Every time I step into the shopping mall’s central park I’m gripped by fear, as the same pop rock song kicks in and I know a trio of psychopaths will start screaming at me in their military jeep, with a turret and everything. As if the hundreds of zombies weren’t bad enough.
Dead Rising, originally released in 2006, is one of the best zombie video games ever made – a delightfully satirical action game that drops you into a zombie-infested mall and tasks you with surviving for three days. It’s a game filled with friction and complex systems, demanding the player engage with its time management while trying to save as many survivors as they can, and uncover the conspiracy at the heart of everything. There’s quite literally nothing else like Dead Rising, and that fact has helped it become something of a cult classic, one with quite a few rough edges. But those rough edges have now been sanded down and done away with in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, a phenomenal update to the original game that upgrades it from a cult classic, to simply one of the best games ever made.
Chop ‘Til You Drop
In Dead Rising you play as photojournalist Frank West, who travels to the remote town of Willamette, Colorado on a tip that something big is going down. As he arrives on the roof of the town’s massive shopping mall, Frank finds himself smack dab in the middle of a zombie outbreak and has to survive 72 hours until his helicopter ride comes back.
At its core, Dead Rising is a fusion of a survival game and an action game, with crunchy combat that has you using any item you can get your hands on as a weapon – parasols, bowling balls, replica Katanas, toy water guns, dishes, giant teddy bears, and dozens of other mall merchandise. The game really creates a sense of scraping by, leaning into that fantasy of being released into a zombie apocalypse and wreaking havoc. But what made Dead Rising so fascinating was how it fused those survival elements with demanding time management, exploration, and a surprisingly topical story. Each and every one of those aspects has been enhanced or refined with this remaster.
The Deluxe Remaster includes everything that was in the original Dead Rising – every mode, every survivor, every story beat – nothing has been cut out. Instead, the remaster makes some smart choices to mechanics and systems to make everything feel smoother, on top of a jaw-droppingly gorgeous visual upgrade. There are dozens of little changes that have been made across the game, like Frank being able to move when he aims weapons, an autosave function, survivors pointing out Prestige Point stickers that give you experience, weapons having a meter showing their durability, and the ability to fast-forward time instead of just waiting around.
These little changes don’t intrinsically change the heart or flow of Dead Rising, but make it feel much more modern and intuitive. Fans of the original are also in for some fun surprises that remove some of Dead Rising’s more hilarious headaches – like stairs outside the vent to the security room, meaning survivors following you will no longer struggle to climb up the ledge.
Closing Time
It’s hard to overstate how meaningful the cornucopia of changes feel, and how well it refines Dead Rising’s minute-to-minute gameplay while not changing the core visions. But my personal favorite thing about this remaster is how it accentuates the themes and story.
In 2006 the game had bold, biting commentary on the dangers of rampant consumerism, regulatory overreach, and the often absurdist quality of American culture. Of course, you’re seeing all this through the eyes of a morally questionable journalist, adding another wrinkle. Those were some hefty themes back then, but playing the game in 2024 it feels less outlandish. A core plot point of Dead Rising revolves around America’s increasing need for food production, and how corporations take advantage of that fact. Just last year a federal jury ruled that U.S. egg producers conspired to fix prices from 2004-2008, the exact timeframe Dead Rising released. It’s often downright bizarre to see the game’s commentary turn out to be so apt, and feel more prescient than ever. But in my mind, it’s a big part of what cements Dead Rising as an absolute classic.
Even the mall itself feels grander and more opulent, a grand monument to the extravagance of American capitalism. A massive roller coaster runs through Wonderland Plaza, giant mascots emblazon the stalls of the food court, and glowing jellyfish adorn the ceiling of Paradise Plaza. The abandoned mall doesn’t just feel eerie because of the thousands of zombies, but because of how the extreme wealth is juxtaposed against the survivors and psychopaths you meet – a minimum wage grocery worker driven mad, a veteran who never really left the battle, and a cult leader who takes advantage of the chaos to play out his dark desires.
An entirely new voice cast also does a fantastic job of strengthening the game’s disparate tones, able to deliver shockingly emotional scenes on top of off-the-wall wackiness. It also helps that every single character in the game now has voiced lines, making the world feel even more grounded and realistic.
The Gold Standard
Dead Rising still has the occasional frustration of survivors’ AI not working very well or zombies feeling a little too relentless, but the Deluxe Remaster has improved or tweaked nearly every aspect of the original. Dead Rising was always an underrated masterpiece in my eyes, but with this remaster it feels like it has the polish to be truly deserving of that title, and the streamlined approachability means it can appeal to an entire new generation of fans. It’s a game that was clearly ahead of its time, both narratively and mechanically, and Capcom has done a brilliant job of recognizing that and retaining the special spirit at its core.
It’s hard to not look at Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster and think this is exactly how remasters should be done.
9/10
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster launches on September 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Inverse reviewed the PS5 version.
INVERSE VIDEO GAME REVIEW ETHOS: Every Inverse video game review answers two questions: Is this game worth your time? Are you getting what you pay for? We have no tolerance for endless fetch quests, clunky mechanics, or bugs that dilute the experience. We care deeply about a game’s design, world-building, character arcs, and storytelling come together. Inverse will never punch down, but we aren’t afraid to punch up. We love magic and science-fiction in equal measure, and as much as we love experiencing rich stories and worlds through games, we won’t ignore the real-world context in which those games are made.
