“Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster proves that Capcom's experimental zombie classic still holds up today.”
- The original's core holds up
- Satirical narrative still feels relevant
- Great emergent gameplay moments
- Frank's new look and voice actor work
- Plays it a little safe
- Lack of flourish in psychopath fights
Whenever a game gets a faithful remake or remaster, part of me worries that I’ll learn a game I love doesn’t hold up anymore. It’s commendable not to change the vision of the original developers, but what if that vision does not quite work as well in 2024 as it did when the game was released? For games like Destroy All Humans, its re-creation highlighted its flaws rather than its greatest strength. Sometimes, a remake feels completely unnecessary, like the one Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons received back in February.
These concerns were at the top of my mind when I first booted up Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster from Capcom, which is actually more of a remake of the company’s experimental 2006 zombie game. Dead Rising played around with a lot of unique ideas, such as a 72-hour clock that ticks down each time players enter a new area of the mall. There’s a certain number of survivors to save, psychopaths to fight, and main story objectives to complete — and players have minimal time to do so.
I wondered if that would feel as engaging in 2024 as it did in 2006. Thankfully, it does. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a delight to play through all these years later. It’s faithful to the original, features a narrative that feels more relevant than ever, and still dishes out tense emergent moments through its timer system. When it does make a tweak, it often feels intentional and never hurts the game. If you haven’t played a Dead Rising game before, this is the place to start.
A zombie narrative with bite
Dead Rising follows a photojournalist named Frank West who sneaks into the Colorado town of Willamette, which the military is beginning to lock down. It turns out that there’s a zombie outbreak in this small town, and Frank has to survive for 72 hours in a zombie-infested mall while trying to get the scoop on what happened here. He ultimately gets wrapped up in a government conspiracy involving zombies and must fight tooth and nail to escape and blow the whistle on it. Along the way, he also fights Psychopaths who’ve lost their minds and attack those they come across in the mall. On top of that, Frank is also escorting survivors he encounters back to his safe hideout. There’s a lot to juggle.
Even 16 years after its original release, Dead Rising‘s satire still has bite to it. Frank starts as a disingenuous journalist and has to learn to care about the people impacted by the United States government’s mistakes. The origin of its zombie virus is connected to American consumerism, following in a tradition of satirical zombie fiction set in malls. The Psychopaths that Frank fights largely have tragic backstories; they’re small-town Americans snapping after a traumatic event, like a soldier with PTSD or a family or a father using this as an opportunity to force his sons to hunt anyone they see.
While not the best with its handling of mental health and often a black comedy more than a horror narrative, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster still does a great job at giving players room to empathize or feel bad for most of the characters Frank encounters. Like the best zombie stories, this is more about the systems that created such an outbreak and how that affects individuals, not just the zombies themselves.
An emergent adventure
Playing through Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, I was reminded how good this game is at creating memorable, emergent moments. Think Dragon’s Dogma 2, but with zombies instead of dragons. The 72-hour time limit means that every action players take should be intentional, yet Frank always needs to scrape some sort of weapon together with what he finds in the mall. Sometimes, that’s picking up a cash register in a store and slamming it into zombies; at other times, it’s grabbing a pistol after killing a zombie mall cop.
Early on, Dead Rising forces players to get intimately familiar with the mall and what kinds of weapons or healing items each store can provide. It then lets players loose to use all of that however they see fit while they complete the main story objective and try to save as many survivors as possible. This leads to moments of intensity and hilarity.
It was cathartic when I discovered a car and started mowing down lots of zombies with it. I was stressed when I escorted a group of three survivors through a horde of zombies without many items or weapons on me. And Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is darkly funny in moments too, like the one where I accidentally killed a survivor by hitting them with a sledgehammer meant for the zombie next to them.
Moments like that are why players fell in love with original Dead Rising, and Deluxe Remaster doesn’t do anything to mess that up. Yes, the Psychopath boss fights do not have the visual flourish of modern games, and it’s possible to get trapped in some stun lock loops if you’re not careful. But that’s all part of the game’s charm and can create moments that feel unique to your playthrough.
Now of the times
The original Dead Rising was ahead of its time in many ways; its emergent gameplay style is more prevalent in 2024 than in 2006. The game’s willingness to let players restart the adventure at any time with Frank’s stats as they are makes it a pseudo-roguelike of sorts. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster understands and respects all of that, so for a remake, it only touches the game’s core in a few ways.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a respectful refurbishment of one of Capcom’s definitive games.
First, there has been a graphical overhaul of the entire experience. Dead Rising already had fantastic art direction, so Deluxe Remaster hones in on the vibrant colors and large hordes of zombies that made the original impressive at a higher fidelity and stable frame rate. Don’t expect an overhaul like Dead Space’s 2023 remake, but Deluxe Remaster usually looks up to snuff for a 2024 AAA game aside from some poor lip-syncing.
The new design and voice actor for Frank have proven divisive, but I’m OK with them. Jas Patrick does a great job capturing the spirit of the character, and the new look gives him a gruffier edge. Most importantly, Deluxe Remaster makes two major gameplay improvements: auto-save and being able to move while shooting. Some may argue that the former breaks how punishing the time restraint is on the adventure, but to me, its biggest use was respawning at the start of a Psychopath fight rather than having to trek to them again. You can also fast-forward time at Frank’s hideout, which cuts through some of the downtimes if you just want to see the main story through.
Being able to move and shoot feels better than not being able to do that. Deluxe Remaster is still quite hard, so there’s no need to worry about these systems making the game any easier. In fact, Deluxe Remaster plays it a little too safe at times. I would’ve loved to see some additional cutscenes or context to flesh out some of its clunkier narrative moments. The presentation of its Psychopath fights could’ve been spruced up more, as they lack the flair or higher production value I expect from games in 2024.
There are imperfections to nitpick at, but Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a respectful refurbishment of one of Capcom’s definitive games. If you’ve never played it before, this is a fantastic jumping-on point. It gives the experience a fresh coat of paint and makes some helpful gameplay tweaks along with it. If you’ve already played the original, this is your chance to show Capcom that you still care about this series and want to see it and its experimental game design return. Deluxe Remaster removed any doubt in my mind that the original Dead Rising is a certified gaming classic.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster was tested on PS5.
