Blue Castle Steps Up to the Plate for Capcom with Dead Rising 2

Let’s face it, before Dead Rising 2, you probably never heard of Blue Castle Games.  If you did, it’s likely because you were a fan of The BIGS, their successful series of multi platform arcade-style baseball games.  However, once Capcom tapped Blue Castle to spearhead production on Dead Rising 2, all eyes were on this Canadian developer to see if they could deliver a true Capcom title, even while half a world away.

Well, in recent weeks it seems things could not be going better for Blue Castle.  First, their prequel to Dead Rising 2 (Dead Rising: Case Zero) has already become a best seller and is well on it’s way to going platinum.  Then, at the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, it was announced that Blue Castle was fully acquired by Capcom and is now officially Capcom Game Studios Vancouver.  And just this week, great reviews have already been coming in for Dead Rising 2.  It looks like Blue Castle has done everything right in the five short years since it’s inception, and they don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

We caught up with Josh Bridge, senior producer of Dead Rising 2, to talk about Zombies, Combo Weapons, and what it means to have the validation of Capcom.

DO:  What’s it like working on a title like DR2 coming from a series like, “The Bigs”, and why did Capcom choose you, a Canadian studio, to make a sequel to their critically acclaimed and best selling game?

JB:  Well, I think they really wanted to build a bridge into western development, especially with a game like Dead Rising which is supposed to represent western culture.   So, why not use someone  that can really tap into that culture?  I think we were just what they were looking for.

DO:  What was the inspiration for Fortune City (the setting of DR2), besides the obvious?

JB:  One of the things we wanted to maintain with Dead Rising is to not have the game set in an actual real life location.  That setting just seemed really compelling, to be in this gambling casino sort of world, there’s just so many great things to interact with.  Dead Rising 2 is about greed, one of the seven deadly sins, so why not start with a casino world?

DO:  Who or what was the inspiration for Chuck Greene and how is he different than Frank West? (from Dead Rising 1)

JB:  He’s actually quite different.  The inspiration for Chuck actually came from a lot of the team members and production staff at Capcom.  We wanted to develop a new type of character that had a daughter and try to push that relationship.  He differs from Frank because obviously Frank was a reporter and Chuck is an ex-motocross star.  Also they are motivated by different things.  Frank West went looking for a story, Chuck is the story.  It’s a much more personal story this time around as well.  Whereas Frank was looking for fame, Chuck is trying to survive and get him and his daughter out of this mess.

DO:  Case Zero has already gone gold.  What sparked the decision to release a DLC prequel to the complete game?  What made you think it would work?

JB:  It’s an idea that came up early in development.  It was a completely new idea for us, trying to figure out how we were going to get it distributed, because its so unique.  It was important to do because we wanted to get everyone excited for Dead Rising 2, but also because we want to introduce everyone to this new hero.  The setting for Case Zero is completely different from the full game, so it’s also really cool to explore this unique space. You really feel like your experiencing a larger part of the fiction of Dead Rising.

DO:  Who came up with the idea for the combo weapons?

JB:  That’s another one that came up early in development.  Again, that’s Blue Castle working closely with Capcom and the senior production staff.  What was really cool was how you could take those frying pans in Dead Rising and put them on a stove to heat them up, and they almost became a whole new and improved kind of weapon.  So we just started thinking, “Well, what if you put THESE two things together” and the results were just deadly.

DO:  You can do a lot with duct tape

JB:  Oh yeah. Well, our studio is actually really close to a Home Depot . . .

DO:  Oh wow, so you guys probably just . . .

JB:  Just walked down the aisles, it was hilarious.   That’s where we got the idea for weapons like the drill bucket.  The whole idea of improvised weapons made from all these common and innocuous things is just really really fun for us.

DO:  I bet.  Do you have a favorite combo weapon?

