Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Review – He’s Covered Wars You Know?

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, developed by Capcom, is available now on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

Dead Rising is a game I fell in love with as a teenager. My dad bought me an Xbox 360 for Christmas, and after loving zombie flicks such as Shaun of the Dead, I really wanted Dead Rising. I was so unbelievably immersed in it all, being able to explore a mall and use anything against the zombie menace. Fast forward to 2016, we were given a fairly simple remaster, but it was great nonetheless. The remaster lets us play Dead Rising on modern consoles and PCs with little boosts here and there. I loved it. 2024 arrived, and Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster was not on my bingo card. I did not expect to see another Dead Rising game or relaunch. Some might think I’d be bored at this point or annoyed that it’s the second remaster we’ve had, but no, I was excited for this one. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, while it still feels like the old game, has brought it into a more modern space with features such as upgraded survivor AI, fully voiced survivors, a beautiful glow-up of the mall itself and upgrades due to using the RE Engine; the zombies have never looked better. The deluxe edition feels like a massive upgrade in so many ways. I loved it so much that I went for platinum, which is much easier this time due to autosave and fast-forward time, even in infinite mode. After Dead Rising 4, I was concerned that Capcom would probably end the series, I even did a series called What Happened To Dead Rising? HERE I was worried that would be the end, but seeing this revives some hope that perhaps Capcom isn’t done with the series yet.

Dead Rising takes place in a small town in Colorado in the Willamette Mall. Players take on the role of Frank West, a photojournalist who wants the scoop on what has happened in the sleepy town. You have 72 hours to investigate the zombie menace, then escape safely. Throughout the story, you’ll meet characters with many different backgrounds, all with reasons for being in the mall while trying to uncover their motives and understand what’s going on. Each case provides different objectives to pull off in a timed manner. Some people may dislike the timer, but having to solve it all in 72 hours adds to the tension of an already horrifying situation. As each day passes, the more zombies turn up, the different enemies and occurrences will occur; it’s all staged together, interestingly, adding to the overall experience. The psychopaths are back and still just as terrifying as before, and break up the gameplay adding different things as you progress. Needing to tackle the game for multiple endings is also really interesting because it means each playthrough can be vastly different. I loved that. I don’t want to delve into story spoilers because I think Dead Rising is something special that has to be experienced at least once, and Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is the perfect time to enter the franchise.

Improvements have been made to the game to bring it into a more modern space. The original Dead Rising, while it was fun, could be difficult at times, especially with the control scheme and the terrible survivor AI. It was great at the time, but the 2016 remaster didn’t improve these features, and the gameplay was fairly unchanged. In Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, it has been modernised quite a bit with being able to move with guns, rescue survivors a lot more easily, and navigate the game in a relaxed way. The ability to fast forward time is also a joy because on multiple play-throughs it can be such a drag waiting for the next case or sometimes you’ll want to make sure you don’t accidentally die before a new mission starts meaning you either have to start over or try reload a much older save, so it’s a great feature. In infinite mode, you can also use the fast-forward time to help with the 7-day survivor trophy, which is needed in that challenge due to the original needing around 14 to 16 hours of real-time input. The controls are much smoother, Frank feels a lot more fluid and less tank-like to control, and the survivors are also easier to deal with. The combat has also been enhanced for both zombies and psychopaths. The only change I disliked was that it’s far too quick to level up; it feels like you can hit 50 really quickly, which is a shame, but it doesn’t ruin the experience. While some may feel it isn’t as hard as the original or the platinum isn’t as difficult so the reward isn’t the same, no, I would love for more games from the past to be brought back to this standard it sticks to the original but enhances everything making it a much brighter experience for old players and newcomers. Overtime mode is still a little difficult; the soldiers can still stun lock you, which was not enjoyable. I think their difficulty needs to be toned down a little.

The mall looks incredible, every section has been graphically improved and added to, and the Paradise Plaza is now an ocean-themed area with the layout and shops all in the original place but enhanced so vibrantly. Every part of the mall has such incredible details, it was a joy to explore. The zombies also look amazing in the new RE Engine glow-up, making it one of the best-looking zombie games out there. Each zombie had terrifying features both audibly and visibly. It felt like the current generation had really touched this game and brought it to life even more so, with the lighting effects coming through the windows at different times of the day just adding to it all, they’ve done a perfect job of immersing the player in the mall with all of the different touch-ups. Each of the weapons has been reskinned and remodelled, and they all look great. It’s fantastic that they kept everything still in the 2006 sort of era, no changes to what exists in the mall, just fantastic graphical makeovers. They’ve done a top job of remastering Dead Rising.

Verdict

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster was a remaster I didn’t expect to turn up at a gameshow, but it did, and it didn’t disappoint. It feels like a lot of love has gone into this to bring it to modern standards and introduce it to a new crowd who may not have paid attention to it before. All the modernisations made to it just add to the overall experience. I played the story over 4 times just to grab all the trophies, even after all the trophies, I could still go back for another run, even after the grindy 53,000 zombie kill trophy. I rarely ran into any bugs across my playthroughs so it was an overall smooth experience. I truly hope we see a Dead Rising 2 and Off The Record Deluxe Remaster because this is how you remaster a game.