Some things don’t age well, and the “Erotica” genre in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is one of them. The upcoming enhanced re-release of Capcom’s slapstick horror game will remove the ability for players to earn Prestige Points (PP) by photographing women’s underwear, bare midriffs, and cleavage amid a zombie outbreak.
As noted by Famitsu, players can still level up by snapping pictures of gory, violent, or funny scenes — categorised as “horror”, “brutality” and “outtake” — but erotic shots are no longer counted. In the original and the subsequent 2016 remaster, it was one of the six genres that could grant additional PP, awarded when certain female human or zombie characters are taken from specific angles.
While not mandatory, the photo-taking mechanic does play a role in several side missions, including two optional ones that task individuals with collecting Erotica snapshots. It’s likely that these offshoot endeavours won’t be available in the game, indicating how times and tastes have changed over the years.
The removal of this controversial feature isn’t the only change coming to Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Apart from quality-of-life updates like improved survivor AI and a new control scheme that lets players aim, shoot, and move at the same time, new facial motion capture and fully voiced dialogue for photojournalist Frank West and other characters, including mall janitor Otis, have been added as well.
Keeping in line with modern sensibilities, Psychopath butcher Larry Chiang now sports a redesign that presents him as less of a racist stereotype. There’s just a slight catch for fans of the original — T.J. Rotolo, who voiced Frank in the original, won’t be reprising his role here.
Released in 2006 as an Xbox 360 exclusive, the original Dead Rising follows Frank West as he heads to a small zombie-infested Colorado town, and spends three in-game days to get the big scoop on the outbreak’s cause. In the process of investigation and snapping photos, he crosses paths with other survivors, helping them to fend off the undead and evil humans known as Psychopaths.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will release for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S on 19 September, with a physical edition coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on 8 November. Two digital versions are available: the Standard Edition and the Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes 17 costumes for Frank and 17 additional mall music tracks.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
