Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster preview: overhauling a zombie classic

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is basically a full remake, and in our time with a preview build, it's great.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster intro. / Capcom

Dead Rising has fallen on some hard times recently. The first game was bold and ambitious, and sold many people (myself included) on the capabilities of a new generation of console hardware. Dead Rising 2 was also a decent, if less impressive, sequel. But then came Dead Rising 3, which was massive and dreary, and finally the fourth game, which majorly overcorrected and turned Frank West into a minor circus freak. After all these years, how can Capcom remind a development team and a mainstream gaming audience what made that original game feel special? The answer is to remake the original game. Or a “Deluxe Remaster”.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster must’ve been titled simply for the DRDR acronym, and I can’t be convinced otherwise. After playing the early section of DRDR’s 72-hour mode, I feel positive that this game is a remake, through and through. When glancing at the original Xbox 360 game, or even the later PS4 port, the improvements made to textures, character models, and the environments are night and day. Sure, Frank looks a bit too grizzled and old, but it suits his conservative and miserly attitude.

Frank West is not a hero, and he’s not a clown either – though there is a clown in this game – he’s a reporter, and his dialogue here is more direct and laced with self-interest than I remember. At first I thought it was callous that Frank photographs people dying on his way into town instead of trying to help, but that’s who Frank is.

Dead Rising is as goofy as you want it to be. / Capcom

He’s here to get the story of a lifetime, and while you, as the player, can assist survivors around the mall, Frank’s not particularly interested. He certainly doesn’t brag about wanting to save people, often he meets a survivor and says something to the tune of “You can either come with me or die here, your call.”

I was too young to notice or understand the satirical, pointed barbs at American exceptionalism and consumerist culture when I first played Dead Rising, but as an adult it feels like being beaten over the head with it – in a good way. Dead Rising is genuinely funny, but more in a “divine comedy” dark way, than laugh-out-loud.

Photography is a large part of the game. / Capcom

It still feels great to run around Willamette Parkview Mall with a variety of gadgets to beat zombies with; chainsaws, electric guitars, benches, guns, Megaman’s Blaster, it’s all here, and there are a bunch of brand new Capcom collaboration costumes to play with. Perfect for photo mode shots to post on Twitter.

But it’s still classic Dead Rising – even the new control scheme feels a bit outdated – and that applies to the bosses and the gameplay loop. Things have been upgraded in regards to the visuals by an order of magnitude, but gameplay has had much more modest improvements, and even updated enemy and ally AI isn’t going to solve all of the issues.

Capcom collab costumes are a great addition. / Capcom

Still, the early hours of Dead Rising are shaping up to be a truly incredible ride. It’s a remake in a different vein to Capcom’s Resident Evil reimaginings, instead, it’s Dead Rising as you probably remember it, but far better than it ever actually was. We’re excited to see how the full game holds up when it launches on September 19, 2024, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

For more zombie action, check out our list of the best zombie games, which includes Dead Rising, of course.