Dead Rising 3 – Nick & Dick Take On A Map Bigger Than The First Two Games Combined

The Dead Rising 3 information wagon seems to be building up speed with just under 2 and a half more months to go until the November 22nd release date. Some of the latest news to come out of Capcom Vancouver’s camp concerns the loading screens (or lack of), the map size and the new co-op mode featuring Nick and Dick: a match made in rhyming heaven.

First up is the loading screens. With the move to next-gen – and more specifically the Xbox One – coming at the perfect time for Capcom Vancouver to make a sequel to 2010’s Dead Rising 2, we’ve seen a vast increase in the power at the disposal of the developers and Executive Producer Josh Bridge has made sure that they utilise it with the previous game in mind: “With the Xbox One, we had the ability to make a way bigger world, and way more detail that can go into that world,” Bridge says. “We wanted to go truly open-world this time around. No more load screens, with the biggest world that we’ve been able to make, with loads of zombies. And in doing this, we needed to hold on to the brand pillars of Dead Rising: everything and anything is a weapon, as well as the ability to play the way you want.”

This all does sound jolly good so far, but what about the map that we’ll be playing in? If there are no load screens and multiple hordes of zombies on-screen at the same time, what will the accessible areas be like if they’re already trying to push the Xbox One to its limits? Well, have a look for yourself:

That’s pretty damn impressive, if I do say so myself. Hopefully – and I really do hope this to prove true – Dead Rising 3 will indeed perform to the standard that Capcom Vancouver have been striving for. With no loading screens and a large map to traverse, they’re even estimating that 50% of your time will be spent travelling in vehicles which is yet another indication of how big the map is likely to be and also feel.

Finally, we now move on to the dynamic duo that I touched upon briefly earlier: Nick and Dick. We all know that Nick Ramos is the main protagonist for Dead Rising 3 and will also inevitably serve as the player character for the host of online co-op sessions. It has now been revealed that his co-op partner will be none other than the gentleman pictured above and below, who currently only goes by the name of Dick.

Information is pretty sparse with relation to this Dick character, but what we do know is that he is a truck driver that finds himself at “the wrong diner on the wrong day” and zombie-filled carnage then ensues. He will appear in the main story of the game, therefore allowing you to learn more about his history, yet won’t serve as a constant companion to Nick.

A potential downside to the co-op mode is the fact that players can drop into another person’s session and jump ahead in the story, effectively breaking the chronology of the game and skipping missions that you may have planned on playing. But that shouldn’t really detract from the copious amounts of fun that the game will offer should you choose to use co-op wisely.

The co-op mode is already shaping up to be a key selling point for Dead Rising 3 and this game could quite possibly be one of the rare few that makes PlayStation 4 owners look on with envy.

Dead Rising 3 will rise on November 22nd along with the Xbox One.