The ability to fast forward time in Dead Rising is pure genius

In Dead Rising, timing is everything. You’re constantly being guided by the clock to get to new cases on time or arrive at certain locations to rescue survivors. If you’re late, it’ll be impossible to save people or the game might end prematurely.

Failure is also to be expected. If you run out of time or die at the hands of zombies, you have the option to start the campaign over again at your level. The idea is to fight through the same missions over and over again, but become more and more powerful so that you eventually reach level 50 and can handle anything.

Frank West starts Dead Rising off as a slow, lumbering, and clumsy jerk, but hours later he can evolve into a killing machine. I used to think this idea was absurd, but it’s more or less a run-based mechanic where death becomes a resource in itself. We weren’t playing Hades or The Binding of Isaac in 2006, so the idea of ​​failing and then being able to continue all previous efforts seemed ridiculous. But Dead Rising pulled it off, and damn well.

The Super Deluxe Remaster will introduce an option that allows you to fast forward time at any time, reducing the 72-hour time limit if you want to tackle quests or rescue survivors you may never have encountered in previous playthroughs. Before, you couldn’t do anything but wait and go through the same missions, cutscenes, and exploration, even though you were all on familiar ground. You knew what was coming and what to do, and the fact that you were much more powerful didn’t completely alleviate the frustrating repetition. The remaster will fix this flaw.

In the past, I didn’t even see this as a flaw and thought that saving the same people and unlocking the same shortcuts at a higher level was just part of the experience because it was naturally easier for me with more health, inventory space and knowledge of the open world.

But 16 years later, the fast-forward option is a welcome addition and will definitely make it much easier to seek out different endings, meet all the survivors and not worry about being late. The original made it a worthwhile but ultimately annoying task that was worth it in the end, and like many of the quality of life improvements that alter the 2006 classic, it’s easy to ignore if it’s not your thing. Just like the altered save system and classic skins, Capcom is riding the line perfectly.

It’s also built into the game itself, which will make speedruns much more interesting among the Dead Rising fanbase. The ability to fast-forward time will no doubt have players inventing optimal routes or completely messing up completion runs. I’ve never done a single run where I saved everyone or completed every quest flawlessly, because as it should be, I often run out of time when I’m busy slaughtering zombies (and shopping too).

Time has always been a strict construct in Dead Rising, so there’s something liberating about the Deluxe Remaster suddenly giving us the power to control it. Some of us may not realize it at first, but it will change the way we play in incredible ways.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster builds on the 2006 remake of the original and follows photojournalist Frank West as he attempts to uncover the shocking cause of a zombie outbreak – and get out alive.