Dead Rising 2006 is considered to be one of Capcom’s greatest titles. While it had a very successful direct sequel, the mixed reception of Dead Rising 3 and the critical and commercial flop of 4 placed the franchise into limbo. For years, fans like me have been clamoring for a Dead Rising experience that’s like the first game. With Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, we can finally relive Frank’s zombie shenanigans in shiny new modern graphics, performance enhancements, and quality-of-life gameplay improvements. This is one of the best remasters of one of the best games ever made.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a fantastic and faithful reimagining of a classic. It is no remake. The story remains the same, the cutscenes are shot-for-shot identical to the original, and the script, aside from some very specific parts of the game, has been left untouched. It is the same Dead Rising we know and love.
In terms of asking as to whether or not it’s a good game, it’s no question. It is. The changes introduced in Deluxe Remaster amplify what’s already great about the original while also enhancing the experience for both veterans to enjoy and see the game in a new light while being more accessible for newcomers.
Revived from the dead
The RE Engine completely revitalizes the look and feel of Dead Rising. The visual improvements on both the character models and environments are nothing short of stunning. Every blood, wound, wear and tear you’d expect from a zombie is all shown in all their glory. And the ever-so-iconic Willamette mall looks better than ever. I have explored every inch and corner in the original version and I can confidently say that the developers have gone above and beyond in making sure that the environments retain all of their secrets and their tones.
The endless zombie hordes look phenomenal. If you think what they were able to do back in the Xbox 360 days were impressive, they do it all again here. It’s bigger, better, and bloodier.
The only minor gripe I have with the visuals is that the colors don’t pop out as much as it did with the original. There are times where it felt a bit too washed out. This is especially problematic when it comes to night time where I could barely see anything even when I was already messing with the brightness settings. I get that it’s supposed to add to the creepy tone but the original had that while also being a feast for the eyes in terms of its color palette.
Dead Rising did a great job at balancing a dark and serious tone with the more wacky elements in both gameplay and narrative. you can have the most serious cutscene ever and Frank is there wearing a Megaman suit and no one bats an eye. The outfits are a huge part of the Dead Rising experience and Deluxe Remater brings in all the old ones from before while also introducing some new ones that I already know will become fan favorites. You can dress up as the Licker from Resident Evil with a fully animated tongue. You can also finally dress up as the Willamette Parkview Mall Bee. And yes, the head, wings, and butt all have their own collission physics. It’s amazing.
Frank is back, looking older than ever. Probably one of my only complaints about this version of the game is how his new character model looks. Everyone else looks amazing, actually. Highly expressive facial animations truly brings all the NPCs, zombies, and psychos to life like never before but when it comes to Frank, he just looks a bit too… wrinkly?
To be fair, Frank West’s appearance always changes with every appearance he has whether it be in a Dead Rising game or in a collaboration with other Capcom titles. His Deluxe Remaster look is definitely not the worse he has been, but it just felt like he was visually aged up for no reason at all. It’s all the more noticeable when the cutscene lines and animations are all the same. Frank back then felt like a young and jumpy journalist. Now he’s just a grumpy boomer.
It was also very disappointing to know that none of the original voice actors return to reprise their roles. While some of the newcomers are great like the performers for Otis (yes, he speaks now alongside every other side NPC), Adam the clown, and Doctor Barnaby, a lot of the others sound like they lacked proper direction. Brad was the biggest offender of it all as he sounded bored most of the time.
Chop ’till you drop
The gameplay improvements are very minor yet they feel incredibly impactful. Animations are kept as close to the original as possible while smoothening out certain jank in transitions. Frank can now move around while aiming. Huge boost in mobility especially how easily you can get surrounded with hordes of zombies.
Leveling up in the game, which is done by acquiring PP through the use of your camera, completing missions, or killing zombies, is incredibly fast and easy with each level rewarding you with various passive and active buffs such as more health, movement speed, attack power, or even special skills such as different wrestling moves. Why is a journalist able to do professional wrestling moves against zombies? Because it’s fun. Same reason as to why you can pick nearly everything in the mall as a weapon.
Skills are now much easier to activate with a streamlined control layout. You can still go back to the classic controls should you wish but once I tried out the modern variation, there’s just no going back. It made the game feel much more smoother to play around with.
AI on the NPCs has also been greatly improved. The original had some of the worst AI programing ever which made saving survivors an incredible pain in the butt. Given how a large percentage of Dead Rising is accomplishing escort missions with short windows of time, it can be very frustrating. But at the same time, it added to the charm and challenge of it all. I was worried that if they finally fixed the AI behavior, it would make things too easy. Thankfully, Capcom found a great balance.
NPCs getting stuck on geometry or in zombies are far less frequent and they also added a new system wherein if you give survivors an item that they like, it’ll improve their trust in you. This then makes them more active in following Frank, fighting the zombies, and saving you if you find yourself in trouble. This not only makes NPCs far more useful, it also recontextualizes them to be more tangible characters that I was more motivated to interact with and save. Them having fully voiced dialogue instead of just silent text was also a huge factor.
Exploration is as fun as ever as it was great to hunt down for certain spots to photograph for massive PP points. You can also gain new camera upgrades when you go in a film store. If you remember a spot where there’s a certain weapon or food item in the original, they’re all back here. Yes, the chainsaw cheese and early-game katana strat is still alive and kicking.
Combat is the same. Whacking everyone with everything you can find. The only difference now is that it’s much more blood being splattered on each other and on the walls and ground. The visual impact and feedback of every hit was definitely given attention here.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Review Final Verdict – 9/10
As a die-hard Dead Rising fan, this remaster clicked all the boxes I had in my wishlist. I got to experience an already great game in a much more polished, beautiful, and intuitive new version that makes going back to the original hard.
The game ran buttery smooth on PC with all maxed settings and zero crashes or significant technical bugs to note. Aside from some noticeably weaker ambient noise and voice acting, there’s not much to complain in the audio department as well. The original soundtrack is still here and the iconic Willamette mall tunes will always be the default elevator music that rings in my head on loop.
A nostalgic trip down memory lane and an impressive modernization that kept the classic formula intact, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is doing exactly what the original did, remind everyone that zombie media is not a dead genre. You just have to be really cool and fun about it.
This review was made using a game code for the PC provided by the publisher.