Summary
Capcom shocked zombie fans worldwide recently with the surprise announcement of aDead Rising Deluxe Remaster(DRDR). A graphical and audio remaster of the classic 2006Dawn of the Dead-inspired game,Dead Rising Deluxe Editionis slated for release sometime later in 2024 with further details expected to be unveiled at Capcom Next’s Summer 2024 online event.
A brief teaser trailer was released for this new version, showcasingDRDR’s updated graphics and altered audio, including the shocking absence of long-time Frank West voice actor Terence Rotolo with a currently unknown replacement. WhileDead Rising Deluxe Remaster’s trailer ended before more gameplay or story details were revealed, this remaster already has the potential to retcon one glaring issue found inDead Rising 3.
Dead Rising 1sees veteran journalist Frank Westtravel to the Colorado town of Willamette after it becomes overrun with a zombie outbreak. West is dropped off at the Parkview Mall where the town’s only remaining survivors struggle to defend themselves against the zombie horde, crazed psychopaths, and eventually military forces sent to wipe everyone out. Along the way, West works with Department of Homeland Security agents to try to uncover the origins of the zombies and stop Carlito Keyes, the man who started the outbreak in Willamette. With help from Carlito’s sister Isabela, West is able to defeat Carlito and discover where the zombies came from.
Unlike most zombie incarnations,the zombies inDead Risingare created by becoming infected with parasitic larva from mutated wasps. These wasps and the zombie infection were created at a U.S. research facility at Santa Cabeza, the hometown of Carlito and Isabela Keyes. A few wasps were able to escape and infect townsfolk, causing a Special Forces team to destroy the entire town. Carlito, seeking revenge, stole a few wasps to infect Willamette to make the world aware of the U.S.’ destructive acts. After Carlito is defeated, it’s revealed he made a backup plan of infecting 50 orphans with a suppressed version of the zombie parasite to serve as zombie time bombs throughout the U.S.
Set 15 years after the Willamette zombie outbreak, 2013’sDead Rising 3follows new protagonist Nick Ramosas he struggles to save his friends from a zombie outbreak in the city of Los Perdidos, California. Here, Ramos runs into his childhood friend Diego Martinez, the two having grown up in several foster homes together. Both have mysterious numbers tattooed on their necks, with Ramos having 12 and Martinez having 49 tattooed. Later on, in the Museum of the Americas, which features several displays on prior outbreaks, Martinez points out the zombie man who started an outbreak had the number 4 tattooed on his neck.
Martinez is later killed by having wasp parasites forcibly burst out of him by Phenotrans Director Marian Mallon as she seeks an immunity to the infection to develop a cure. Ramos escapes Phenotrans but is confronted by Isabela, who reveals that both he and Martinez werepart of Carlito’s 50 orphansand that Ramos is immune to the zombie infection. All 50 of Carlito’s orphans are shown on his laptop inDead Rising 1, but neither Martinez nor Ramos appear on this list. Instead, the fourth orphan is a girl named Linda Reed, the twelfth orphan is a girl named Lisa Jackson, and the forty-ninth is a boy named Johann Collins. An immunity to the infection is also never mentioned in Dead Rising 1.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remastercould use its updated opportunityto retcon these three characters intoDead Rising 1’s story. IfDRDRfollows the main story beats as the original, Capcom could simply replace the original names for orphans 4,12, and 49 with Martinez and Ramos. Additionally, Capcom could include a note or video file from Carlito indicating his intention to have one of these orphans serve as a cure for the zombie infection once the whole world finds out what happened at Santa Cabeza. Both of these retcons inDead Rising Deluxe Remastercould further connectDead Rising 1to3and possibly encourage new players to theDead Risingfranchise to try out other games in the series.
The fourth zombie orphan shown inDead Rising 3is never named, but is noted to have started an outbreak in the city of Smithtown after turning during college basketball practice.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
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Dead Rising returns with modern graphics!More than just a remaster, this Deluxe Remaster is a full graphical overhaul of the first game in zombie-slaughtering action game series “Dead Rising.“This remaster has also been fully voiced, supports auto-saves, and has various other quality-of-life features.Witness the unmatched mayhem and freedom for yourself!Story:One day, the peaceful town of Willamette, Colorado, found itself put under quarantine by the U.S. army.Frank West, a freelance journalist, smells a scoop and finds his way into the only shopping mall in town.Unfortunately, the mall had turned into a living hell, crawling with countless zombies.Help will arrive in 72 hours, so it’s up to him to find out the truth behind this incident before it’s too late!Realistic graphics reborn through RE ENGINE!All of the graphics, including the characters and environments, have been renewed, and greatly improved over the original.Character’s facial expressions, material textures, and blood spatter all look much more realistic.Overwhelming hordes of zombies fill the screen with completely remade graphics!
