The best Dead Rising games

Capcom's second biggest horror franchise after Resident Evil would be Dead Rising. Dead Rising focused more on quantity than quality, cramming as many zombies into an area as the developers could and letting you decide the nature of the carnage.



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The first two games are still revered as incredible seventh-generation titles, but overall the series is of quite varying quality. It actually ranges from the best of the best to the absolute worst experiences, and that can't be said for most series. With several titles being Xbox exclusives, this will be the preferred platform for the franchise.

Updated on October 17, 2024 by Dominic Allen: With the release of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, the full semi-remake of Dead Rising 1, this list had to be updated to include this current title. Choosing the best version of Dead Rising 1 to play can be more complicated than you might think, so now it's more important than ever to point it out.


9 Dead Rising: Hack until you drop

A mockery of the original game


Year of publication

Platforms

developer

editor

2009

Wii

Tose

Capcom

Many of you probably thought that Dead Rising 4 was the worst game in the series, but at least it was original. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop takes one of the best zombie games of all time and completely ruins it. Gone is photography, which was a core gameplay element, as is the real-time clock and the feeling of being able to do whatever you want.

It was pretty awesome that at the start of the game you could theoretically sit at the helipad for six hours and get an ending. That's over now and the campaign is mission-based and requires you to rescue survivors in an incredibly repetitive manner. If you were to play this game first it might ruin the series for you, and for that it has to be the worst title in the franchise.


8 Dead Rising 4

Killed the franchise for a while

Many people weren't expecting Dead Rising to return at all due to Dead Rising 4's massive critical and commercial failure. This was a game that seemed promising on the surface. Frank West returned canonically as the protagonist for the first time since the original, and you returned to Willamette, the setting of DR1.

It seemed like a connection made in heaven, but it was a connection made in hell. The gameplay was tedious, the graphics looked subpar, and Frank West just wasn't the same character. He's no longer the cool, down-to-earth, personable guy he once was and is much more annoying. Sure, there was solid DLC content, but DR4 still has to be the worst main entry in the series.


7 Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

A solid prologue chapter

Year of publication

Platforms

developer

editor

2010

Xbox 360

Capcom Vancouver

Capcom

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is what Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes should have been. Priced at just $5, it gives a unique taste of what awaits you in the full DR2 experience. It has a unique story set three years before DR2, with multiple endings and everything, and even though the map is really small, what would you expect from a $5 prologue?


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You'll get your money's worth in this game, but there's no denying that there's a lack of content, and if you're playing it on newer Xbox systems, the 30fps cap looks impressive compared to the 60fps of DR2 and Looks terrible off the record. When switching between them, it looks like Case Zero is running in slow motion. Regardless, it's still an essential chapter in the Dead Rising saga.

6 Dead Rising 2: Case West

The better of the two standalone DLCs

Year of publication

Platforms

developer

editor

2010

Xbox 360

Capcom Vancouver

Capcom

Taking place after the end of Dead Rising 2's A, Case West is the canonical finale to the Dead Rising 2 story, and it's a lot of fun. Co-op was missing from Case Zero but is present here, and co-op in DR2 may be one of the most overlooked elements of the series.


It's a blast and it also helps with the combo weapon system since you now have two inventories in the game. Story-wise, Case West ends DR2 satisfyingly with plot revelations and character reveals that tie the entire story together. Again, the menu isn't all that big, but the new additions here make the increased price increase to $10 worth it.

5 Dead Rising 3

Better than you remember

A game that is a lot better than people make it out to be is Dead Rising 3. It certainly has some issues, but it was a really good launch game for the Xbox One and something you definitely didn't see on the Xbox One early on this current generation. The sheer number of zombies on screen gave it the feel of a next-gen showcase and the gameplay additions were excellent.


Combo vehicles and the new super combo weapons were great to play around with and felt great. The huge city, divided into four sections, was really well designed and each district felt unique. On the other hand, the obstacles were really annoying, and if you maxed out your character you basically became a god. Some kind of prestige system would have helped a lot here. All in all, DR3 is a solid game.

4 Dead Rising 2

The birth of combo weapons

Dead Rising 2 was a big step for the franchise, introducing the gameplay element most quintessential to Dead Rising: combo weapons. Since Chuck Greene was not a journalist, he did not have a camera, but was able to create combo weapons due to his motocross and mechanics background. These were the new large, destructive weapons that had to be used.


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They were a lot of fun to play around with and worked phenomenally in co-op mode too. The Fortune City location was very well designed and was a perfect extension of what the Willamette Mall offered. The AI ​​has also been massively improved and overall DR2 is exactly what a good sequel should be.

3 Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

Even better

A what if? In the story “Dead Rising 2: Off the Record”, Frank West is inserted in Chuck Greene's place, among a host of other changes. This has to be the best DR2 experience ever. The campaign has been significantly expanded with many new sections as the story progresses; You have a whole new area to explore, the difficulty has been increased a bit and you have the new sandbox mode.


By removing the timer, Sandbox is an extension of Infinity Mode in DR1, minus the overall survival mechanic. This was a great mode to just play around and get achievements without the timer getting in the way. The return of the camera was also a lot of fun and was a highly requested feature by fans at the time.

2 Dead Rising

A great zombie game of all time

The original simply cannot be topped. While Dead Rising 1 has notoriously bad AI, everything else is as perfect as it gets. The entertaining photo system, the great graphics for 2006, the freeform campaign and even the surprisingly gripping story. It's definitely a page-turner and doesn't go where you think it will, considering Dead Rising is essentially Dawn of the Dead: The Game.


All of the side quests have an element of interest and don't feel sloppy. You will encounter a mother who has just seen her baby eaten, or perhaps witness another person lose their life. It's not a pure masterpiece, but it's definitely a flawed work of gaming history.

1 Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster

After that there is no turning back

While Capcom calls this game a deluxe remaster, it is essentially a remake as it has been completely rebuilt in the RE Engine rather than the original's MT Framework. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is incredibly faithful to the original down to the smallest detail. There's one core aspect that makes Deluxe Remaster the best version: skip time.


The waiting around was one of the worst aspects of the original and affected the pace of the game. Once you start skipping time, there is no going back. It's such a big deal. Unfortunately, the various voice actors aren't as good as the original, but there's a mod on PC to restore them, making this the definitive way to play DR1.

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