Today we return to the zombie-infested mall of Capcom's Dead Rising through the Deluxe Remaster, a remake of the 2006 original, built with the RE Engine. The visual upheaval is as dramatic as you'd expect, but the game's original framework is faithfully intact, down to every mission objective, the layout of each mall segment, and even the framing of its cutscenes. Still, looking at the PS5, Series Optional to move and shoot simultaneously.
So it's an expansive remaster, but how does it compare to the 2006 original played on Xbox 360 hardware? And perhaps most importantly for players new to the game: what does the transition to the modern RE engine mean in terms of performance on each of the three target platforms?
To set the stage, it's worth looking at the Xbox 360 original. Despite being very much a game of its time in terms of character representation and setting, that first game managed to impress thanks to its hundreds of zombie hordes and physics-based interactions, all rendered at or near 30fps for much of the game. going down into the 20s with a broken screen at worst.
Two console generations later, Deluxe Remaster maintains the original Willamette Parkview Mall, right down to its segmented layout and loading screens that fade to black. The scenes sync up impeccably and use the same body motion capture data as the 2006 original. However, the facial animations have seen a much-needed update and there has been a big boost for each character in terms of geometric details. Where the RE engine has a particularly big impact is in material rendering, with skin and fabrics in particular showing huge improvements and reacting more realistically to light. Of course, nostalgists might prefer the original 360 designs, which arguably better fit Dead Rising's satirical tone. However, in terms of the level of detail, it is hugely satisfying to see such an update presented using the same catch data so many years later.
As for the environments, the story is similar. Advertisements, billboards, and shopping center signs are getting new textures on PS5 and Series X, and while the texture maps are a little simplistic at times, they still represent a big step forward. The outdoor areas are also filled with real tufts of grass, while maintaining the dynamic shadow system of the original. Water features now also feature screen space reflections, rather than the simple, non-interactive cube maps applied in the original. For a modern console release, it's nothing to write home about, but it's still a satisfying visual upgrade.
When optimizing for current-gen machines, the bottom line is that PS5 and Series That's a 9x improvement over the original 360 game at double the frame rate, without even considering other visual improvements. There's little to visually divide the PS5 and Series
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First, the obvious news: the Series S runs at a less impressive native 1080p resolution, with a corresponding 1080p HUD. What's more surprising is that the settings are also reduced compared to the two premium consoles, starting with the quality of the textures. Every sign, surface, and item of clothing is executed with lower-quality assets on the Series S, which can be a fairly noticeable downgrade given the frequent close-ups of scenes. Things like chain link fences are altered almost beyond recognition, and it's a big disappointment.
Anisotropic filtering (AF) is also reduced, resulting in a blurry appearance to textures at oblique angles. The quality of the shadows also decreases, so the shadow outlines throughout the mall are very blurred and noisy. Finally, the quality of the outside grass also drops significantly, and the paper-like blocks look nothing like the foliage on the Series X and PS5.
For a game aimed at PS5, Series X, and Series S, it's also surprising to see that none of the three consoles can lock perfectly at 60fps. The first playable encounter with zombies sets the tone in Series The game doesn't seem to rely on dynamic resolution scaling, so the Series X has no flexibility to adjust here. Moments like this are rare, but it could also be an early sign of how the gameplay will reach extremes in later missions. Interestingly, testing the PS5 in exactly the same location shows a clear performance advantage for the Sony machine, reaching the 50s in the worst case.
There are weird moments on PS5 and Series drops on each console. Otherwise, it's the extreme zombie count that's most likely to cause the framerate to drop in each, with PS5 maintaining a clear performance advantage overall.
Looking at the situation on the Series S, despite all the drawbacks in the visual settings (the 1080p resolution and the lower quality textures, shadows and foliage details), the console maintains at least 60fps for the most part. The Series S even runs some segments, like the problematic helicopter flyover, at a tighter 60fps than the Series the Series S along with the Series
Overall, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a surprisingly faithful revival of a game from 18 years ago, at least in its world design, and the modern controls are also highly recommended. The main criticism here is the huge drop in visual quality on the Series S alongside the other consoles, and the fact that performance is occasionally prone to dips below 60fps on all three. The improvements driven by the RE Engine, especially in the details of the character model, are satisfying to spot in comparison, but ultimately this is a game we'd expect to see locked in on the performance target. Despite the action taking place indoors, it suggests that the push towards 4K resolution on PS5 and Series X is too much, and that DRS is needed to ensure reliable performance. This is still easily the most palatable way to enjoy Dead Rising today, but beware of the rough edges.