We all have that special list of games stored in our minds that are not quite nostalgic but still bring us back to a specific moment in our lives. Dead Rising is on my list and takes me back to when I was single, living alone, and had all the time in the world to play a game from beginning to end.
In 2006, I only had my Xbox 360 for a few months when Dead Rising was released and it was glorious! I truly felt like the future of gaming was upon us as my TV screen filled with the most zombies I had ever seen in a video game. I spent countless hours and replays trying to save everyone in the mall while putting down the psychos and uncovering the real story behind this zombie outbreak. Ahh, good times.
So here we are in 2024 and Capcom has decided to bring back those good times with an upgraded to modern gaming standards version titled Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (DRDR). And before you say “Another remaster?” let me assure you there are a hell of a lot of much-needed enhancements & improvements made besides the visually obvious bump to 4k 60 FPS.
And for those new to the franchise, you play as Frank West, a freelance war photographer. Frank heard about a town in Colorado having some sort of outbreak which forced the military to take action and quarantine the area. So, Frank hires a helicopter pilot to fly him in to see what’s going on.
Frank tells the pilot to drop him off on the roof of the town’s mall and to come back for him in 72 hours. So now your entire playthrough is timed and will occur within those 72 hours in the game, 6 hours in real-time. This time restraint was completely new at the time, especially when it comes to everything that you are expected to try and accomplish.
Yes, visually DRDR is beautiful. You can see all the stress wrinkles on Frank’s face and the gory zombie faces. Upgraded shading and lighting are noticeable in every location of this mall, especially during the day/night cycle. Another instantly noticeable change is the inclusion of character voice acting.
In the original release, all communications with the mall survivors were provided in letter box with the voice acting only occurring in cut scenes. In DRDR, all characters are voice-acted. This is a fantastic upgrade as it makes the overall gameplay more immersive since now you hear the side conversations survivors are having while you’re bashing in the heads of zombies trying to eat you with a cash register.
However, while on this same praise, the constant calls from Janitor Otis Washington are even more annoying. There was nothing more frustrating than hearing my cell phone ringing back-to-back from Ottis telling me what I needed to do next or what he could see going on in various parts of the mall from the security cameras.
I understand why the developers felt the need to include this to give the player direction and goals. But I also feel it would have been perfectly fine to have Otis call only to report major finds instead of every survivor he sees needing help. For those new to this game, understand that when you answer these calls Frank stops fighting and puts the phone to his ear. To say answering one of his calls could cost you your life would be an understatement.
On that note, the voice actor for Frank West has been recast. This makes sense considering all the new dialogue they added to coincide with the additional voice work for all the characters in the mall. The gameplay has also been reworked on Capcom’s RE Engine. This change doesn’t just produce the lighting upgrades I mentioned but it also improves player and NPC mobility.
Running around feels more fluid and NPCs, particularly the survivors are more responsive. It also appears the zombie’s attention is more focused on you and less on the survivor you’re escorting unless that survivor is armed and instigating a fight.
Now one of the core gameplay elements is also one that receives mixed opinions among fans of the Dead Rising franchise, this being the passing of time. As you know, Frank has 72 hours in the game (6 hours in real-time) to get as much done as possible. This means prioritizing which survivor to save, which side objective to complete, which psycho to interact with, and of course, trying to solve the actual story aka case files.
I personally would have liked an option in the settings to turn off the timer restraints for some if not all objectives. I fully understand why they didn’t but if this is really the “DELUXE” build then all gameplay options should be available, especially one they know many fans have requested. On that note, it’s not all doom and gloom regarding time.
There is a new fast-forward time option. To use this feature you need to be in a safe location such as the bathroom or sofa in the security room. Pull up the watch (Up on the D-pad) and you will see the current time along with some options such as speed-up time or just a few hours ahead. This is extremely useful when all you care about is completing cases or scoops that are set to occur at a specific time and location.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a game deserving of a remaster. Its stress-inducing time system was well balanced by the absurd creative fun one could have exploring the many shops in the mall for new weapons, items to wear, and creating mixed smoothies to produce unique boost to your abilities. I always enjoyed the instant gratification of the leveling-up system in that once you level up, Frank can obtain a new move.
There are so many little quality-of-life improvements sprinkled in all areas such as adding an autofocus button (RT) so you can stop taking blurry photos. It never gets old putting traffic cones on zombies’ heads and watching them bump around or mowing down a herd of them with a shopping cart. If you never played the original or are too young to have played the original then I recommend checking this one out for some over-the-top zombie-killing fun.
This review was written based on a digital review copy of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster for Xbox Series X provided by Capcom.
