It’s There, but it’s not There: the Timer System in Dead Rising 4

Dead Rising 4 doesn’t have a timer system that made this game so different from others in the same genre. This decision has not been popular. The good news is that it has been confirmed that the mechanic isn’t entirely absent from the game.

“The timer… some people don’t care about the timer, some people hate the fact that it’s not in the game, some people hated the timer and love the fact we’ve got rid of it. So what do we do? Well, we put the timer in multiplayer, and then put it back in towards the end of the game, where we think it matters,”- said Joe Nickolls (Capcom Vancouver studio head).

One of the reasons the mechanic was removed in the first place is because: “One of our goals is to really make a product that means we can make Dead Rising 5, 6, 7,” and “That involves expanding and changing the franchise, and therefore sometimes we need to take risks. That means some people will be upset with what you did. The only way to truly tell if we made the right choices is to play the game.” says Dead Rising 4’s executive producer Bryce Cochrane.

SO the timer system is there… but its not there. On the bright side; at least the franchise is looking towards the future.