It features many quality-of-life changes, visual improvements, a new control style, and some much-needed features for a better experience. But how does it compare to the original? Check out 15 of the biggest differences between Dead Rising and the Deluxe Remaster.

RE Engine vs NT Framework

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is built on RE Engine. It’s a big step up from the original’s NT Framework and allows for all the updated visuals, enhancements, new features, and more while retaining the original’s essence. However, if it’s rebuilt from the ground up with RE Engine, doesn’t that make it a remake?

Not a Straight Remaster

One of the more intriguing – and somewhat confounding – parts about Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is that it’s not a full remake, yet also not a simple remaster. The distinction is due to the story and core gameplay remaining the same, right down to the 72-hour Mode, the ability to use anything in Willamette as a weapon to slay zombies by the hundreds, and more.

Frank West’s Voice

Of course, the Deluxe Remaster has been notable for casting Jas Patrick as the voice of Frank West and not going with the original’s actor TJ Rotolo (who wasn’t contacted for the project). In an interview with IGN, the development team expressed regret at not getting him for the project, though it didn’t specifically clarify why. Why didn’t it reuse voiceovers from the original? “The contract for the 18-year-old game was outdated,” said the developer.

Visual Enhancements

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster supports 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, but its visual improvements go beyond that. Character models and environments have been revamped, sporting more detail and realistic textures. Furthermore, facial expressions have improved significantly, lending some more realism, even when confronted with over-the-top Psychopaths.

Auto-Save, Survivor Improvements, and More

The user interface has undergone some changes in the remaster, and while your mileage may vary, auto-save is a huge boon. Furthermore, the survivors’ AI has improved, which means less frustrating rescue attempts like the original, especially when dealing with hundreds of hungry zombies. The development team also confirmed in an interview with IGN that you can now save and exit from Infinity Mode and return to resume progress, making it more approachable.

Combat Improvements

While its combat and gameplay loop remains the same, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is changing several aspects to ensure a smoother experience. Headshots with firearms are lethal against lower-level zombies, and all items have seen adjustments to have “special uses.” The books from the original game return and can enhance items in different ways (like improving durability), but there are several new additions. Even if you’re well-versed in the original, the remaster has enough nuances to change the gameplay significantly.

Item Durability Bar

Yes, item durability is still a thing, just like in the original. However, the Deluxe Remaster now indicates how much durability remains before an item breaks, courtesy of a blue bar in your inventory. Contrast this to the original, where you had to remember how many hits remained for a weapon before inevitability ditching it for something else.

Standard and Classic Controls

For those who like the original Dead Rising but can’t imagine dealing with its controls, the Deluxe Remaster offers a new Standard option. Escaping zombie grabs and using moves like the Flying Dodge is easier with this, and it also allows for moving while aiming. You can also remap buttons as you see fit. The original controls are still here for purists and fall under the Classic category. You won’t get any of the benefits of Standard controls, but it will control just like the original for the truest experience.

Visually Revamped Areas

While the overall layout of Willamette Parkview Mall seemingly remains the same in the remaster (barring any surprises), some sections have a revamped look and feel. The Director’s Report from last month revealed that Paradise Plaza looks more like a beachfront, fitting the overall vibe of the area without completely overhauling it. It’s a nice touch and helps freshen things up for fans of the original.

Full Voice Acting

The original Dead Rising had several unvoiced sections, and you had to read through the characters’ dialogue. The Deluxe Remaster implements full voice acting, thus offering a new dimension to several conversations with characters (like Otis, who doles out the side missions). Of course, alongside outdated contracts for the original, this means characters like Brad and Jessie have also been recast.

Nine Voice Languages, 14 Subtitle Languages

It’s impressive enough to have full voice acting in English, but Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster features the same in eight additional languages. Furthermore, while you can experience the original in seven subtitle languages on Steam, the remaster bumps it up to 14 on all platforms.

