Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Review

Dead Rising was quite an iconic Capcom game from 2006 and it’s great to see that it’s finally getting the well-deserved remake treatment it so rightfully deserves. So has Capcom done a good job here and is the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster deserving of a spot in your gaming library?

In the early Xbox 360 days, Capcom released a brand-new IP known as Dead Rising. It saw an everyday photojournalist visit the town of Willamette to investigate some strange occurrences going on there. He ended up on the rooftop of the shopping mall and suddenly things escalated immensely.

Frank West was an unexpected hero. An everyday reporter guy who’ll have you know that he’s covered wars. Playing as Frank and rescuing survivors in a time-limited game with multiple endings that encouraged replayability was revolutionary at the time. Say what you will about the original Dead Rising and its arguably formulaic nature but it certainly set a new standard for gaming back then and is still highly revered even now.

The fact that Capcom has decided to “remaster” it with the RE Engine (*Cough it’s a remake cough*) is a testament to the game’s popularity and success. The Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster takes the original Dead Rising game and gives it a brand-new, shiny coat of paint. That isn’t the only thing the Deluxe Remaster does though. The original gameplay has been improved upon with some very notable quality-of-life changes.

First and foremost, Frank can move and shoot. Previously you as the player would have to stop, aim and fire. Being able to move and shoot makes the game play out a lot smoother than before and also brings it up to modern standards. You can opt for the classic controls too though should you be so inclined.

In the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, Capcom have however taken a few liberties with the original Dead Rising’s content. There are some very noticeable changes here and the most prominent one being the fact that the Special Forces are now almost unfairly accurate with their weapons. If you run past them, chances are you’re going to be gunned down into Swiss cheese in no time.

This changes the latter half of the game quite a bit since you’ll have to adapt to quickly use Frank’s melee skills to take them out. In the original Dead Rising, you’d be able to deal with them with some tactical shooting. Trying to do this in the Deluxe Remaster is a lot harder and isn’t recommended at all.

Capcom have also changed the location of some of the survivors in the game. The psychopaths outside that drive around in the park area now respawn even if defeated up until a certain time and this makes traversing the park a lot more challenging in the early game. Some other notable changes involve the removal of the “Erotica” photo tag and the survivor as well as psychopath A.I has been given a big overhaul to make them smarter when moving around.

Frank’s photography skills have also been given a change up with Frank now being able to collect upgrades for his camera. You can also apply filters to the images that you take now and that’s always a great way to spend some time in-game.

The addition of an auto-save feature as well as the ability to fast-forward time yourself and not just have to wait around are both extremely useful quality-of-life changes.
The Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster also makes it a lot easier to pull off some of Frank’s more complex melee attacks. Disembowelling zombies or doing a flip kick is now a lot easier than ever before as well as a lot more graphic given the visual fidelity upgrade.

Speaking of which, the graphics of the game have consistently been improved throughout. The RE Engine lighting and visual effects are top-notch stuff and there are moments in the game where you’ll really appreciate the upgrades the engine has brought to the table. The only minor gripe I have is the fact that some survivor’s faces just don’t look the same as they used to and their facial structure has been altered a bit too much. Frank himself also looks quite different and this is immediately noticeable.

The game also has a lot of DLC costumes available for purchase and some of these are quite funny to see. The Nemesis and Licker outfits sure are something…

The voice acting in the game is great and there are new lines here too but fans of the original Frank West from 2006 will be disappointed to know that he has a different voice actor this time around. The sound effects in the game are all great and the soundtrack thankfully still includes all the music from the original game too. Yup, even the song that plays when you’re outside being chased by the convict psychopaths.

Final Verdict

Overall the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster does a lot of things right while also introducing some inexplicable censorship and changes. The quality-of-life changes are fantastic and the core gameplay remains as iconic as ever. If you enjoyed the original Dead Rising back in the day, you’ll definitely enjoy the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. You will however notice some of the big changes but the game’s essence is still here and is still as fun and goofy as ever.

There’s just something so incredibly satisfying about taking out a whole bunch of zombies with random weapons. Seeing an almost two-decade-old game in glorious buttery smooth 4K with RE Engine graphics is something so unexpected yet captivating. Purist might dislike some of the changes but the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster gets a solid recommendation from me!