Capcom’s remaster magic strikes again with Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
Dead Rising puts us in the shoes of Frank West, a freelance photojournalist who heads to the Colorado town of Willamet to investigate strange happenings, only to find out that the zombie apocalypse has well and truly begun in the little town. Dropped off at the Willamette Parkview Mall by helicopter, West has just 72 hours to investigate the outbreak via Case File story missions before returning to the mall’s roof to be rescued.
From the get-go, the pretty new visuals do little to hide the 18-year-old game running the show underneath all the polish. The helicopters in the opening cinematics rigidly bounce across the screen, vehicles still feel like they have the finesse of a Flintstone’s car when driven, and zombies have a tendency to bug out completely, ignoring you as they wander along their way. For fresh-faced players, this could be jarring, but for Dead Rising veterans, it’ll feel like familiar jank. The nostalgia trip alone is worth the entry price, but Capcom’s fantastic remastering abilities ensure that a layer of quality-of-life upgrades breathe enough life into the aging game that it feels like its own experience, which new players can enjoy.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is much more than an Xbox 360 game with a fresh coat of paint; it’s a classic experience with just enough extras to bring it into the modern age without drawing away from what made the game great in the first place. Alongside the option to play using the game’s original controls or a modernized button scheme, the UI now displays weapon durability — you won’t be caught off guard by your favorite weapon crumbling to pieces in the middle of a zombie horde anymore — and the inclusion of a new fast-forward feature makes waiting around for a case less time-consuming. One of the more notable new additions is auto-saving, which kicks in when traveling between areas and starting missions. It makes the whole experience a touch more player-friendly. A few times, now, I’ve forgotten about survivors and left them for dead while goofing around with zombies — watching them slip and slide on gumballs is too much fun! Being able to hop back to an auto-save instead of a manual bathroom save I may have used hours before has saved me a ton of time. Of course, the save system was one of the original game’s charms, and unfortunately, you can’t turn it off if you were hoping to enjoy Dead Rising in its original state but with fresh visuals.
Speaking of visuals, this remaster looks spectacular on Xbox Series X, which runs in 4K/60fps. The excellent performance makes the remaster feel silky smooth, even with a vastly more-detailed Willamette Parkview Mall to explore. However, the draw distance is still pretty terrible. Each area of the mall is also classed as its own zone now, so load screens are aplenty as you make your way from mission to mission. Considering how brilliant everything looks now, the loading screens are a small price to pay, in my opinion.
The visual improvements also include updated character models, as well as new voice actors for some of the main characters, including Frank West himself, who is now voiced by Jas Patrick instead of TJ Rotolo, who voiced West in the original game and its 2016 remaster. I was expecting the changeover to feel a little jarring, but have found Patrick’s portrayal of Frank to feel natural, keeping the journalist’s easy-going persona fully intact.
Slight changes, such as the removal of the Erotica PP photo genre, have slipped by unnoticed during my zombie-slaughtering exploits, likely due to all of the content we would have been taking pictures of still being there. In fact, it feels like Capcom has sped up the leveling process to account for the lost experience points. It might just be me, but it felt like I was leveling up far quicker this time around.
As for the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster achievements, unlike the 2016 remaster, the list has been changed this time around, but only slightly. Some of the requirements have been made easier, such as combining the car and motorcycle airtime achievements into one, removing the achievement for defeating 1,000 zombies with your bare hands, removing the two achievements for spending 24 hours indoors and outdoors, and the like. You’ll still need to unlock 50 achievements for the full 1,000G, as well as survive for seven days in Overtime Mode and defeat 53,594 zombies, but some of the achievements are easier, such as for hitting a golf ball over 100 meters. For the most part, the changes to the list haven’t altered my in-game activities, and you’re still going to need to grind the kills if you want the completion, but the lowered requirements make it a much more enjoyable experience
Summary
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is yet another great example of Capcom’s ability to breathe new life into a dated game. While it doesn’t add any significant new additions to the original content like we’ve seen the company do with Resident Evil, the visual and quality-of-life improvements make this a fantastic game for Dead Rising veterans and a must-play for new players. If you’re yet to experience the thrill of literally mowing down zombies with a lawn mower while suited and booted with a horse mask on your noggin, now is the time to dive in.
* Tom spent around 17 hours battling the undead hordes in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, unlocking 27 achievements in the process. A key for the game was provided by the publisher and played on an Xbox Series X.