Fast-Forward Through Time

There are several endings to discover in the original, with many dependent on completing cases and fulfilling specific objectives. Of course, you would have to play through the 72 hours again and again to unlock these. To address this, the Deluxe Remaster adds a new fast-forward feature, letting you skip ahead. Whether this proves more effective for unlocking all the endings faster or not, it’s at least ideal for getting to the default ending quickly and deriving more enjoyment out of Infinity Mode.

Speed-up Dialogue and Uninterrupted Calls

Speaking of fast-forwarding, the Deluxe Remaster features an option to speed up dialogue with survivors, making it even easier to endure multiple playthroughs for those additional endings. Another underrated change is Otis’s calls, which can now be played without interruption, compared to the original, where Frank would be wide open and disconnected when attacked.

New Photography Features

For all of Frank’s accolades as a photojournalist, it only makes sense to have more photography features. The remaster features new upgrade options and parts for the camera while incorporating features like auto-focus and tilt.

Prestige Point Changes

Prestige Points or PP are part of the leveling system in Dead Rising and serve as XP for Frank to level up, thus unlocking new skills, increasing max health and inventory space, and more. You earn them by killing zombies, completing cases and scoops, rescuing survivors, photography, and specific actions (like heating a frying pan on a stove).

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster retains the system but tweaks certain aspects to make it more rewarding. For example, there are 100 PP Stickers found throughout the mall, and you can earn Prestige Points by snapping them with the camera. As IGN revealed in its hands-on impressions from last month, these will now award 5,000 Points at max accuracy. Other tweaks have yet to be revealed, but at least leveling up is possible through multiple avenues.

It was a magical time when Halo, Gears of War, and Forza had multiple follow-ups and extensive respect. Even before Microsoft slowed down on the exclusives and delved further into Kinect, the Xbox 360 generation offered some legendary releases. Here are our picks for the top 15, as of 2024.

Grand Theft Auto 4

Going from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to Grand Theft Auto 4 on a new generation of consoles wasn’t easy for Rockstar. However, while the latter had its shortcomings, it’s still a phenomenal entry in the series, with Niko Bellic’s rise through crime showcased in grim, unrelenting fashion. Its improvements to character models and motion capture, the sheer amount of dialogue, the increased scale of Liberty City, and more all made for an incredible sequel.

1. Mass Effect 3’s Endings

The biggest innovation the Mass Effect trilogy gave to the industry was its consequential choices affecting the events of its sequels. You could kill off beloved characters, and even have access to exclusive quests tied to specific choices. But all of that brilliant branching narrative comes crashing down when Shepard activates the Crucible to destroy the Reapers at the finale of Mass Effect 3.

Players are presented with three endings, all color-coded and nearly identical to each other. Sure, the outcomes of the endings are different, but the scenes that accompany them show the same dramatic sequence with some very slight alterations. Mass Effect 3’s illusion of choice is presented to you by the Star Child character, a shoehorned projection that pops up out of nowhere. The endings of Mass Effect 3 feel so cheap and inconsequential that many fans refuse to play through the trilogy again because of them, despite how excellent the games themselves are.

While it could be a mistake, the next paragraph would note that it includes the Game of the Year Edition’s bonus content and updates released in 2023. PC-specific features include “support for increased resolutions and frame rates, multiple displays, and other accessories, plus spatial surround sound.” Of course, just like the console versions, there is no multiplayer.

It’s thus possible that the announcement was premature, though the PlayStation Store featuring this information is bizarre. Rockstar could be planning an announcement sometime soon, if not saving it for Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 20th. Stay tuned for further updates.

Red Dead Redemption launched in May 2010 for PS3 and Xbox 360, receiving extensive acclaim from critics and selling 23 million units as of September 2021. It would be re-released for PS4 and Nintendo Switch in August 2023, receiving noticeably less acclaim for its barebones enhancements (check out our review). A new patch would subsequently add 60 FPS support for PS4 players on PS5.

