The Story: What does it take to get gamers to play with and not against others? Zombie Armageddon seems like as good a reason as any, or that’s what Capcom may be thinking. In the April issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Quarterman writes that a new platinum edition of Capcom’s wildly successful zombie smasher Dead Rising is on the way – complete with new content and the much asked for coop mode. Quarterman also hints that this new content will be available for download on the marketplace for Gamers who have already purchased Dead Rising.
Is it True?: Gamers have been clamoring for any form of multiplayer zombie killing since before Dead Rising’s release. Rumors even persisted on message boards across the internet that there was a way to unlock such a mode via achievement points, which turned out to be completely from left field. BUT – what if multiplayer was already planned, but nixed when they couldn’t get it done before the game’s August 06 release? Game developers do it all the time – remember all of the debug menu codes that are available for games? The developers didn’t choose to leave that in. We’ve even seen it on a much grander scale with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and its infamous Hot Coffee. It’s highly believable that the developers are trying to get more out of the game by finishing what they couldn’t last year.
Here’s where the doubt comes in – wouldn’t it make more sense to save this for the inevitable sequel? From a financial standpoint it seems like common sense – more people buying a full priced game= more money for Capcom.
Still, more and more is being done via downloadable content, and this seems highly believable. New levels are being released all the time – why not an entirely new mode of play?
The Final Verdict: Believe it, even though it might just a bare bones version to see how the real multiplayer mode will fare in the sequel