Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster fixes most of the bugs that made Dead Rising a flawed classic

In 2006 The Dead Uprising established a modern zombie franchise for Capcom, shedding much of the supposed seriousness of the Resident Evil series in favor of a more kitschy, satirical take on the horror genre. Much like George A. Romero Dawn of the Dead, The Dead Uprising set its zombie story in an American shopping mall, offering a different style of commentary on state-of-the-art consumer society: it explored the excess of material goods by giving players a sandbox the size of a giant shopping mall and unlimited inventory with which to kill thousands of zombies.

The Dead Uprising was beloved for its unique take on the zombie genre. The game’s absurd and bizarre cast of characters — including the scruffy, cocky photojournalist Frank West — made the original game an instant classic, despite its many flaws.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster It addresses many of the original game’s shortcomings, making the game easier to play and, of course, much easier on the eyes. Capcom’s modern game The Dead Uprising release falls somewhere between a remaster and a remake, with quality of life improvements and considerations for the state-of-the-art gamer. Almost all of the changes in the remaster are net positives, although veteran The Dead Uprising fans who played the original and the 2016 HD re-release may not have much reason to play the game a third time. The story and mechanics are nearly identical to the original.

As Frank West, your mission in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is to investigate a mysterious event plaguing Willamette, Colorado, which has been cut off from the outside world. While flying into town, hoping to score a gigantic story, Frank discovers that Willamette is under military quarantine. Its residents have become zombies (or zombie food). Frank and his helicopter pilot land at the Willamette Parkview Mall, a sprawling shopping complicated where groups of human survivors have taken refuge. Frank springs into action, providing aid to the unfortunate victims while also trying to uncover the story of Willamette’s plight.

Frank himself is overly grave, as is the situation. But the seriousness of the mass deaths and the grim story behind the zombie plague are undermined by The Dead Uprisingslapstick action and clichéd side characters. Frank fends off hordes of zombies with frying pans, chainsaws, dead cop guns, naked mannequins, saw blades, paint cans — anything he can get his hands on in the mall shops.

Much like the original game, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is tonally scattershot. As people die gruesome deaths from undead bites, Frank snaps photos of the carnage, and the game gleefully barks “Perfect!” or “Great!” depending on the shot’s composition. Frank can do all of this in any number of extravagant outfits that he pilfers from mall clothing stores.

As Frank levels up, both by taking well-composed shots to gain experience points known as PP and by killing zombies, he becomes stronger and learns modern skills. These skills include silly moves like the suplex, the ability to crowdsurf over zombies, and the spinning lariat, seemingly lifted from Street Fighter’s Zangief. However, despite the massive list of weapons and ever-increasing number of skills at his disposal, the combat is stiff, unreliable, and repetitive. Because you’ll have to kill plot zombies in The Dead UprisingIt’s often better to stick with a reliable, hard-wearing weapon throughout the game rather than experiment with a wide range of combat tools.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster It does, however, address some of the shortcomings of the original game’s action. Frank can now move while shooting(!) AND while talking on a walkie-talkie. Weapons now have noticeable durability indicators to let you know when they’re about to break. These are very welcome additions.

More fascinating than the combat in the game are the various missions and challenges that The Dead Uprising presents. Frank has a long list of developing cases and side missions called scoops to complete. There are also a ton of survivors hidden in the corners of the mall, all of whom need rescuing. The Dead Uprising becomes a game of spinning plates as you balance survival with saving as many people as possible while also fulfilling Frank’s journalistic duties.

And all this has to be done under pressure. The Dead UprisingThe main game mode is called 72 Hour Mode, and it gives you three days to solve the mystery of Willamette, save as many people as you can, and catch a helicopter that will take you out of town. There are time limits throughout the game: survivors have a restricted time to be rescued, and some missions require you to be in a specific place at a specific time. Thankfully, the remaster lets you speed up time when you need it, so you don’t have to just wait. Survivors are now easier to save thanks to improved AI, but it’s still often hard to escort them to safety.

The other major obstacles in Frank’s path are boss characters known as Psychopaths. These over-the-top villains—cops, clowns, butchers, etc.—are caricatures of American culture. They caricature some of our worst traits: our obsession with guns, our mistreatment of veterans, our over-policing, and working ourselves to death. The Psychopath fights lend a hand break up the pace of Frank’s other quests, but they also often underscore how clumsy the game’s combat can be.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster toned down some of Psychopath’s depictions. Larry Chiang, the game’s crazed butcher, is no longer a disgusting stereotype. The remaster also removed references to the Viet Cong and communism from Vietnam veteran Cliff Hudson’s dialogue. These changes, and the removal of Erotica points from the photos, feel like deliberate changes to an 18-year-old game.

There are a dozen or so other minor changes to the original, including a compass that clearly indicates your goals and a generous modern auto-save feature that makes Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster the best version of a classic but flawed game. Anyone who blans at the change can still reach for the original The Dead Uprisingwhich Capcom still sells (affordable!). But for The Dead Uprising-interesting, Deluxe Remaster this is the best way to finally become a Frank West fan.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will be released on September 19 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PS5 using a pre-release download code provided by Capcom. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence the editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. Additional information on Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.