Red Dead Redemption PC version teased on…PSN

“Experience the epic western adventures that defined a generation — now on PC for the first time ever.”

“Featuring the complete single-player experiences of both games, including bonus content from the Game of the Year Edition,… pic.twitter.com/YiTNJNCUy6

— Wario64 (@Wario64) August 13, 2024

Rockstar’s 2018 open-world title has sold over 65 million units, up from nearly 64 million lifetime sales at the end of the previous quarter. Though support has ended for Red Dead Online, the title’s multiplayer component, Take-Two said it “continued to engage its audience” with free outfits based on content creators and monthly bonuses.

Net bookings for the quarter reached $1.22, which is in line with Take-Two’s previous guidance, with NBA 2K24 and the Grand Theft Auto series noted to be the largest contributors. However, recurrent consumer spending (constituting 83 percent of the net bookings) is down, including in Grand Theft Auto Online and NBA 2K. Grand Theft Auto 6 didn’t get any updates, save for reiterating the Fall 2025 release window.

The Witcher 3

Even longtime fans of The Witcher couldn’t have anticipated just how masterful The Witcher 3’s open-world design and storytelling would turn out. To this day, The Witcher 3 stands as a benchmark for how to make side quests just as engaging, and in most cases even more engaging, than the main quest of the game. I spent many sessions just exploring the immersive capital city of Novigrad alone. It wasn’t just the scope and quantity of things to see and do that made The Witcher 3 so great, it’s the consistent quality throughout it all that made us not want to miss any of it.

When it launched originally, Deadpool wasn’t particularly well received, and for many, it was another game in an endless line of hastily cobbled together licensed products (something that was, of course, much more prevalent back then than it is now). Neither its original release nor its remaster have what you would call a good Metacritic score (falling in the low 60s or high 50s), and admittedly, the game wasn’t without its issues by any stretch of the imagination. With time, however, opinion on the Deadpool game has seemed much less sour, to the point where the game seems to have its fair share of legitimate fans. And in spite of its aforementioned issues, the game does deserve its fair share of praise as well.

Let’s start, however, with those issues, because we’re not going to be foolish and deny that Deadpool had any flaws whatsoever. No, it was a decidedly flawed game, and in more ways than one. From simplistic and repetitive design to straightforward combat, the game was criticized for plenty of things, and though you may disagree on how significantly it was impacted by those problems, that it was a largely simple and straightforward game is also undeniable. Sure, there’s an argument to be made that that was by design, but it’s not hard to understand why those looking for a more nuanced and mechanically complex action game may have felt let down by how straightforward Deadpool was in those areas.

But just as the game had its undeniable flaws, it also had plenty of strengths that deserve credit and recognition. Chief among them is the plain and simple fact that the game is hilarious. Self referential humour, irreverent jokes, meta gags, and the like are all Deadpool the character and IP’s bread and butter, to say the very least, and the 2013 game did an incredible job honing in on that and making it central to its identity.

It’s fair to say that something as subjective as humour is never going to universally appeal to everyone, especially not when it is as inherently brash, in your face, and purposefully obnoxious as Deadpool humour tends to be more often than not, so it wouldn’t be shocking if the game’s jokes and writing may not have landed for some who played it. Chances are, however, that if the Deadpool brand of humour is something you generally enjoy, you’re very likely to have gotten a kick out of the game as well. Some of the best superhero games we’ve seen over the years have seen the success they’ve seen because they exhibited a keen understanding for the biggest strengths and characteristics of the characters that they were telling stories about, and while it would be an exaggeration to out 2013’s Deadpool game on that same level (or anywhere close), it does deserve credit for doing a damn fine job of identifying what makes Deadpool, Deadpool.

