What you need to know
- Dead Rising was a zombie action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom in 2006.
- Receiving critical praise and commercial success, the game spawned three sequels before developer Capcom Vancouver was shut down in 2018.
- Capcom is reviving the franchise with the announcement of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, which is coming to the “newest generation” of platforms.
Frank West is going back in action.
Capcom surprised the gaming world with the announcement of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster on Wednesday. As the name implies, this is a retelling of the original Dead Rising, a 2006 action-adventure game featuring a mall overrun by zombies and one intrepid reporter protagonist looking for a big scoop. You can check out the announcement trailer below:
While specific platforms have not been announced, the trailer indicates that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is launching across the “newest generation” of platforms, meaning it’s almost assuredly coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.
Similarly, there’s no release date, but the trailer does say “in 2024” when introducing the remaster, so it’s certainly possible we could see this launch before the calendar year is up.
When Dead Rising first launched, it was hailed for the sheer number of zombies that were rendered on-screen, with players able to fight off these brain-eaters using anything they could get their hands on. The game quickly became popular not only due to its gameplay, but also its quirky tone and replayability, as players were on the clock with only 72 hours (6 hours of real-time gameplay) to solve cases across the mall.
The franchise would go on to sell millions of copies across its subsequent sequels, with Dead Rising 2, 3, and 4 all developed by Capcom Vancouver, a Capcom studio in Canada that focused specifically on Dead Rising as timed Xbox console exclusives thanks to support and a minority stake investment from Microsoft.
The studio was shuttered by Capcom in 2018, with several pitches and games early in development being canceled, including Dead Rising 5 and a new IP called Knights of Aegis.
Analysis: I’m here for it
Capcom has been on a hot streak for several years now, bringing back the Resident Evil franchise with thunder and fury across hit game after hit game. Monster Hunter and Dragon’s Dogma are similarly going strong, with an excellent-looking new game in the former series slated to launch next year.
While I’m not going to pretend I was the biggest fan of Dead Rising, it was certainly a fair bit of fun, and if Capcom can bring it back in a big way even remotely similar to other franchises under its care, I’ll be there to check it out.
Curiously, the game is titled a remaster, but the new look certainly implies something closer to a remake. It’s possible this is a conscious choice given the budget of the Resident Evil remake games, but still, it has me raising an eyebrow.
