Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is making changes; the developers explain why

Frank West’s shopping mall-set, zombie-slaying adventure, 2006’s Dead Rising, is being revived for the modern day, with a remaster — not a full-on remake — this September. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will give the original Xbox 360 game a very handsome makeover, but the new version is more than just a graphical upgrade.

The development teams at Capcom and NeoBards Entertainment are addressing some of the beloved original game’s shortcomings. In Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, it will be easier (or at least less frustrating) to rescue survivors inside the zombie-infested Willamette Parkview Mall. Frank can now move and shoot while chatting via walkie-talkie. Players will even know if the trusty weapon in their hands is about to break from overuse.

But that’s not all that’s changing. Polygon recently spoke with the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster development team via email. We asked what’s being addressed by the remaster of this zombie classic, and why some of the game’s elements are getting an update.

You can read our Q&A with the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster devs below.

Polygon: In revisiting the original Dead Rising for this project, what were some of the first things the team looked at and said, “Oh, this has to change!”?

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster development team: Compared to more recent games, Dead Rising’s original control specifications make it difficult to say the game is easy to play. This is the first thing we felt needed to be changed. For fans of the original game who are used to the older controls, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster offers the option to select “Classic” controls from the Options menu.

Did the team have any fun or interesting discoveries while revisiting Dead Rising?

When revisiting the original game for the development of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, we found many in-game items available to players had highly detailed specifications that the average player might not be able to pick up on simply by playing. I guess you could say that the staff who worked on the original game paid an “insane” amount of attention to detail.  

For example, when using the skateboard, players can accelerate by moving the left stick of the controller back and forth. We were both surprised and amazed by the level of detail that the original game’s staff incorporated and made efforts to replicate this in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster.

Dead Rising has some pretty restrictive game rules and the original wasn’t always player-friendly, but it’s also beloved for those quirks. What was the approach to updating Dead Rising to cater to modern tastes while also preserving the original’s spirit?

We consulted with various staff who had worked on the original game in hopes of enhancing playability and incorporating the original game’s positive elements into Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. We also made efforts to include features necessary to make the game more enjoyable while keeping elements from the original that may have seemed inconvenient at first and eventually ended up being part of Dead Rising’s unique charm.

For example, we understand that some players may want to play without having to worry about real-time progression. Making decisions about what to prioritize in a limited amount of time is one of Dead Rising’s core components, so we opted not to include a feature that simply stops the passage of time.

That said, having time progress at a fixed speed can lead to down time, which doesn’t necessarily make the game more appealing. In response, we implemented a feature that allows players to fast-forward time at their own discretion. 

Dead Rising is well-known for having some interesting achievements (“Frank the Pimp,” “Zombie Genocider,”etc.). What was your overall approach to “remastering” the achievements this time?

Several of the memorable achievements from the original game have been retained, but a handful of trophies/achievements have also been updated for the release of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. One thing to note is that we made adjustments to ensure none of the achievements are obscenely difficult to obtain.

You’re removing Erotica Points from photos. What was the reason behind this change? How will it affect certain quests?

We feel that the overall themes of Dead Rising are not focused on erotica and therefore felt that the Erotica Points rewards were no longer relevant to the overall goals of the photography elements in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Of course, players can still take photos of whatever they’d like in the game’s world. 

We received some constructive comments from beloved fans who love the original system. Among them were suggestions that Erotica Points could have also been awarded for photographing male characters, but we determined that sort of implementation wouldn’t be possible at this time. We have also changed Erotica-related quests from the original game so that they can now be accomplished in different ways. We hope fans will continue to share their feedback with us after the game releases.

We’ve seen some new costumes, new control options, and new voice acting — what are some other new additions that you think fans of the original game will appreciate the most?

A variety of new skill books have been added to Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Pairing these with in-game items can offer new gameplay experiences, so be sure to collect them and try them out for yourselves.

What is the team most proud of with Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster?

Even 18 years after its original release, the Dead Rising series’ first mainline entry remains an innately entertaining and enjoyable game. We’re proud of the fact that developing Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will allow us to share the charm of Dead Rising 1 with video game fans in a new and definitive way. 

We’ve received warm words of encouragement and some criticisms from long-time fans, which we consider proof that Dead Rising 1 has been a beloved game for many years. We have nothing but sincere appreciation for all of the fans who have supported the Dead Rising series. We hope that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster gives new players a reason to become series fans.