From a narrative perspective, Deadpool wasn’t a special game by any means. It told a solid, original story, one with plenty to like and enjoy for fans of the property and the X-Men universe in general, but that story was ultimately little more than a a stage on which the titular superhero protagonist could shine. A ton of credit also goes, of course, to the excellent portrayal of the Merc by veteran actor Nolan North- who, incidentally, also appeared as himself in the early portions of the game, as part of a typically self referential gag that saw Deadpool hiring him to play him in a video game about himself.

Beyond that, on the gameplay front, though Deadpool was – as I touched on earlier – a fairly straightforward hack and slash game, it was also fairly fun more often than not. No, criticisms of repetitive design were not completely unfounded, and thanks to the simplicity of the game, that repetition could admittedly set in with the combat encounters- but the core mechanics themselves were fun. Deadpool was the textbook definition of a competent hack and slash game- it delivered the kind of action that dead next to nothing that could be described as imaginative or new, and while that made criticism of the game easy to understand, that action was also undeniably fun quite often, especially since the thing that the game hinged on most was not its gameplay or combat, but its writing and humour.

So no, Deadpool is not exactly a masterpiece- to call it anymore than a fun game with its fair share of edges would be a bit silly. But it was a damn fun game, and for fans of the IP it was based on, there was plenty to love about it. It is not the sort of gem that will make you wonder why it has the critics that it has – even the game’s biggest defenders will admit that it is a flawed experience – but thanks to how perfectly it captures the essence of the character that it is dedicated to, it’s also a game that has some genuine, undeniable merits.

The shame here is that going back to this game is a real pain, because thanks to expired licenses, it’s delisted on pretty much every platform. Its original console versions, the PS4 and Xbox One remasters, the Steam release- none of them is available, thanks to the fact that Activision’s Marvel license expired quite long ago now.

The question now is- is there hope for a new Deadpool game at any point in the not too distant future? To say that superhero games and games based on licensed properties in general are popular right now would be an understatement. We have seen a deluge of major, AAA licensed games in the last few years, and looking ahead, it doesn’t look like that is going to stop anytime soon. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Marvel’s Blade, EA’s Black Panther and Iron Man games, Insomniac’s Wolverine and Spider-Man titles- the list of major Marvel games currently in development across the industry is a long one, and it wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest to see it growing longer still.

Combine that with the fact that Deadpool is a massively popular character – now more than ever, in fact – and you could easily imagine a scenario where a talented studio develops a AAA game based on the property and is actually able to enjoy critical and commercial success. Whether that does actually happen is anyone’s guess, but we desperately hope it does- not least because the one, genuinely solid Deadpool game that we did have to fall back on is impossible to get access to on modern platforms.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The Stanley Parable

The broad appeal of The Stanley Parable is easy to understand; it lacks a complex control scheme and doesn’t ask for long gaming sessions, and the experimental narrative sandbox is instantly gripping. You can casually sit down for 10 minutes at a time going through different routes as you come up with different ways to annoy the narrator. This narrative choose-your-own-adventure experience breaks the fourth wall many times, constantly poking fun at the illusion of choice in narrative-driven video games. Like others on this list, The Stanley Parable can be categorized as a visual novel just as much as it can a video game, though it smartly pokes at what it means to be a video game through its unique first-person interactivity.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

The first Hellblade was pretty groundbreaking when it came out in 2017. Sure, the combat wasn’t amazing, and the level design left something to be desired, but the immersive quality of the main character’s audio-visual hallucinations was new and interesting. Hellblade helped push the interactive medium by putting players into the mind of someone suffering from Psychosis. The team wanted a game that let players experience the mental illness itself, and not just the reactions of characters experiencing it. This was expressed by voices in Senua’s head rather than just text on a screen. Hellblade was played by many outside the gaming space who wanted to experience something new and different, and that included nurses and doctors wanting to understand Psychosis as well as casual players looking for a different kind of narrative experience.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Any Animal Crossing game could earn a spot on this list, but New Horizons gets an edge up due to being on the Switch and selling a whopping 45 million. Animal Crossing is pretty much the ultimate cozy lifestyle sim, one that doesn’t demand too much time to thoroughly enjoy. The gameplay philosophy of taking on little bite-sized tasks every day can apply to real life, and it’s one of the reasons people from all walks of life love it. The portable on-the-go functionality of the Nintendo Switch adds to the mass appeal of Animal Crossing: New Horizons further, giving otherwise-dull vacations and business trips added fun as players meet new villagers and find ways to pay off Tom Nook’s loan.