JB:  I think right now it’s, “The Auger”  It’s a small little motor with a pitchfork stuck into it.  You can punch it into a zombie then use it to spin him around then walk around and use the zombie like a windmill of death.

DO:  Wow, that. sounds. awesome.  I’m a big fan of the pitchfork shotgun myself.  Also the knife gloves and the paddlesaw . . . actually all of them!!  Every combo weapon is just fun in itself.

JB:  Yeah they all speak really well to what the game excels at.  You can’t use anything for too long and there’s always something else to pick up.  So it ends up having attention deficit disorder.  Everything’s a really short experience, but there’s just so many options.  It’s like being a kid in a candy store.

DO:  Absolutely.  So, what is it about killing massive amounts of zombies that’s just so much fun?

JB:  It’s really like living out your wildest fantasies.  It’s really satisfying. There’s no guilt, they’re just zombies!  Like when you’ve got the chainsaw motorbike and you’re just ripping through them . . . It just feels really good

DO:  A lot of people aren’t fans of the time based mission structure of the game, (I personally don’t mind it) so why leave it in?

JB:  Yeah, we definitely find it’s something that polarizes the audience, but it was something we felt was important to bring over into this game because it adds that sense of dread.  Like, “Oh my god, I’ve gotta beat the clock.”

DO:  I think it adds a sense of urgency that you don’t typically find in other games.

JB:  It also makes for a massive amount of replay.

DO:  Absolutely.  How else does Dead Rising 2 take the Dead Rising formula to the next level?

JB:  I think that one of the things it does, especially with the combo weapons, is give you more creative freedom to play how you want.  When you play the game, you get this sort of instant connection with it, you feel like, “this is my experience.”  Even as we’re going around and showing the game, we’re still finding new things to do in the game ourselves.

Like today what I did was, I found a beer keg, then I shot it with a pistol so it started spraying beer all over the place.  Then after it created a giant puddle, I put a toy helicopter in the middle of it to lure the zombies to it.  Next thing you know I’ve got hundreds of zombies slipping and sliding  all over the place, so I throw a propane tank in the middle of them and blow it up.  I must have taken out 200 of them.

DO:  Epic.

DO:  What does it mean to have the blessings and support of someone like Keiji Inafune?

JB:  Well, we’ve had a great experience working with Inafune-san and the entire Capcom production staff.  It’s been a great crossover between both of our different approaches to development.  But also a different sort of take on whats fun.  It’s been a great hybrid actually. We worked very close with them on a regular basis, so it really feels like we’re one development team.

DO:  Very cool.  What’s it like having that sort of validation when you’re about to ship a game like this for a company like Capcom?

JB:  Oh my god.  First of all, I was incredibly proud to even be involved with a product  that was going to a be a Capcom game.  I was just so proud and the whole team’s been really floored with that.  And getting feedback like that from Inafune-san, we’re just completely honored and humbled that they have this much respect for us.

DO:  So if this game is wildly successful, what do you see as the next big thing for you guys?

JB:  Well, we love action games. We’ve transitioned officially away from being a sports title development studio and we are all about action now.  We love challenges like Dead Rising 2, and you know we built that from the ground up. (I didn’t know that ’til he told me)  There was no engine or code coming over at all from Dead Rising 1.  So it was really important for us to recapture the feel of Dead Rising, and we’re proud that people so far think that we did.

DO:  A lot of people have expressed interest in a Dead Rising MMO, is that something you’d ever consider doing?

JB:  The concept sounds really cool. There’s something I still really like about telling a single player story with a compelling narrative however.  But, you never know.  :-)

The one thing I do know is that Dead Rising 2 is better than it’s predecessor in every way, so if you liked the first one, you’ll LOVE this one.  If you didn’t play Dead Rising, then go pick up Case Zero for a mere 400 points on Xbox Live and see what you think!!

Be sure to check back for the RipTen review of Dead Rising 2 next week!!

I've Clearly Been Excited About Dead Rising 2 Since E3!!