Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster review

There had been plenty of zombie games before the original Dead Rising dropped in 2006, but none of them had truly captured the killer combination of shocking gore and subversive jabs at society and consumerism from the most influential walking undead movie of them all, George A. Romero’s sublime 1978 classic, Dawn of the Dead. Here was a game that combined hordes of zombies, fountains of blood, satirical elements and a genuine sense of ludicrous out-there chaos. It was technically one of the most memorable titles of the Xbox 360 era, and felt like a genuine step forward for gaming at the time – a title that you would want to show off to your friends, as a marker of how far we had come. It was also an absolute hoot to play of course, but not without its problems.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster not only solves pretty much all of the issues that plagued (no pun intended) the original. It harnesses the truly remarkable RE Engine to drag the IP into 2024, to the point where you will probably never want to play the previous game and its sequels ever again.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster does not deviate away from the core basics of its origins. You play loveable yet slighty douchey hard-boiled journo Frank West, as he is transplanted into a Colorado shopping mall which turns out to be a deviously constructed sandbox inhabited by thousands of lurching zombies, as well as menagerie of characters to meet, some of whom are crucial players in the story that unfolds, including regular citizens that have had the last vestiges of humanity eroded away, becoming terrifying boss encounters. You have 72 hours inside the mall and its environs, with the hours passing in an approximation of real-time, and you have to keep an eye on Frank’s watch throughout each run-through to track not only how long you have remaining, but to be mindful of specific events that occur and certain times of the day and night.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster allows you to skip time, which can be triggered at save points and allows you a bit of freedom of choice within the confines of the game structure. There are other considerations to make around the passing of time – such as the fact, naturally, that zombies are quicker and more lethal at night. During play you progress the story, try and save as many people as you can from the clutches of the undead, gain Performance Points (PP) to level up by taking photographs, and of course: kill as many infected as humanely possible using a frankly ridiculous number of weapons at your disposal. Of course you don’t have to do what the game expects of you, and can just have a brilliant time running around the mall instead, killing things and finding loads of cool stuff. It is just as fun doing this as it is sticking to the “rules”.

The Willamette Mall and its immediate surroundings is full of things to do and see, and looks absolutely stunning thanks to the new lighting effects, improved character models, and overall more intuitive HUD. Gameplay is improved immensely thanks to a clutch of tweaks, such as the ability to move whilst aiming, and far more ease of execution in your basic moveset, such as being able to repel a zombie grab by pressing a button repeatedly rather than the irritating analogue stick twirling from back in the day. The additional skills you learn along the way, can be assigned to different buttons, again as opposed to the thumbstick gymnastics from 2006. If you are a stickler for the olden days, there is an option to play the game with the original control setup.

Weapons are everywhere in the mall, and you will likely encounter a different means of blood-letting every time you play. The issue of item durability has been improved upon and each time you pick something up, be it a handgun, a shopping trolley, or a stun gun, a handy bar shows you how many attacks you have remaining until it is done.

Characters from the original game are fleshed out and feel more important to the story this time out, none more so than Otis, who is now fully voice acted. Responsible for dishing out a lot of the side missions you can pick up throughout the mall, you can now pick up a radio call from Otis without it placing you in mortal danger like it once did. Some questionable design choices relating to the characterisation of key figures have been sensibly altered, too.

There are subtle quality of life changes that make such a huge difference, such as being able to skip some of the lengthy dialogue when talking to people. NPCs that you have to escort to safety seem far more intelligent and responsive to your commands than ever before, behaving in a manner that is far less likely to have their brains eaten before you can smuggle them back through the air vent. They offer you little tips, even down to telling you what kind of food they like to eat, and what weapons they are adept with. Attacking a friendly character can turn them against you in an instant, which is something I found out during my first ever run when I inadvertently wrapped an entire metal shelving unit around a scared survivor who had barricaded himself inside a shop.

You can search the detailed mall for items to use to yours and your accompanying characters benefit. You can find and consume food items, but also find places where you can cook and essentially craft new, more effective foodstuffs to replenish your health. There are also reading materials that you can discover that award you with buffs and abilities. Some of the new Skill Books you can find are truly wild in their scope and execution.

There are some magic touches in this regard, such as a side mission involving Japanese tourists which requires Frank to learn a bit of Japanese in order to converse with them and complete the gig. It is done with genuine humour and warmth, and just displays how deep Capcom has gone to improve and enrichen Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. There are loads of secrets like this, and awards given out for performing tasks.

In the thick of the action it is sometimes easy to forget that Frank is essentially a journalist at heart, and his bread and butter is capturing a great snap. Points are awarded for different genres of photograph. Taking a shot of a particularly messy scene of carnage will give you Brutality points, whereas dramatic scenes involving plot-points or meaningful interactions between folks ramp up the Drama score. Thankfully, the seedy Erotica genre from the original – which encouraged you to take edgy and inappropriate shots of female characters – has been axed. The camera itself is much improved from when we first met Frank West, and you are able to upgrade his equipment along the way with improvements like a flash. There are also much more generous rewards on offer for taking spot-on pictures which are a quick and satisfying way to level Frank up, meaning that you will arguably use the camera far more here than you did in the original game.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a stunning remaster. It is bigger, better, more gory and much more fun to play than a game I may well have had a bit of rose-tinted spectacles about with the benefit of hindsight. There are so many secrets, so many things to unlock (the special costume and their nods to Capcom history, wow!) and of course the multi-branching myriad endings that were part and parcel of the original adventure. No two runs are ever the same, as you nearly always find something new to see or do. This is another home run for Capcom, taking a beloved game and making it relevant and vital for modern players.