The Witness

Braid was one of the first indie games to really go viral back in the late 2000s, and we had to wait quite a long while for Jonathan Blow’s next game. 8 years later, The Witness arrived and challenged what a puzzle video game could be. The Witness is about as pure a puzzle game as you can get. There’s no music, no plot, and no gameplay to speak of other than walking and solving the creative grid-based line-connecting puzzles. Puzzle aficionados can feel right at home with The Witness’s escalating complexity without worrying about control scheme worries or typical multimedia layers like sound and cinematics getting in the way. The only knock against it is that it’s still not available on Android, and that someone hasn’t converted its puzzles into book form yet.

Detroit: Become Human

With 85 possible endings and a myriad of different paths, Detroit: Become Human is the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure game. The plot revolves around a dystopian sci-fi Detroit being overrun by android sentience, but the developer’s style is what really makes the game unique. Also, it’s got the best branching choice flow chart in a game to date. Detroit: Become Human is a real delight to watch and play, making it an ideal streamer game for gamers and non-gamers alike.

Undertale

It’s difficult to pin down how or what exactly got this RPG indie sensation so popular. Undertale employs a 2D aesthetic and despite its niche and retro inspirations, Undertale attracted many new gamers into the fold, resulting in a surge of people going back to play the older classics out of curiosity and passion for the style. The story isn’t your typical grandiose journey, and the gameplay merges genres like bullet hells into its battle system, making for a unique and fresh experience that has sparked an interest in such genres to newcomers.

Super Mario Odyssey

Being one of the most popular and highly rated Mario games to date with 27 million in sales is no small feat. It’s true that pretty much every mainline Mario game has wide appeal and moves consoles, but Super Mario Odyssey had a trick up its sleeve, or should I say, a hat? The transforming Cappy hat, swimsuit Mario, and Jump Up Superstar big band song instantly entered meme status, capturing a wide audience as a result. And we’re thankful the marketing caught on because Super Mario Odyssey is one of the most fun and well-designed 3D platformers of all time.

Celeste

Despite being a punishing platformer, Celeste has some of the most user-friendly difficulty options in the genre. The options allow you to play how you want with the amount of air dashes, stamina, and invincibility available as a toggle. Also, the game is just so quick to jump in and out of thanks to the snappy respawn and checkpoints for every room. Beyond the flexible gameplay, the story is broadly appealing with the main character’s down-to-earth battles with anxiety, all told through a supernatural mountain climb.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley ticks all the casual boxes and does it with a surprising amount of depth. You can farm crops and stake your place in the valley at a leisurely pace, or you can work toward seeing the post-game content with a successful farm and wife. Stardew Valley has a lot of management sim meat on its bones despite its casual appearance, leading players to try out more involved games lacking the kind of convenience features this game has.

Firewatch

Firewatch is another one on this list that’s perhaps just as enjoyable to watch as it is to play. The dialogue between the two fire dispatchers, Henry and Delilah, really carries this game with the charm and witty banter. It’s also got a mystery element woven through the narrative as you’re left questioning if Delilah is well-intentioned, working as a spy, going nuts, or all of the above. The down-to-earth nature of its premise and laid-back gameplay help give Firewatch a broad appeal.

