Despite what you may think, Dead Rising is not when Joe Biden gets some mahogany when he sniffs a child. This was a 2006 Xbox 360 launch title from Capcom that cribbed from George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978); a film about a group of survivors in a mall amidst a zombie apocalypse. Dead Rising was a stark contrast to Capcom’s serious-toned Resident Evil. This satirical zombie game had a biting anti-consumerist bent woven into the gameplay and story.
Players assumed the role of Frank West, a war photojournalist who infiltrates the beleaguered Willamette supermall, hoping to find the truth behind a zombie outbreak. With only 72 hours before his helicopter ride leaves the town, players will be inundated with survivors to rescue, scoops to uncover, a sinister plot, and more zombies to overcome than a Californian college campus.
Dead Rising (2006) is an all-time classic with a clever story and intricate gameplay that fosters freedom and creativity while hustling players to be efficient. It wasn’t perfect and even with the remaster 2016, there was still room for improvement. How did Capcom and NeoBards update this anti-consumerist undead nightmare from the early days of the Xbox 360? Find out in our Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster review!
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
Developer: NeoBards Entertainment, Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: September 18, 2024
Price: $49.99
The parallels between Dead Rising and George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead have always been as clear as a crisp spring morning. The similarities were so apparent that the rights holders of Romero’s film tried to sue Capcom in 2008. The case was ultimately dismissed because Dead Rising was original despite the broad premise of zombies in a mall.
Dawn of the Dead was not about a company trying to solve a food scarcity problem due to America’s insatiable consumption. Dead Rising and Dawn of the Dead are both satirical about the masses’ blind consumerist culture, Dead Rising smartly updated the concept for the modern era and took it further in a way the film never could.
The mall and the zombie horde already make perfect metaphors for unbridled consumption. Still, Dead Rising‘s massive supply of items and weapons further reinforces everyone’s shopping spree fantasy. Making Frank West into an opportunistic photojournalist was a stroke of genius since the profession has vulture-like tendencies and is driven by self-interest, further reinforcing the anti-consumerist message.
Willamette Mall is festooned with products everywhere you look. It’s a constant reminder of the materialism and excess that led to the zombie outbreak. Frank’s mission will require him to use whatever means necessary to survive 72 hours and to find the truth. The gameplay may be open-ended and allows players to explore at their own pace, but the core of Dead Rising is time management and hauling ass to reach the objective as efficiently as possible.
Every story mission and side mission can expire. Failing to complete the story will result in a bad ending. There are seven endings in total and to get the best one, expect to replay the game a lot. Gamers won’t be expected to get the best ending on their first try. This was meant to be replayed and learned which does help hide how short it is, but this was an Xbox 360 launch title and was cleverly designed so that the short length is a positive feature.
If you didn’t make it, that’s ok. You always can do better the next time and you will have learned something. All events happen on a strict schedule and players will learn how to work within it for an optimal route.
Dead Rising is a mix of various genres making the final product hard to categorize. The RPG elements allow Frank to level up and boost his stats. He can learn new moves like the football tackle and gain more inventory slots.
There are also rogue-lite elements since when Frank dies or gets a bad ending, all progress is reset except for Frank’s stats. This makes repeated retries easier since the increased stats allow Frank to dominate the horde efficiently.
Dead Rising‘s original difficulty was pretty high and leveling up took a while. In Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, the balance was retooled to make the game much easier… in fact it has been made too easy. Photography points are dramatically increased and Frank gains EXP at a double rate than he did in 2006. Getting to the max level is much faster than ever and almost feels like cheating.
Other notable changes are adjustments to the durability of many weapons and items. Everything feels like it lasts much longer in Deluxe Remaster. The skateboard, for example, has almost double the life as it did in the original, making it very easy to bypass tons of zombies and reach destinations on time. Survivor AI has improved path-finding and self-preservation. Frank will have a much easier time getting these hapless citizens to the rescue area.
Deluxe Remaster includes new control schemes which is a godsend. Ever since Dead Rising 2, I have wanted a layout where I can attack with the triggers instead of the face buttons. Even as late as Dead Rising 4, the series never adopted a control layout where you could free up your right thumb from double duty.
Dead Rising is a game where you can be easily overwhelmed from all sides and being able to control the camera while attacking makes the gameplay feel more fair. It’s uncomfortable to use the right camera stick and face buttons with one thumb, but now my right thumb can default to the camera controls while my index finger can attack with triggers.
The new control scheme is one of the better additions to Deluxe Remaster. It makes for a very intuitive experience and feels very natural. Some cut content was restored in the form of Frank’s camera attachments which makes for a fun way to enhance the photography mechanics and there are more zombie varieties too.
Not all of Deluxe Remaster’s new quality-of-life features work as intended. Being able to fast-forward time undermines a crucial pillar of Dead Rising’s ethos. A theme in Dawn of the Dead that Dead Rising smartly capitalized on was the boredom of the reality of being trapped in a mall. This would lead to characters screwing around with products in the mall to pass the time and this was brilliantly captured in Dead Rising.
Dead Rising wasn’t always a hustle and there were moments when you would have spare time before the next events occur. You would wait or get into some shenanigans with a pack of drooling zombies. Using the fast-forward is a step too far in catering to casual gamers and completely breaks Infinity Mode. Gamers can easily stock up on food, find a safe room, and speed up the time. Entire days will pass and Frank will have plenty of food to last over a week.
The new autosave feature reduces difficulty and consequences. This makes the game feel even shorter and makes it feel like you are cheating. Autosaves are one of the more questionable additions since they undermine the rogue-lite gameplay cycle.
The most noticeable change in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is its graphics. The visual update looks pretty great for the most part but several changes are highly questionable. Frank West is only 36, but his new model makes him look much older like he is 50 years old. He was never a stud like Leon and was always meant to be kind of a schlubby dude who was built like a brick house, but he was not old.
Brad’s new voice actor sucks. He sounds like a much younger man trying to sound older and never sounds convincing. Everyone else gives a serviceable performance, but I was never attached to the original cast the same way most fans are. The erotic photo category is gone and falls under “drama” now, which is insane pandering to shrieking feminists who never knew Dead Rising existed. Truly a shameful display on Capcom’s part for sure.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is not the definitive way to experience Dead Rising. Sadly, there is no “perfect” version yet. The instances of censorship disappoint and rebalance make this iteration too easy. It does not feel complete without a Chop Til You Drop mode which could have been an alternative for an easy mode instead of compromising the base difficulty.
The content cuts are disappointing and censorship is inexcusable, yet the core of Dead Rising is still appealing. This is fine if you’re a child who is getting used to gaming. The overhauled visuals and low bar to entry make it easy for kids and grandma to get into. There is not a lot for fans of the original. Unfortunately, the non-deluxe classic Dead Rising is still the definitive experience.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 using a code purchased by Nichegamer. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is now available for PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
