadays. It really gets you excited to know the actual story. Resident Evil takes on a new light with this game as it gives us a more of a horror story and puzzle feel rather than the traditional zombie one—seeing as there was a complete lack of zombies in the demo.
Artwork: Resident Evil 7
Lastly, let’s look at what Capcom was thinking about releasing these two games so close to each other. It makes us feel as if Capcom is competing with itself and trying to see which game we were willing to buy, if not both.
Capcom Vancouver released Dead Rising 4 on a December as they made it Christmas-themed. I don’t have concrete information as to why they made it Christmas-oriented other than the fact that it was completely as a form of marketing.
In my opinion, I feel like Capcom decided on releasing Resident Evil 7 on a January as a big bang to the new year. The Resident Evil franchise has been dying and I feel like this is a way to maybe bring it back. Capcom projected the sales for Dead Rising 4 to be 2 million copies, whereas for Resident Evil 7 is 4 million copies! I think they really expect a lot from this game and chose the best date to release it as January, so everyone will start off their year with it.
I don’t think there was any special marketing or promotion intention by Capcom to give these two games close release dates. They did develop for different audiences and the two releases are not much alike. Also, if this was to impact their sales it would most likely be a downward direction.
Make sure to leave a comment down below and tell me what you think about these two franchises!
YouTube: Resident Evil 7 biohazard – TV Spot 1
Photo credit: Capcom
