Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Makes Good Changes But Has A Problem

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is finally here, and despite the eight-year hiatus after the terrible Dead Rising 4, the series has come back with possibly its best entry to date with a fantastic remake of the Xbox 360 original. Capcom has lovingly recreated Frank West’s three-day struggle in the Willamette Parkview Mall, and it’s never been better.

As with any remake, there are bound to be changes. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster’s gameplay and engine have both received updates, with the game now running on Capcom’s RE Engine, which has been used for the likes of Monster Hunter Rise, Devil May Cry 5, and, of course, Resident Evil. While most changes in DRDR improve on the source material, there’s one thing that’s not quite right about it.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Good Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Changes
3. Bad Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Changes
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Good Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Changes
3. Bad Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Changes
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Good Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Changes

Restoration of Cut Content

One of the first things we spotted in the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster gameplay trailers that really caught our eye was a very small detail. The police zombies who would carry guns in the original now had the ability to fire off rounds as an extra little issue for Frank West to deal with.

Even though this is a minuscule detail in the grand scheme, those who are deep in the Dead Rising rabbit hole will know that this feature was intended for the original game. So, its restoration in this new version was a good sign that the right people were working on this remake.

There’s another little nod when the Special Forces arrive in-game, with the cut rocket launcher item also appearing as a new weapon available to them and Frank in Deluxe Remaster. Sadly all of the cut content isn’t included, as the Beam Gun was not included this time around (via The Gamer).

Infinity Mode Is Less of a Slog

One of the most nightmarish challenges in the original Dead Rising was the 7-day survivor achievement which had you tackle the game’s unlockable Infinity Mode. While technically a free-roaming mode that lets you tackle the mall without worrying about the game’s plot and time limit, Infinity Mode had Frank’s health fall as time went on. 7-Day Survivor would task you with surviving for eight in-game days, which translated to about 14 hours in real time, and there’s absolutely not enough food in the mall for Frank to survive that long; you would have to fight survivors to get more. Not only that but there was no save; you had to leave your console running the entire 14 hours.

This time around, Capcom has mercifully made Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster’s Infinity Mode less of a nightmare. First off, you can suspend a game, meaning you don’t need to tackle it all at once (although it will delete your save if you try and reset your console upon death, nice try).

One of the new Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster features is the ability to fast-forward time. While this is basically useless in the main game, it really shines in Infinity Mode, as it means you won’t need to play it for 14 straight hours anymore. Stocking up on food and fast-forwarding can cut the experience down to a matter of hours if you know what you’re doing.

Finally, there’s the added feature that regular enemies can drop food this time around, which makes the mode actually infinite. While the 7-Day Survivor was the ultimate challenge in the original, this time around, the challenge is seeing just how many days you can stay alive in the mode.

It’s Fully Voice Acted

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster voice actors have been fully recast from the original game, and while not all of them are winners compared to the original voice cast, it adds the benefit of everything being voiced this time around. Survivors are given far more personality from their ability to actually talk to Frank outside of text boxes. The same goes for the iconic Otis, who we get to hear speak for the first time ever.

It’s not something that’s going to completely revolutionize the game, but it’s a welcome addition that adds a lot more character to the already iconic title.

Updated Engine

As we mentioned, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster’s engine is the phenomenal RE Engine, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. The environments, attention to detail, and copious amounts of blood and gore are obviously big, but the character models are where the game really shines. Frank himself looks like the perfect version of the character, fully hitting his slightly sleazy everyman photojournalist persona to a tee.

He’s not quite as young-looking as he was in the original or as haggard as he is in Dead Rising 2 Off the Record, but this version of Frank is a perfect middle ground between them both. Meanwhile, the Zombies look even better than ever. Despite having hundreds of them on screen at once, Capcom hasn’t skimped out on the detail with the zombies this time around, which is something you’ll be able to see clearly with the game’s in-game photography.

Quality of Life Features

Alongside the updated visuals, Capcom has also thrown in some major quality-of-life improvements to Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster’s gameplay. There are minor extras like being able to move while you shoot weapons and the ability to select which zombie counter you want to use when grabbed, but the real big change comes with the game’s save system.

In the original game, the game would only save at specific save points, which you had to manually get to in order to keep your progress. This time around, the game saves every time you enter a new area, making things a bit less dire if you cause Frank or one of the survivors to perish. Speaking of, the survivor AI is a lot smarter this time around, too, being more in line with Dead Rising 2 than the original. You still have to take care of them, but not as much as before.

Bad Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Changes

It’s Too Easy

Despite being a fan of the quality of life features included in the Deluxe Remaster, it does come with a bit of a balance issue with the difficulty. The original Dead Rising was a hard game at its core, which is part of what made it such a memorable experience in the first place, as it really put you in the shoes of someone trying to survive.

We wish Auto Save was a toggle option, which would give players the option to experience the original game’s save system. While you could elect to load only saves that you made, it’s all too tempting when it’s right there.

Another thing we noticed is that you level up way quicker in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster compared to the original game, especially through the use of pictures. To the point where we were fully levelled up far before even reaching the end of the game, something that was a rarity in the original release.

The Bottom Line

The Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster gets a lot of things right and will no doubt be the definitive way to play the game for newcomers. However, those who have painstakingly experienced the original game at release and through the 2016 remaster may be colder on some of its new tweaks. The new save system takes away a lot of the anxiety-inducing challenge that made the game (and the series) so nail-biting in the first place.

FAQs