Although it never saw the light of day, it looks like Capcom’s cancelled Dead Rising 5 was fairly deep into development before the plug was pulled, if newly-discovered clips are anything to go by.
Fans have unearthed a treasure trove of in-development footage of the game, seemingly once titled Dead Rising: Dia de los Muertos, tucked away on the portfolio website of its former Technical Level Designer, Nick Sinkewicz.
Sinkewicz, whose other work includes games like Max Payne 3 and Gears 5, has posted multiple clips of the game to his website containing gameplay from test levels and actual in-game sequences including a jungle level with a boss fight against a drug lord with an electrified mechanical arm.
You can see the Unreal Engine-powered footage for yourself via the link the tweet below:
A portfolio showcasing level design and milestone presentation on DEAD RISING 5 was found today by a community member, showing the game from 2017 running in Unreal Engine prior to being cancelled. ?https://t.co/Ezs9skRCgU pic.twitter.com/DPlFtutbq3
— STiP0 (@Stip0_) February 17, 2023
“A portfolio showcasing level design and milestone presentation on DEAD RISING 5 was found today by a community member, showing the game from 2017 running in Unreal Engine prior to being cancelled.”
Interestingly, it seems the game would’ve potentially included a lot more traversal, an environmental damage system and some smart updates to gameplay systems – like loot being presented in containers rather than thrown about the place. The footage also suggests we may have seen Dead Rising 2’s protagonist, Chuck Greene, make a return as the main playable character.
The last Dead Rising game to be released was 2016’s Dead Rising 4, which released to mixed reviews. We scored the game a 6/10 in ours, saying “I’m not sure if straight to video, shallow Christmas film was what the Capcom Vancouver were aiming for here, but it’s what we’ve got. Dead Rising 4 might be fun as a once off if you just want a mindless way to grind through zombies with goofy characters, weapons, and a Christmas theme, but you’ll be disappointed if you expect any more.”
