There were a lot of games announced at E3 this year. One that caught my eye the most was Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition DX Plus Alpha (SUDR3) . . . now say that 3 times fast.   The amazing thing is that Capcom was able to keep it under their hat, and release it the day of E3.

SUDR3 is a DLC add-on for Dead Rising 3 that adds several characters from Capcom’s other game franchises into Dead Rising 3 . . . sort of.  What’s actually happening is that the 4 main characters from the Dead Rising series have broken into a costume store and are cosplaying as these other characters.   While they are cosplaying, they can pull off that characters moves.  As an example, while Nick is cosplaying as Ryu from the Street Fighter franchise, he gains the ability to throw fireballs.  This whole thing sounds awesome, but it isn’t without its flaws.

First off, this DLC is built around 4 player online co-op.  There are several problems with this.  First, getting a game together can be painful.  I have had a lot of problems with disconnects, or even just finding a proper match.  If it’s this hard to get a match together now at the DLC’s release, how hard will it be to find one in several months when people have moved onto the next big thing? SUDR3 is timed just like a quarter based arcade game.  If time runs out, it’s game over.  Unfortunately the game is mostly tuned to there being 4 people in the match, so accomplishing all of the goals you need to, in the allotted time when you are playing solo, is extremely difficult.  If you wind up dying, they do give you the option to buy back in with Zeni that you find.  Death in the game isn’t that big of a deal.  The timer is a much bigger problem in the game because you can’t buy more time.

Another problem is load times.  The game will go through several load screens after each section of the game you play through.  It really drags you out of the arcade feel the game is supposed to have.   Combine that with the time it takes you to actually get 4 players together and you will definitely be waiting at one screen or another for a longer time than you are actually playing.

Once you’re actually playing, you will probably have a lot of fun . . . at first.  As you unlock each new costume it adds some freshness to the experience, but the overall combat gets very repetitive.  At least in Dead Rising 3 you have different weapons you can build at any time to make the game more interesting.  Once you have selected your character, there isn’t much else you can do to change up your attack, other than a few power-ups.

It may sound like I’m down on this DLC, and to some extent I am, but I think if you already have Dead Rising 3, the $10 they are charging for this add on is worth it.   As a fan of a lot of Capcom properties, this DLC was a no brainer for me.  Getting to run around as Ryu, throwing fireballs at Zombies is awesome.  I wouldn’t buy Dead Rising 3 just to play this DLC, but if you were already on the fence about Dead Rising 3, then maybe SUDR3 will help push you over.  I loved Dead Rising 3, and SUDR3 gave me a reason to go revisit Dead Rising 3, and see it in a new light.  Even if I get bored of SUDR3, it reminded me of how fun Dead Rising 3 could be.