Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop Getting a Face Lift

With some of the voiced disappointment in Capcom's latest effort on the Wii (mostly revolving around what they had to show at TGS), it is great to hear that some positive changes are on the way for Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. Some of the biggest criticisms of the game's current build come in the form of the Wii's capability. With less power, we've seen fewer zombies on the screen at once and graphics that aren't necessarily as "pretty" as the 360 counterpart.

But don't fret! Nintendo Everything reported recently that Seth Killian, Capcom Community Sr. Manager, has spoken out about some of the changes we can expect in the game. He assures that "the TGS 'build' was mostly just a tech demo and is not the actual or final game," and to expect some major changes along the way prior to a Q1 2009 release. Though he has not played any recent iteration of the game yet, he has "seen screenshots, and yes, there are more zombies on the screen and a few other notable changes."

Interestingly, Killian goes on about the differences in producers and the decision made by Capcom to show the same build they already have shown at TGS, straying from the plan to show more recent updates to the game. Considering that there appear to have been plans in the works for updating the game to a higher standard, I can't help but wonder about Capcom's intentions in general. The Wiire's board-goers have made excellent points from the game seeming more linear and not using the Wii's full functionality, to Capcom not putting enough effort and resources into the title compared to the more powerful system they are porting the game from.

But here's the bottom line: even in ports we will find that a new system offers different gameplay experiences (like RE4). If all we want are hundreds of zombies, that may not be found here. Offering the original title as a basis for comparison isn't realistic, as the original exists on a more powerful platform to begin with. But if the control is tight enough, and we have enough content and decent graphics in the game, this surely should not disappoint.

Now, in order to add more zombies to the screen and rag-doll them without lots of lag in gameplay, some of the changes could be staggering. As long as we don't see really lo-res texturing, I can trust Capcom in their changes. But with a new build in hand and the decision being passed down to show us old content, I can't help but wonder if one of the Wii's best third-party companies are low-balling us.

As 2009 draws near, we'll be sure to see some updates to this game. Let's hope to chalk this one up as another great core game for the Wii!