When I checked in when the original Dead Rising game was released, I was staggered that it was 18 years ago. I remember it being one of the very first titles I played on the Xbox 360 with fond memories. It appeared to arrive when there was a huge boom in zombie-infused media in the movie world so it was very fitting to have a video game capturing the intensity and horrific moments of being swarmed by masses of undead. Since the original game, we have seen three further sequels Dead Rising 2, 3 and 4. After an 8 year hiatus, I never imagined seeing a remaster of the first, but I’d say it is a game worthy of some updated TLC.

It’s Been A While Frank
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster retains the original story and formula of the 72-hour timer. For those who didn’t play the original, the game follows journalist Frank West who becomes trapped in a Colorado shopping mall that becomes infested and overrun with zombies. The adventure gives you three days on the ground to investigate, rescue and work your way around the centre to get to the root of the outbreak before the helicopter arrives to rescue you. What is unique about this game is that the direction and narrative can come and go throughout those three days. You’re given objectives to achieve and not reaching certain NPCs in time could result in their death. You start to feel a sense of responsibility and desperation as you navigate the array of shops and glossy floors.
My advice to new players of the franchise is don’t be too hard on yourself if something goes out of turn, it isn’t possible to achieve everything in one playthrough. Capcom has been clever with the gameplay loop and it drives replayability for new runs in an attempt to seek out the parts you missed the first time round.

Some Much-Needed Improvements
The auto-save feature is a godsend here. I can recall the original game being reliant on manually saving at certain locations and quite often I’d forget and go off on a tangent then die and lose hours of progress. That isn’t a problem anymore in this remaster and is the biggest identifiable change. AI players tend to behave much better here and serve much better use when drawing comparisons to the first game again.
You can equip survivors with their weapon of choice and also healing items and they are far more efficient in combat. It is a breath of fresh air not having to constantly keep an eye on your friends and having to wade in consistently because they aren’t performing how you’d like them to. It just goes to show how game development has vastly improved over the last few decades and AI behaviour seems to be leaps ahead. You can tell Capcom implemented that here.

Visuals & Audio
I was a little wary of how well they would do visually with Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. We see too many remakes/remasters that fall a bit short of expectations regarding the overall presentation. Thankfully Capcom have constructed a decent remaster here which takes the visuals to today’s levels and makes Dead Rising almost feel like a new game again. Sure, there are still the clunky moments that the original is memorable for and the fluidity of the game hasn’t gone streets ahead, but seeing the fresh lick of developmental paint on the environments gives it a new lease of life.
Performance on Xbox Series X is buttery smooth and even in heated moments I didn’t experience any issues whatsoever. The lighting effects were the most impressive to me, seeing the transition from day to night with the glistening rays of the sun setting along with the neon lights vividly beaming throughout the shopping mall. I found myself just exploring the entire area all over again just to take in the shiny new aesthetics. When it comes to the voice acting, I know there has been some upset over the original voice actor not being present to voice Frank West, but overall the voicing appears to have extended to more characters in this build. It makes a refreshing change instead of reading constant lines of text.

Final Thoughts
If you missed the boat with Dead Rising in 2006, I highly recommend picking up the Deluxe Remaster. It has been wonderfully reworked across the board to bring a refreshed experience that is more aesthetically pleasing and satisfying to play. Even though I had completed this one back in the day, I would say it is also worth a replay if you’re on the fence. Capcom has done a fantastic job not only giving the visuals an entire overhaul but also some great adjustments to other elements of the experience. The auto-save is a much-welcome addition and NPC’s appear to behave a little less erratically this time.
I have to say though, I enjoyed the game just as much today as I did 18 years ago and in this congested schedule of games, I kept going back for more. It retains all the qualities and story from the original game and the wackiness and spontaneous nature of smashing zombies in with a variance of weapons doesn’t seem to tire. Sometimes I do roll my eyes at the amount of remasters and remakes that seem to surface lately, but I guarantee you, this is one of the great ones and Dead Rising deserves some new eyes to the franchise. That said, Capcom we need a Dead Rising 5.
Overall
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80%
Summary
Pros
- The refreshed visual overhaul is extremely well presented on Xbox Series X
- The AI is vastly improved over the original game
- Auto-save feature is a welcome addition
- Still as fun now as it was back in 2006
Cons
- The original Frank West voice being absent is notable
- Still some clunk and loading screens to contend with