Dead Rising is widely considered a cult classic that was received with positive reviews, celebrating its uniqueness and entertaining escapades when it first launched in 2006. Now, we’re getting Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, something no one saw coming when it was announced a couple of months ago.

Ahead of its release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam on September 19, 2024, we checked out the first few hours of this anticipated remaster, looking into the 72-hour mode with a few solved cases under our belt.

While it’s way too early to give a full verdict, it’s safe to say that the ridiculousness is back and better than before, carried by some much-needed quality-of-life mechanics.

The premise is simple: You are freelance journalist Frank West, who sniffs out a story in the peaceful town of Willamette, Colorado. Eager for a scoop, he gets off at the only shopping mall in the vicinity, only to find out minutes later that it has become the venue for a zombie horde. With only 72 hours to investigate before the chopper returns for an evacuation, Frank goes on an escapade to find out the truth behind this mysterious incident.

The mall is now Frank’s playground, as Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster leaves players to their own devices as they can either fool around in this glorious zombie-infested sandbox or go about the investigation. Time advances in real-time, so managing your “schedule” is important to optimizing your run because you’ll have to be back before the 72 hours are up. How you go about your time is all up to you.

And playground it is, as the sandbox of Dead Rising is one of its main draws. The level of interactivity and playfulness is astounding, and there’s just so much to see and do. Whether you’re bashing zombies with a TV, running amok with a park bench, or going Rambo with destructive weapons, how you approach the game is just limited by your imagination. It’s great fun and a nice distraction while you’re waiting to pass the time until the next case!

One of the first things players will appreciate here is the visual makeover of the game. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster looks fantastic, and despite some goofy-looking cast members and characters, the overall look of the game is a marked improvement from the original because of its use of the RE engine. Character models have a lot more detail, like wrinkles, and their wardrobe shows more texture than before. Unfortunately for Frank, he looks like he has aged quite a bit!

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster does look scary at times. The lighting in some areas provides a creepy atmosphere, which players may tend to overlook when they would rather prioritize the sandbox aspect of it. The zombie models look like they were picked straight out of Raccoon City, adding to the overall feel.

Capcom didn’t settle with just visuals because the game is also fully voiced (Otis can finally talk!), adding that much-needed dash of immersion. Paired with vastly improved facial expressions, you’ve got a baseline good remaster effort of a classic. Even the UI, menus, and HUD elements have been cleaned up to look much sleeker and simpler while retaining overall functionality, which I quite liked.

Given the amount of time that has passed since the original, my memory is quite hazy on how things and little details played out from the original. Comparing them side-by-side is probably not the right way to go about this, but Capcom says that this remaster has a ton of improvements, and some are extremely evident within seconds.

Shooting while moving is quite possibly one of the best features of the remaster, giving Frank some much-needed mobility while navigating through the hordes of zombies. This is definitely one of the things that Capcom needed to do and I’m glad that it’s here!

With civilians being an integral part of the game, it’s nice to see the developers put more effort into making them more competent, boosting their AI. While they still suffer from occasionally getting stuck, they can hold their own and navigate better. If you’ve played the original, you’ll know that the rooftop section is quite infamous because it didn’t have stairs before, leaving survivors stuck. Well, we have stairs now, and I’m certain that fans of the series will be more than happy to know about this.

Cases are your missions in the game, and the interesting structure here is that while you advance through the story by completing them, some cases will only start during a certain time of the day.

While playing, you may advance through the game without engaging with the various side activities, but at some point, the next case will only activate at 6 AM of the following day (for example), forcing players to pass the time. This preview only covers the first few cases, so other ones may offer some interesting twists.

Combat is also a big part of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster which received an upgrade. While the overall feel and pace are somewhat the same as the original, small upgrades like seeing the durability of your items/weapons and more make the experience much more pleasant this time around.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Steam Deck Ready?

Before anything else, here are the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster System Requirements:

Minimum

• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 / AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
• RAM: 16 GB
• VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 580
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 6 GB
• PIXEL SHADER: 6.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 6.0
• OS: Windows 10 (64bit) / Windows 11 (64bit)

Recommended

• CPU: Intel Core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• RAM: 16 GB
• VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 5700
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 8192 MB
• PIXEL SHADER: 6.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 6.0
• OS: Windows 10 (64bit) / Windows 11 (64bit)

While not Steam Deck verified at the moment, the handheld can run Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, delivering both the visual upgrade and steady frame rates, with a few caveats.

On default graphic options, I’d recommend limiting frames to 40 with a TDP limit of 10 to keep things steady. Pushing the frame limit to 60 will tax the handheld, and you’ll definitely hear the cooling fans work overtime as you disable the TDP limit. 40 frames is a good compromise and a way to take Frank on the go because keeping steady at 60 frames is a bit of a tough task.

If you’re looking for some civilian-saving and zombie-bashing goodness, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster might be up your alley, and while it’s too early to say how the overall experience holds with modern gaming sensibilities, this Capcom remaster holds promise.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is launching on September 19, 2024, for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.