Since its debut in 2006, Dead Rising has built its reputation as the zany zombie sandbox game about making your kill counter constantly tick up while using everything and the kitchen sink to smash rotting brains. But as you went about depriving the zombie masses of their putrefying faculties, it quickly became clear that Dead Rising wasn’t just another mindless action game, as it tackled themes and issues around US consumerism smartly and seriously.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster reviewDeveloper: CapcomPublisher: CapcomPlatform: Played on Xbox Series XAvailability: Out 19th September on PC (Steam), Xbox Series X/S and PS5
As you’d expect, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster carries that forward. As cocky photojournalist Frank West flies into Willamette Parkview Mall to investigate why the military’s locked off the small town, the game literally congratulates you with ‘Perfect!’ and ‘Great!’ stickers for snapping pics of a man getting eaten alive or a gas station exploding – and that’s before we get to the titular undead, now even grosser with their 2024 graphical polish, who act as the physical embodiment of this undying, destructive, occasionally cartoony need to consume, flocking to a what was probably 2006’s biggest monument to capitalism: the shopping mall (though if Capcom was ever to make a new Dead Rising, they’d probably have to update the setting to an Amazon warehouse).
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Still, the Willamette Mall remains a powerful canvas even now for Capcom’s zombie adventure, as it gives Frank free rein to add everything (and the kitchen sink) to his shopping cart. Everything’s available to grab free of charge, and everything can be turned into a zombie-killing machine. A shiny new TV? That’ll definitely crush some skulls. Some CDs? I could probably pull off a Shaun Of The Dead trickshot with those. An actual shopping cart? Sure. There are so many options here that even Like A Dragon’s Ichiban and Kiryu would balk and salivate at such potential prospects for violence.