Dead Rising 2 features multiplayer

By Tom Bramwell Published 30 March, 2009

With up to 6000 zombies on-screen.

During a Dead Rising 2 session at GDC last week, Capcom quietly and perhaps accidentally revealed that the zombie hack-'em-up will include multiplayer.

According to IGN, one of the product managers on development software Mental Mill said that the technology allowed for players to see as many as 6000 characters on-screen during multiplayer.

What form multiplayer would take remains a mystery, but we're guessing the 6000 characters aren't all other players, so let's assume that whatever does go down will take as much advantage of the series' sea-of-zombies foundation as anything.

We're expecting to find out more about Dead Rising 2 in the next month or so, but for now we know that it's set two years after the first game in the Las Vegas-esque Fortune City, as the zombie virus that engulfed the Willamette Mall has spread across the country.

Publisher Capcom also released a teaser trailer and screenshots, and said to expect the game on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DFawkes #1 3 years ago

    That's nice, if it's co-op. I think L4D has the Versus zombie market covered, but co-op Dead Rising would certainly be a nice one.

  • Genji #2 3 years ago

    Co-op, please.

  • Kazzahdrane #3 3 years ago

    Co-op would get me to buy this game where I probably wouldn't otherwise.

  • bad09 #4 3 years ago

    I must pick up the first and try to finish it - Damn! I gave the Mrs my credit note on Saturday.

    / shakes fist at mrs!

  • rogueJT #5 3 years ago

    Oh God.

    Please, not again.

    If it's some multiplayer online zombie hackathon fine.

    If it's integrated into the single player gamelike RE5 then please fuck off Capcom.
    Edited by 1 at 30/03/09 @ 09:05

  • Genji #6 3 years ago

    Pfft, co-op didn't ruin RE5 at all.

    I'd still rather play it with a friend, of course.

  • ChthonicEcho #7 3 years ago

    If it's integrated into the single player gamelike RE5 then please fuck off Capcom.

    Capcom are publishers. Blue Castle are developers. You should be telling the latter to fuck off if that's the case, not Capcom.

  • spudsbuckley #8 3 years ago

    I agree with rogueJT. I don't want the single player to be watered down in favour of multiplayer. It happens with a hell of a lot of titles lately.

    I prefer single player games.

  • UncleLou #9 3 years ago

    6000?

    I am a little bit sceptical. The only game I am aware of that displays as many characters are the Total War games, and to get 6000, even tightly packed, characters on screen (performance issues aside), you need to zoo all the way out, and tilt the camera. So, unless DR2 has a birds-eye camera, I don't see how you'd ever get to that number.

    Or maybe there's a level with a huge tower on a salt lake. That might work as well. :)

  • asphaltcowboy #10 3 years ago

    Oh yes! Co-op please! That will be incredibly awesome!

  • kinky_mong #11 3 years ago

    If it's integrated into the single player gamelike RE5 then please fuck off Capcom.

    Is your issue that you don't want to have a dumb AI partner that you have to babysit everywhere? Because that was pretty much what most of the first Dead Rising was!

  • bigbadbeasty #12 3 years ago

    I am with UncleLou, 6000 zombies sounds an awful lot to me. Considering there is problems with frame rate drops with titles such as GTA4, where you only have 20ish characters in view, 6000 is insane or simply a lie.

    Unless they reduce the graphics detail massively, I can't see this being true. As much as I would love it!

    Hmmmm, maybe its time to get the SNES out and play some Zombies! ^^

  • miiiguel #13 3 years ago

    I can't understand the complaints about RE5 approach. It plays very nice either in SP or coop, and with no diference.

  • jim1975 #14 3 years ago

    if you dont like coop. dont use it. simple

    and who says coop automaticaly equals watered down.
    Edited by 1 at 30/03/09 @ 10:54

  • Ryze #15 3 years ago

    The Wii version?

    /chortle

  • Rangerwave #16 3 years ago

    I wasn't too keen on the save system last time, would rather they introduce an auto-save or something. But then I guess Dead Rising was based on being played and played again.

  • Lebowski #17 3 years ago

    "There are 6000 zombies in Dead Rising 2" - some lost Katie Melua lyrics for you there.

  • IneptPercy #18 3 years ago

    So at 720p and 6000 zombies each zombie can have 153.6 pixels as long as they consume the entire screen...

    As for processing power, I noticed on the first game that zombie models/textures changed as you got closer so the ones in the distance are porbably PS1 zombies.

    And we all know the PS3 version will only have 5000 zombies...

  • kangarootoo #19 3 years ago

    Yay. Yay yay yay. And hurrah!!



    "If it's integrated into the single player gamelike RE5 then please fuck off Capcom"

    Integration into the single player experience is not a bad thing perse. If it is integrated "like RE5" (i.e. badly, clumsily and stubbornly) then that WOULD be a bad thing.

    However, if it is integrated "like Left4Dead" (i.e. brilliantly, seamlessly and with clear concious thought and quality design) then that would be a very great thing indeed.

  • kangarootoo #20 3 years ago

    "so the ones in the distance are porbably PS1 zombies"

    Hehe. I like the idea that the zombies get less technically advanced the further away they get. An unexpected effect of combining perpective with the unlife. I believe the zombies right at the backl can just be seen hoofing about penny farthings and being extremely curteous to the survivors they are noshing on.

  • IneptPercy #21 3 years ago

    i was thinking more polygon counts than what they are doing, but with that the ones so far away could be upto to all sorts and we wouldn't notice.

  • kangarootoo #22 3 years ago

    True!! I bet they are all wanking, safe in the knowledge they are too far away for us to realise.

    Dirty zombies.

  • IneptPercy #23 3 years ago

    Wonder how many pixels that would be, the PS3 zombies would run out of pixels so would have nothing to wank.

    How did this thread come to this?