Review: Dead Rising Triple Bundle Pack

Another day, another Capcom re-release. This time it’s the Dead Rising Triple Bundle Pack, offering up the original Dead Rising, its sequel Dead Rising 2 and the strange spin-off Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. While additional offshoots Dead Rising 2: Case Zero and Case West didn’t make the cut, those that did now boast 1080p and 60 frames-per-second play. In addition to the three-game bundle, each title can be purchased separately.

While a groundbreaking title at the Xbox 360’s launch, Dead Rising is garbage in 2016, even with fancy resolution and framerates slapped onto it. It’s clunky as all hell, looking barren and uninspired by today’s standards. Frank West is a slimy, repugnant jerk who handles like a slow-moving tank. Every store in the Willamette Mall looks the same. As does every corridor, littered with feeble amounts of zombies compared to what Capcom could muster on the 360 for Dead Rising 2.

Dead Rising needed to happen — without it, we wouldn’t have its sequels. Like Ubisoft’s original Assassin’s Creed, it’s a game that should be respected for doing something new, but definitely is best left in the past. Judging titles like this using today’s standards reveals a heavily dated affair with frustrating mechanics that were in need of some fine-tuning.

Hands-down, Dead Rising 2 is the best game of the bunch. Protagonist Chuck Green is a likeable hero with a REAL cause: the well-being of his infected daughter, Katey. This iteration of the franchise tasks you to manage your health, that of any survivors you stumble across, and — most importantly — has you on the search for a drug called Zombrex. One shot per day keeps Katey’s zombie away, so finding a vial – or a spare $50,000 in order to buy one – adds a rewarding surge of tension to the mix. Even on this, perhaps my fifth playthrough of the game, I was in tears watching cutscenes showing Katey bawling and begging you to stop when you had to give her another injection.

That is, until the scene started to jump around a bit. Disappointingly, a large number of cutscenes across all three titles seem to jump and skip from time to time. Worst yet, certain weapons — especially in Dead Rising 2 — cause the game to have severe framerate drops. The sledgehammer seems worst of all. Apart from these graphical issues, things generally run smooth and solid.

But I digress. The final game in the pack, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, is a travesty. Capcom decided to re-release Dead Rising 2 with a Westwash. Replacing Greene with West — who Capcom seems to love for some reason that’s wholly beyond me — removes all the subtle nuances of that core experience. Katey’s gone and West needs the Zombrex himself; I sat around wishing I could just skip his dose and be done with it all. Retelling that particular story with West as the main character spits in the face of the original Dead Rising 2 the same time as it wipes it off the map. Worst yet? Green appears in the story elsewhere, and those who love him couldn’t feel any more betrayed when they find out what part he plays in this new tale.

It’s not just Dead Rising that’s dated; every single title ultimately suffers from the same assessment. When compared to Dead Rising 3, they’re all different levels of unplayable. Characters move like slow, lumbering tanks (though vehicles are still fun as all hell). Zombies grab you from nowhere, frustratingly whittling your health away with unfair grabs. Melees, guns, throws — you name it, each control scheme is cumbersome and clumsy. In-game countdown clocks of doom don’t add an ounce of tension to proceedings — so much so that Capcom has decided to do away with them in Dead Rising 4.

In all seriousness, you’re better off skipping the Triple Pack and getting Dead Rising 3 instead — and for the same price. Or, just saving your cash for Dead Rising 4 and (hopefully, a less assholish) West.

Dead Rising Triple Bundle Pack was reviewed using promotional codes on Xbox One, as provided by the publisher.

Review: Dead Rising Triple Bundle Pack

The good 1080p and 60fps. Dead Rising 2.	The bad Skippy, jumpy cutscenes and gameplay with certain weapons. Frank West. So much bloody Frank West. Dead Rising was best left filtered through nostalgia.

Want to know more about our scoring scale?