A deluxe remaster? Does that even make sense? I’m sure the line between remaster and remake is marketing guff and continues to blur.
In this case I was genuinely excited to revisit a game I first played back on the Xbox 360. Fond memories of tearing through hordes of zombies in a mall, with zany costumes and even zanier boss battles.
This Deluxe Remaster gave me all of this in a prettier and more refined package. I get to play as Frank again! I should be really happy about that.
But whilst I got all of that, I also got everything that I’d forgotten.
Dead Rising has been rebuilt using the new RE Engine. So it looks decent and performs well. No amount of zombies slow things down. Which is great fun when mowing through crowds in a car or swinging a chainsaw. But whilst it’s been remade, this isn’t a remake. Capcom haven’t fundamentally changed the game or its design. It’s really useful that I can move and shoot now. Seriously, I think that might have completely broken the experience for me. But the map. My goodness. I shouldn’t need to keep trekking from one corner of the map to the other. Completing an objective just to be asked to head back exactly the same way is extremely annoying.
Frank running around in his tighty whities hacking up zombies with a chainsaw and is awesome. Then there are the psychos, which are exactly that. They’re utterly OTT, spitting, screaming, and tanking lots of hits. Real dumb stuff really, but approach them knowing that and they’re alright. But whilst it would have required some more fundamental design changes, it could have been better. Signposting could have been clearer. My frustrations on having to slowly escape a helicopter multiple times really built up. There are too many clumsy moments that give away it’s age. It shows how far things have moved on.
So whilst I can recommend DRDR as a fun throwback, as a full title it’s a bit frustrating. Your mileage could well vary. As a £20 purchase in CEX in the future it could be great!
| Played On | PS5 |
| Time Spent | 20 hours |
| Pros | + Quality of life improvements + Mowing down crowds of zombies is still great fun |
| Cons | – Terrible signposting – Frustrating map/mission design – Weird checkpoint choices |
| Overall | Fun but also frustrating, I’d rather they’d remade it than remastered it. |
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