Cancelled Dead Rising 5 Was Going to Have Lots of Enemy Variety, Mini Bosses and Boss Fights

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Although Capcom hasn’t released a new Dead Rising game recently – the last was Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster last year – a fifth main installment was actually planned. Industry expert Marie Mejerwall shared in an interview with Game Reactor that the cancelled game was being built with Unreal Engine 5.

Mejerwall, who worked on the non-player characters (NPCs) for Dead Rising 5, really enjoyed the diverse range of enemies players could battle. This included standard zombies, as well as smarter, more challenging types.

Mejerwall, who worked on the canceled Dead Rising 5 as part of the NPC team, explained that he designed all of the boss battles. He particularly enjoyed creating a range of enemy types, from basic, unintelligent zombies that simply grab at you, to more complex and advanced foes with different tiers and abilities.

According to Mejerwall, enemies in Dead Rising 5 will range from common foes to tougher, more heavily armored versions. These enemies will increase in strength and complexity through different tiers, ultimately leading to challenging mini-boss encounters.

For characters like Batman’s enemies, we usually featured common criminals. We had similar enemies in Dead Rising, and also armored versions of those same criminals. What I especially liked about Dead Rising was its mini-bosses, which felt like self-contained units within the game.

You don’t often see enemies move around as much as they do in Dead Rising. We really wanted to make them fun and let players drop them pretty much anywhere on the map, regardless of the terrain. We didn’t want their movement to be restricted by the environment.

Mejerwall discussed that Dead Rising 5 would feature spectacular boss battles in unique arenas. She mentioned one fight taking place in a temple she designed, which would crumble during the battle. Bosses would also become more enraged as the fight continued, unlocking new attacks and abilities.

Mejerwall explained that the major boss battles he worked on each featured a distinct setting. As an example, he described a boss fight he designed that took place in a temple which gradually crumbled throughout the battle.

The game became increasingly challenging, with the boss becoming more furious and performing more actions. We created a diverse range of enemies with a lot of variety, which made it a really enjoyable project. It’s a shame it was never released.

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2025-11-28 16:11