Dead Rising is back, baby! It's not kinda back, with a Frank West skin in Fortnite or some lore reference in Dragon's Dogma 2, it's not being rebooted as a free to play hero shooter and nor is it getting a mobile endless runner. It's really back, with a deluxe remaster known as DRDR. They've recast Frank and given him worse hair, but I'm hopeful it'll be a pretty true recreation of the original game. But for some people out there, maybe they'd better hope it isn't.
Before we get too excited, I need to say that generally, I don't like remasters. It's very rare that they reinvigorate the series with a new entry, instead serving as a way to polish up an existing game for cheaper than developing a new one, and cashing in on nostalgia. That's always in play whether it's a series I'm indifferent to or one I'm excited to play all over again, but me being a willing mark doesn't mean this is any less of a chunky milkshake from a fatted cash cow.
But let's park that for now. I'm not here to throw cold water on anyone's electric axe. Dead Rising is back, and that's very exciting. Fans who played the original games will likely still remember the routes they took through the mall, the Psychopaths they stumbled across in random order, and the last gasp victories they pulled off against the clock. Those who didn't play it may be in for a rude awakening.
Dead Rising Did Things Modern Gamers Wouldn't Tolerate
I don't like to gatekeep. I love people to discover old games through new means, and would rather a fanbase I'm part of grows rather than stays 'pure'. You beat Kirby's Dream Land and the original Kid Icarus on Nintendo Switch Online with the reverse time function? You're one of us all the same. The one thing remakes are good for is letting new fans discover older games, and that makes the money-grubbery easier to swallow.
But with Dead Rising, I am a little concerned. Parts of the game will be read as dated today, but they're not only an essential part of its charm, but crucial to the overall structure. I'm not talking about loveable jank here, or how technology-restricted graphics are key to a game's atmosphere (though I do think that's true for a lot of games). I mean that the fundamental way Dead Rising is designed would be viewed as aggressive and unapproachable by most gamers today.
Dead Rising is kind of a roguelike, but also kind of not. While roguelikes are en vogue right now, Dead Rising's way of doing things would be roundly criticised as confusing and punishing in a new game. You can save whenever you go to the bathroom, and then when you die, you get two choices — Load Game or Save And Quit. Load Game is pretty easy — you load back to the last time you went to the bathroom. But Save And Quit? That means start the whole game over from scratch. You keep all of your XP and any abilities you've earned, but other than that, you're right back at the start.
Limited save spots are a rarity today, and the way most games are designed, that's for the best. They run on over bloated quests to the point where players need to say 'nah I'm stopping right here'. But with Dead Rising so contained, the restrictive saves need to stay, as does the option to go back to the beginning as a superpowered Frank.
Dead Rising's Open Layout May Have Bee Ahead Of Its Time
Then there's the boss system, or Psychopaths. In Dead Rising, all of these Psychopaths are just in the mall doing their Psychopath stuff. There's no specific order to find them in, though some easier ones are clustered near your start point. However, it's likely you'll find them before you're ready, and need to leave and get stronger (or maybe even crush your save file right back to the start) before you can take them on.
We're seeing that a little more across gaming, but Dead Rising seemed a little more blunt about it than Elden Ring. This isn't some almighty fallen dead god you must train for, it's a guy in a grocery store with a rifle. Everything you know about games tells you that you just have to learn his patterns and find a way to strike. But the truth is, you see things in the game in an imperfect order and understanding that is crucial.
Then there's the fact the whole game is on a timer. After 72 in-game hours, that's it. Any unfinished quests remain unfinished. Didn't see all the bosses in time? Too bad. Game's over. See ya in the sequel. This clock resets whenever you take the jump to Save And Quit back to the beginning, but it still poses a challenge — the sort of challenge it feels like modern games would soften to ensure its 'users' can 'consume' all of its 'content'.
There are exceptions to this shift towards hand-holding. The aforementioned Elden Ring, as well as both recent Zelda games, have gained massive popularity specifically because they allow the player to drive the story forward more. Dragon's Dogma 2 was also praised for its more open quest system, even if the central narrative and cohesiveness of the world didn't quite match up to the other examples. But generally, gaming tends to opt against letting players figure things out for themselves.
Whether it's yellow paint slathered everywhere, copious hints doled out by pop-up messages or talking heads strapped to your hip, or a general reluctance to allow players to grow frustrated and figure things out, devs seem to have moved away from the management risk and reward thinking of Dead Rising into more of a linear funfair, where no one should miss a single thing or every have their attention wane or enjoyment dip. But as games rush to remove the roadblocks, they take away the joy of overcoming those roadblocks too. I hope Dead Rising keeps them in, just so I can chainsaw them down.
Franchise Dead Rising Platform(s) PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC Released 2024 Developer(s) Capcom
