Let’s go to the mall (★★★☆☆)
This is going to be a quick one.
Before this remaster the only game in this series I had played is Dead Rising 2. Playing a remaster of the first game makes me miss what the sequel added, such as goofy makeshift weapons and extra objectives like needing to find zombification medicine, plus the reality TV show stapled on as a multiplayer mode. That being said, it seems like the concept was fully realized right from the first instalment. It’s a Dawn of the Dead simulator: you get to roam free in a zombie-infested mall and loot as much as you want. The real stars, though, are the psychopaths, human bosses that are all as interesting as they are crazy. Zombies or humans, the combat is pretty weak, however. Plus, it turns out actually being left to wander in the mall is pretty boring, so they added an element of real-time urgency. You constantly need to juggle story missions, saving survivors and finding the items you need from the mall.
So yeah, the remake of Dead Rising is pretty good.
But I’m not here about that, I’m here to talk about the mall itself. Specifically a mall made for a game released in 2006. It turns out malls have changed in the twenty years since this game came out. The realistic setting is crucial here: if it was about dragons and wizards, no one could tell the difference. Who thought you could get culture shock by playing the remaster of a video game? Let me explain what I mean:
– The game’s mall has multiple stores that sell CDs. Remember CDs? It’s a disc with music on it. There’s only one CD store left in my local mall and more than 50% of the floor space is dedicated to music-adjacent tchotchkes like figurines, lunchboxes, board games, novelty lamps and other random crap.
– The game’s mall also has multiple photo stores, the kind that used to boast of how fast they could develop your photos (In 1 hour! Wow.), the kind that sold disposable cameras. Do you remember only being able to take two dozen photos at a time? Now there is also only one photo store left at my mall, but it sells high-end cameras and equipment for real professionals. Actually, it turns out Polaroids and disposable cameras are back as novelty items, so it still sells those. How about that, huh?
– Your character has to figure out the time by looking at his watch. Look, I get the character not having a cell phone. But here you actually have to figure out the time by looking at the hands of your analog watch. I admit I’ve been getting rusty at telling the time this way… who still wears a watch? Still, a nice analog watch used to be the only truly acceptable piece of jewelry for men. Digital watches used to be slightly yucky. But even that is changing with smart watches: digital is cool now.
– The game has two types of grabable TVs: “Television” and “HD Television”. By “Television”, they mean a CRT TV. You know, the kind that is only still being used by people that are very serious about playing old video games.
– Dead Rising is set in a semi-realistic setting, but your character can dress up as Mega Man. How wacky! In 2006, this must have been kind of a big deal, a delicious Easter Egg. This is almost quaint by today’s standards. Nowadays, which IP doesn’t have multiple crossovers, including with different media and different companies? How about a premium John Wick skin for Fortnite? Let’s go! Besides, do the kids even know who is Mega Man? Capcom tried to alleviate the disconnect here by adding more than a dozen paid day one DLC costumes, including pre-order exclusive stuff. Doesn’t that feel more current? They added a bunch of Resident Evil characters that are still relevant today, but also some of their more obscure characters. How about the fish dude from Darkstalkers?
It feels a bit odd getting culture shock from a video game. But maybe that’s not the right word for this feeling. To be fair, it’s probably just a feeling of “getting old”. Now that online commerce has taken over, there’s a big undercurrent of nostalgia for the ol’ shopping center. I’m sure you’ve seen season 3 of Stranger Things, which is itself a big love letter to the mall. It feels like Dead Rising is part of this trend despite itself. It’s not like the game is intentionally trying to reach for retro vibes, like Gone Home or Grounded. It just turns out that some things in consumer society in the last twenty years have subtly but noticeably changed. And God knows our lives are completely infused with the fickle demands of consumer society. It makes those little changes all the more salient.
Anyway, as I said, pretty good game. I hope they’re busy remastering the second Dead Rising game as well. That would be nice.
Idle Thoughts 