9 Video Game Recastings That Pissed Everyone Off
6. Frank West - Dead Rising 4
The original Dead Rising is a special case where it’s very clear the game doesn’t just wear its influences on its sleeve so much as every inch of its body. A zombie apocalypse that drops players into a shopping mall? Of course I want to play a video game version of Dawn of the Dead!
That being said, what made it so memorable was its sense of humour which was carried to the forefront by TJ Rotolo’s performance of journalist Frank West. Slimy, arrogant and wisecracking, Frank was the kind of protagonist who was a bit of an !*$% but that’s what made him entertaining. And you had to respect the guy… he’d covered wars, you know?
Rotolo played Frank across many appearances in the series’ side-games but when Dead Rising 4 brought the journalist back to the lead role fans were left disappointed by a voice change. Many replacements run the risk of feeling like an imitator, but Ty Olsson’s round as Frank could barely be called that. Technically speaking fine, it was the fact he was so far removed from what players were used to that it was hard to think of him as Frank.
Capcom defended the choice to recast, saying that the older Frank needed to sound more “grizzled”. Considering Rotolo’s extensive portfolio, it seems entirely disrespectful to assume he couldn’t have done great things evolving his original take on the character.