Journey

Everyone reading this already knows about Journey, so I’ll spare the summary. Journey is one of those games that gets instantly recommended to non-players, and for good reason. It’s impossible to fail at, has an attractive audio-visual core, and provides an interactive experience you can’t get elsewhere. The lack of UI cluttering the screen eases new players to dive in without hesitation. And who doesn’t like sand surfing? It’s just so easy to pop into a session without needing to use your brain and tense up your gaming reflexes. Journey would go on to be a true journey into the wide world of video games for many newcomers to the hobby.

Portal

Originally developed as a school project titled Narbacular Drop, Portal went on to inspire independent games as a concept. The inventive portal tool gets our brains to think outside the box as we solve Glados’ test chambers. The narrative brims with inventiveness as the test subject, Chell, seeks to break free of the testing and find a new path forward. Portal remains one of the most creative and unique games ever created. It’s one of those games that breaks the boundary of the entertainment box it’s in, compelling gamers and non-gamers alike to experience its quirky and unpredictable narrative. Even with first-person 3D controls, non-gamers couldn’t help but experience such a novel, mind-bending game.

Inside

It’s astonishing how simple and understated the gameplay and aesthetic of Inside is, yet it’s still hailed as one of the most unique gaming experiences. Like Limbo before it, the intro of Inside has you simply walking forward without any exposition or explanation. You’re left to wander and figure things out through exploration and carefully constructed environments. If the dark atmosphere wasn’t enough, there’s also some horror sprinkled in with little jump scares and tense moments that help push Inside further into the annals of casual game stardom.

The Last of Us: Part 1

The Last of Us manages to hit that sweet spot appealing to those outside the gaming sphere while still being challenging and ‘video-gamey’ in its own right. Now that The Last of Us TV show is out, non-gamers are flocking to the remake of the first game more than ever. The game’s setting ticks all the boxes of a modern series-seller: zombies, post-apocalypse, survival, father-daughter bonding, drama. The Last of Us: Part 1 also happens to punch us right in the gut with one of the most impactful openers in any form of media, let alone video game. It’s easy to see why The Last of Us got its own TV series and a remakes after the original’s release in 2013.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

We all knew The Legend of Zelda could sell systems and rise to the top of Metacritic ratings, but who could’ve predicted Breath of the Wild’s tremendous success? When Breath of the Wild first came out, it was often called the best game of all time. Taking Zelda fully open world revitalized the genre and helped draw in new players who wanted to explore at their own pace. The open exploration is accompanied by flexible abilities like Magnet and Stasis, which allow for a wide range of creative solutions to puzzles and ways to play with items, enemies, and the environment around you. Sure, the weapons break way too fast in Breath of the Wild, but many players could overlook that due to the vast world and limitless ways to play the game. Many fans of Breath of the Wild would go on to try out other games afterward, revitalizing the genre with a new set of admirers.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Despite proclaiming Journey’s End as the last major update for Terraria, Re-Logic is working on the sizable update 1.4.5. It features a crossover with Motion Twin’s Dead Cells, including the option to hang flasks from the ceiling, a Beheaded vanity outfit, weapons like the Killing Deck and the Flint, and a health fountain.

Several themed weapons are also inbound, including one that drops from the Moon Lord. It’s also implementing the Heroicis Set as part of a fan’s Make-A-Wish request. The outfit accompanies a new Film Noir shader, which turns everything monochrome. Update 1.4.5 is out later this year, so stay tuned for more details.

Developed by PlatinumGames (with Kojima Productions assisting), Revengeance focuses on Raiden four years after Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Cyborg soldiers are more common, and he’s at odds with rival PMC, Desperado. Unlike the mainline series, Metal Gear Rising focuses heavily on fast-paced hack-and-slash action.

Those who pick up the PC version can avail of various armor options for Raiden, from his MGS 4 armor to the Cyborg Ninja from Metal Gear Solid 1. It also includes downloadable content like VR missions and story content featuring Blade Wolf and Jetstream Sam as playable characters. Of course, there are also options to face off against the bosses only via the Chapter menu, rewatch cutscenes and codec conversations and more.