Playing the original Dead Rising on Xbox 360 was a seminal gaming experience for me. Even before obtaining a copy of the full game, I vividly recall spending hours brutalizing zombies in its shopping mall setting via a demo disc that came free with a gaming magazine.
While I enjoyed the game’s 2016 port to (at the time) modern hardware, which cleaned up the visuals and boosted the frame rate but otherwise left the game unchanged, I’ve longed for a full remake for almost two decades. Finally, Capcom has obliged the years of fan requests in the form of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, and while the publisher refuses to call it a remake, it’s a “full graphical overhaul” of the beloved title, and that’s good enough for me.
After spending some time with Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster on PS5, and seeing Frank’s first adventure in a zombie-infested location through to its end (again), I’ve got mixed feelings. Getting to experience this modern classic all over again, and looking better than ever is a treat (and worth the years of waiting), but I can’t help but feel this could have been more…
Welcome to Willamette Parkview Mall
If you’re new to the world of Dead Rising, it’s a fairly unique action game that sees you massacre an entire zombie horde with pretty much whatever items you can get your hand on. From samurai swords to stuffed teddy bears, you can use almost anything you come across as a weapon — and naturally, some objects are more destructive than others.
In the first Dead Rising game, you play Frank West, a photojournalist who arrives on the roof of the fictional Willamette Parkview Mall in Colorado looking for a scoop following a military quarantine of the town. What Frank finds is a shopping center bursting with the undead, and then he has just three days to find the facts and save as many survivors as possible.
Unlike many games where players are told in cutscenes that their mission is urgent but then given unlimited time to goof around and get distracted, in Dead Rising, Frank has 72 hours to investigate, and not a moment longer. The in-game clock continues to tick down, and missions play out at set times. If you miss one, your chance to discover the truth is lost.
There’s still nothing else like Dead Rising
All these years later, there’s still nothing quite like Dead Rising. Its unique formula combines slapstick (but very gory) action with B-movie writing and a real sense of tension thanks to its constantly ticking clock. While it’s not exactly the most challenging game, the stressful times where you have just minutes to dash across the entire mall to reach a key location on the hour, dodging hordes of zombies as you go, are as thrilling as slaying a boss in Elden Ring.
Perhaps it’s just my natural familiarity with the game having now played it through to completion some half-a-dozen times, but I found in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster I did experience a few slightly monotonous sections where I had no active objectives to complete forcing me to wait around for my next mission to trigger. At least, I was able to use these periods to grind some levels — this is a video game so naturally killing zombies nets you XP which is used to increase Frank’s health, item stock and unlock new combat moves.
Another key element of the Dead Rising experience is the survivors dotted around the mall. These friendly humans must be escorted to safety by Frank, and these infamous optional side tasks were more difficult than necessary in the original game thanks to braindead AI. Fortunately, in the remaster your fellow humans are a little smarter. Though they’re not all gifted with newfound intelligence, I still had one shotgun-wielding survivor practically leap into a pack of zombies and get himself killed within seconds.
Much as I enjoy the timer forcing you to play carefully and not dawdle, and I still love the game’s bizarre tone that jumps from silly comedy to serious melodrama on a dime, my favorite aspect of Dead Rising will always be the psychopath encounters. These are the game’s equivalent of boss battles, and see you square off against humans driven to the point of insanity by the nightmare situation unfolding around them.
Part of the fun is discovering these memorable characters for yourself, so I’ll not spoil them here, but I do need to give a special shout-out to Adam the Clown, who is somehow even more creepy now that his character model has been given an ultra-high-definition makeover.
A bold new look (but with some blemishes)
Capcom isn’t calling Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster a remake, but this definitely feels much closer to earning that distinct than the 2016 re-release, which was just the original game with a minor lick of paint. Dead Rising now looks like a modern release with the upgraded character models the standout. Frank’s had a redesign that makes him look a little more cartoonish, but his goofier look fits the tone of the game, and his new voice is also great.
There are still a few signs that you’re playing a game built on the bones of a title that is only a few birthdays shy of buying its own beer — the product-ladened shelves within the mall’s numerous retail stores sometimes look a little rough — but overall Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a solid-looking game. And for longtime fans, it’s a real treat to see it all spruced up like this.
However, during my initial playthrough, I spotted some curious graphical bugs. Many of these were more amusing than game-breaking, such as the animation for throwing CDs being a bit wonky and the skybox turning green whenever I performed a backflip kick move, but the time I was forced to restart a psychopath encounter due to Frank clipping through the boss arena wasn’t quite so funny.
I was also disappointed the mall map is still broken up with loading screens. This was obviously due to technical limitations back in 2006, but with current-generation hardware capable of rendering much bigger worlds it’s a curious choice to keep these relics of a previous era intact.
My other frustration with Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is that the base game is starting to show its age in the design department now. Yes, it’s solidified its reputation as a classic of the seventh console generation, but later sequels added improvements like the ability to create combo weapons, more fleshed-out main missions, and even full cooperative play.
I’d have loved to see a full-scale “remake” in the style of Resident Evil 4, keeping the core experience intact, but making a few smart tweaks in the name of modernization. While Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster certainly looks like a 2024 release, it doesn’t always play like one.
My verdict on Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
I’m delighted that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster offers a way for newbies to discover the joys of this unique gaming franchise. It also acts as a great return to form as the last release in the series was Dead Rising 4, which failed to recapture the magic of the original game.
However, I can’t help but feel like the people who will enjoy Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster the most are long-time fans (like me), who can truly appreciate the visual and (minor) gameplay upgrades. While Dead Rising’s novel design remains inspired in numerous ways, it’s also very simplistic compared to came afterward. Taking a few elements from Dead Rising sequels, and remixing the game could have helped here.
Nevertheless, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is now the definitive way to play a game that will always have a fond place in my heart, and I very much hope it marks the beginning of a new era for the franchise. It’s good to have you back Dead Rising, please stick around.
