The concept ofDead Risingis simple: an annoying yet charismatic photojournalist Frank West is after the scoop of a lifetime, leading him to a zombie-infested shopping mall, right out of George A. Romero’sDawn of the Dead. But to release that scoop into the wild and expose a sinister government conspiracy, Frank needs to escape the shopping mall alive within 72 (in-game) hours with all the proof needed to validate his story.
The Willamette shopping mall is a huge sandbox of mayhem packed to the brim with thousands of zombies, and the entire mall is your playground. You can enter pretty much all shops and grab just about any item to use as a weapon or change of clothes, that’s when you’re not seizing epic photo opportunities with the undead. You just have to remember not to get too distracted, otherwise you’ll soon become zombie food.
Check out the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster trailer below!
In 2006,Dead Risingwasn’t without its flaws. Frank West was clunky to control and was not even able to strafe when using a weapon, which presented unwarranted frustration when battling its many bosses. An awkward user interface and dated AI also mean the original is less than ideal to play today.
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Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster/Capcom
The AI is also more manageable. When rescuing survivors, they are a bit more capable when it comes to defending themselves and staying out of danger. Yet, they will still act like plebs and you will likely fail to rescue many of them. Speaking of defending, you may be pleased to know that weapon durability has been greatly improved, which means items such as baseball bats and golf clubs (sorry Joel) will last a bit longer when smacking zombies over the cranium.
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Frank can also now strafe when holding a weapon such as a firearm and the same can be said when he’s taking photos. This makesDead Risingfeel a bit easier but not in a cheap way. Frank moves more naturally and the combat feels fair and far less frustrating. When starting the game, you will be offered the choice of standard or classic controls. Standard is a modernised choice that allows Frank to strafe and will let you customise the controls. As for classic, this does exactly what you’d expect and replicates the original gameplay experience which means no strafing or control customisation.
Moreover,Dead Rising Deluxe Remasterfeatures an autosave, so you don’t have to rely on remembering to visit a bathroom to save before a boss fight. The autosave is quite forgiving, so if you die, it shouldn’t put you back too far. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea and you want that old-school experience, you can turn auto-save off, so you will have to remember to manually save.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster/Capcom
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This remaster also has a new Infinity Mode. The purpose of this mode is to keep Frank alive as long as possible with increased hordes and a constantly depleting health bar, which you’ll need to keep on top of. In a twist, every NPC in this mode is an enemy and that includes survivors. If Capcom adds a leaderboard to this mode, I can see it getting very competitive.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remasterstill isn’t without its flaws yet, it retains that gruesome, comical charm that only Frank West let loose in a zombie-infested shopping mall can provide. With the visual and gameplay improvements, there’s more than enough to encourage veteran fans to reinvest in this remaster while making those new feel welcome. In fact, considering all the improvements made to the 2024 version, I’d say it resembles a remake more than a remaster. Nearly two decades later,Dead Risingis more fun today than it was in 2006 and that is nothing short of…. FANTASTIC!
Pros:Looks great, accessible controls, brainless fun
Cons:Don’t expect drastic improvements
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For fans of:Original Dead Rising, Resident Evil
Topics:Capcom,Features,Reviews,PC,PlayStation,PlayStation 5,Xbox,Xbox Series S,Xbox Series X
