The recently announced return of Dead Rising was met with both delight and trepidation, much in light of the redesign of its main character, Frank West. Capcom’s 2006 zombie-bashing madhouse was tremendously fun, but also very much of its time. As spotted by Famitsu, via Eurogamer, the forthcoming remake could be removing one of its less…appealing aspects.
Back in 2006, the original Dead Rising had you playing as a doofus photographer, trapped in a Colorado shopping mall during a zombie apocalypse. You had to survive 72 in-game hours, creating improvised weapons from items looted from the stores and with various events occurring throughout those three days. And it was great. Except, there was that bit where you took photographs of women’s cleavage to score extra points. Um…yeah.
In a “Director’s Report” video released by Capcom, the game’s producer and director, Kei Morimoto and Ryosuke Murai open by being incredibly frank about the mixed reception the announcement of the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster received. The two then play the game together, with excellent camaraderie, teasing each other for goofs, and even laughing when the unfinished game glitches. Honestly, it’s a really fun video to watch.
It was the eagle-eyes of Famitsu that spotted that the game will no longer be judging Frank’s photographs for “Erotica.” In the game, you gain Frank points for leveling up skills by taking photographs, rated on different factors. It seems getting a bit of boob on film will no longer count toward this. Whether it will also update quests that required such shots is as yet unknown—we’ve reached out to Capcom for confirmation on this change, and to ask for more details.
Read More: Dead Rising Remaster Locks Classic Frank West Behind A Pre-Order Paywall
During the video we also learned the game will now feature weapon durability meters so you know when your favorite chainsaw or hockey stick is about to break, that all the dialogue is now fully voiced (and in nine languages), and that there’s a streaming mode that removes the licensed music and replaces it with more generic fodder.
Personally, I far prefer the new Frank. I think the redesign much better captures a tired middle-aged freelance journalist, and I say this with some degree of expertise. The previous version was far too off-brand Max Payne, and I love all the character added now. (This doesn’t change that it’s awful to hold the original version hostage in a pre-order bonus. Never pre-order games.) I will prefer him even more if it’s not an in-game requirement to go about taking down-blouse shots like some sexual predator.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is out for download September 19, and then releases in a physical version November 8.
.