Dead Rising 3: Chaos Rising
Developer: Capcom Vancouver
Publisher: Microsoft
Platform: Xbox One
Install Size: 22.1MB
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Price: $9.99
Overview
After a minor delay, Capcom Vancouver has provided a steady stream of DLC for Dead Rising 3 but unfortunately for fans of the game and season pass holders; this DLC has been mediocre at the best of times. Now just a couple of weeks after Fallen Angel was released, the next $10 DLC pack for Dead Rising 3, this time called Chaos Rising, has been released. Is this one any better than the rest or does it continue to follow the same trend?
Story
As with the past two pieces of DLC for Dead Rising 3, we are introduced to the story by an unknown man watching the Zombie Defense and Control cameras as the outbreak in Los Perdidos occurred. So while players were following the story of Nick Ramos and those around him, this man saw everything including people seeking revenge. This “Untold Story of Los Perdidos” focuses on a face that anyone who has played the game before should recognize, a man named Hunter Thibodeux.
When the zombie outbreak occurred, Hunter was serving time in a jail cell after being betrayed by one of his fellow gang members. Despite being a member of the feared Kings of Chaos, no one seems willing to free you and as such Hunter takes it upon himself to free himself from behind bars and set out on a path of vengeance that sees him mostly collecting random items.
Unlike Angel, and even Kane, Hunter has no redeeming features and shows absolutely no sign of growth. He doesn’t even devolve into a psychopath throughout the story; he just stays on as a one note character that is all about bikes, blood, and whiskey with nothing in-between, unless you want to go gather more collectibles for the hell of it.
Sure his little path of vengeance has a few more tiny cut-scenes than the former two pieces of DLC and there are some named characters to face off against, this DLC offers the least interesting character of the bunch with no hope of development, especially since unlike the other two characters who players might not have recognized, Hunter’s cross over with the main story is very apparent and so is his ending.
Gameplay
Capcom Vancouver has kept things pretty one note for Dead Rising 3’s DLC and that remains the case with Chaos Rising as Hunter controls the exact same way that Nick does and all levels, abilities and PP earned carry back and forth from the main game. Of course multiplayer is also removed still and the game continues to take place in Los Perdidos with a few extra roadblocks here and there to try and funnel players down a different path.
As I mentioned before, there are a few named characters that Hunter will have to go against in the game and weapon lockers are not available in safe houses, meaning players will need to take advantage of their found weaponry to get the job done. These bosses are pretty forgettable overall though one does drop one of the new weapons for the DLC while the other, the person Hunter is seeking revenge against, repeats the same two or three moves in a somewhat interesting ring of fire battle.
Now like the past few pieces of DLC, five new weapons have been added into the game but unfortunately these weapons are the worst of the lot. To kick off the mediocrity there is the Razorback spiked helmet that is used to headbutt zombies with no special kill animation, followed by the Hellblast, a gas canister with flares taped to it that does less damage than your average explosive, a giant hammer called the Bonecrusher which is interesting to use at least, the Sawtooth, a sword with a chainsaw as the blade that sounds more impressive than it really is, and probably the only worthwhile weapon of the bunch a hand cannon which is a multi-barreled pistol that shoots flaming bullets.
As for the combo weapon this time around, players can create a weapon that shoots sawtooth blades at a slow rate of speed and although the kill animation is interesting, it is probably the weakest of all projectile weapons next to the toy category. Thankfully the bike that this DLC adds to the game, the Thrasher, is decent enough as it slices enemies apart with blades all over the bike and allows players to shoot blades out of the front.
On the collectible front, this time around players have been given the option to collect special whiskey bottles, smash emergency phones for whatever reason, and gather special bikes that are scattered around Los Perdidos. The latter collectible quest pretty much multiplies the bothersome vehicle durability quest by twenty and is more trouble than it is worth unless you happen to be a real completionist.
Visuals & Audio
As with past DLC, the only thing different about Los Perdidos are a few barricades in a few new areas. The game still looks as good as it does during the single player but that isn’t too much of a consolation at this point now that we are three DLCs in. The character designs are decent looking with all of the tattoos that a hardcore biker gang would have, though it would have been better to see Hunter actually dressed in his signature outfit for more than the final mission.
Now with the voice work for this game, I’m not sure who thought that the voice actor chosen for Hunter was a good fit because it definitely was not. While it worked for the brief moment in the story mode, having to suffer through his incredibly bad voice work throughout the brief story mode will make you happy that this DLC only takes an hour, two at max, to finish.
Overall
Dead Rising 3’s DLC could have been something worthwhile and actually seeing a bit of the backstory for a psychopath would have been amazing if it actually showed how they reached that point. Unfortunately Hunter is as unlikable and un-evolving as a character can be and to top it off, he has a terrible voice actor. Add that on with the fact that the collectibles are even more meaningless this time around, the weapons are almost a complete wash of mediocrity, and the only saving grace this DLC has is that it offers some actual boss combat, as minor as it is.
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