Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster has landed, nearly 20 years after the 2006 original introduced us to Frank “I’ve covered wars, you know” West. If you’re a series veteran, you’ll know that Dead Rising starts you out with pretty weak stats and limited abilities, and you’re unlikely to complete the whole game on your starting save file. It’ll take a few failed attempts and humbling restarts to raise Frank’s rank high enough to unlock crucial platforming and combat abilities, as well as extra health and stock modules, so you can survive the psychopaths and store more weapons and healing items.
In this guide, I’m going to provide a quick start strategy to get you through the early PP (Prestige Points) ranks with ease, capitalising on a few early PP Sticker locations, as well as some quick and easy early scoops and other handy tricks to raise Frank’s level considerably before you even spawn the convicts in Leisure Park. Now, let’s get into it, and remember, the lyrics to Mall Music 4 are “Find it always at the Willamette,” regardless of what the internet may tell you.
How to earn PP in the opening helicopter ride
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster begins with a crash course in photojournalism as Frank snaps pictures of the outbreak from a helicopter. You can get a few huge bursts of PP by taking pictures of undead congregations, and the number will only rise if you manage to capture any live humans in the crosshairs. There’s a particular moment where a woman is backing away towards the edge of a building and shooting at zombies, and if you catch her when she falls, you’ll get a good chunk of PP. A deeply grim farming tactic, but a good one, unfortunately.
The next time you assume control of Frank, you’ll need to head down to the Security Room after speaking to Carlito. Head downstairs and on the left is the notice board, with your first yellow PP Sticker in the middle. When you pull up the camera with LB, you’ll notice a XX% rating in the bottom middle of the overlay. You need to position your shot so that it’s at 100%, and then you’ll get the full amount of PP. Keep this in mind for later, as you can quite easily take a shot with a PP sticker in it by mistake, and your percentage could be way off, wasting valuable PP.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Entrance Plaza PP Stickers
I managed to climb several levels during the scene in the Entrance Plaza, when Frank is asked to find materials for the barricade. There are no threats in this scene, which means you can snap some PP Stickers with ease. You can also get a decent chunk of PP from taking pictures of the survivors, especially when they’re getting torn apart later on. Crucially, just don’t head to the back right section of the first floor before you finish the below stickers, as it will trigger the next cutscene.
Entrance Plaza Entrance PP Sticker — There’s a PP sticker hidden amongst the zombies trying to get into the Entrance Plaza. See if you can snap it at 100% with tons of zombies in the scene for extra points.
Robisaka Digital PP Stickers — There are two cardboard cutouts out the front of the Robisaka Digital store, one of a woman called Wendy, and the other of an anthropomorphic fox called Ticky. Despite the gates being shut, you can still snap the PP Stickers at 100%, so grab that XP while you can!
Bee Mascot PP Sticker — The centrepiece of the Entrance Plaza is an enormous bee mascot sitting on a clock. Climb to the second floor and get to the front of this monstrosity and zoom in to get the 100% PP Sticker snap.
Estelle’s Fine Cosmetics PP Sticker — This final sticker is right at the back on the second floor, and takes a little manoeuvring to get a 100% PP snap.
Jeff Meyer and Natalie Meyer Survivor Guide
Now that the aforementioned survivors have been stripped of that status, we can continue on with the PP farming. Once you’ve got the transceiver from Otis, head out of the vent and onto the rooftop. To the left, there’s an old woman called Natalie Meyer. Natalie is the first of Dead Rising’s survivors, special characters you can escort back to the security room for PP bonuses. Her husband Jeff is nearby, but hold your horses!
The Artiste Achievement (10,000 PP)
Natalie will start yapping about her husband Jeff. Jeff is found on the other side of the rooftop, and the two survivors must be reunited, but you need to be ready to take a picture. When they embrace, you can farm 10,000 PP by snapping a picture of the fated hug, which will also unlock The Artiste achievement. The bonus will be indicated on-screen by a ‘PP’ symbol above their heads. Once you’ve got the shot, take them to the Security Room for another chunk of PP.
Paradise Plaza PP Farming
Like the Entrance Plaza, there’s a ton of PP Stickers in Paradise Plaza, which is the next area you’ll explore. However, I usually save these stickers for later, because time is of the essence on September 19. You can check the PP Stickers section of the menu for some clues if you really want to grab them.
In any case, head to the bookstore right next to the entrance and grab the Camera 1 Book on the floor, a magazine which provides a 25% boost to PP resulting from photos. Now you’ll get 6250 from 100% PP Stickers rather than 5000.
Cut From The Same Cloth Scoop Guide
Upstairs in Paradise Plaza, there’s a shop called Colombiana Roasters, where you’ll run into Kent Samson, another photojournalist who is a bit of a weirdo. Kent wants you to take two pictures to complete the scoop.
The first requires you to take a picture of Kent while he’s taking a picture of Frank, which is easy enough — just make sure he’s in the centre of the shot and you’re golden.
For the second shot, you need to get a picture of Kent doing his ‘signature pose’, a fist pump he executes after taking a picture. The easiest way to do it is to lead Kent downstairs and then keep an eye on him through the camera lens when he snaps a photo. It won’t always register, but when it does, you’ll have another big bump of PP.
Paradise Plaza Preparation
Before you leave Paradise Plaza, head back to Colombiana Roasters and grab some Orange Juice and Coffee Creamer for healing, then hop the barrier to the right to grab the katana that’s on the canopy.
Then head downstairs via the left-hand staircase, and at the midpoint, climb on to the blue ledge and follow it along to pick up a Submachine Gun. Also, watch out for any Cop Zombies who may be wielding a handgun that you can grab — you’ll need the firearms later.
Carlito Keyes Food Court Boss Fight
Now you need to leave Paradise Plaza and head across the Leisure Park to the Food Court. You should have enough levels and weapons to tackle the first boss, Carlito. Once the cutscene ends, run through the arch to the left to the main area of the Food Court, and climb the boxes with an up arrow on them to reach the ramparts.
Hug the corner and when Carlito empties his clip, fire at him from a distance. If he gets close, pull out your katana and go to town. You should make light work of the main antagonist (and gain a heap of PP), but don’t worry, you’ll be seeing him again. Before you leave, head to where Carlito was standing and pickup the Gunslinger Book, a magazine that improves your gun damage.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Al Fresca Plaza Survivors
Now you need to follow Brad through Al Fresca Plaza. If it’s past 5 PM you can grab three survivors here, but if it’s only 4, don’t worry, because we’ll be coming back this way regardless.
Barricade Pair Scoop — Aaron Swoop & Burt Thompson Survivor Guide
On the way through the plaza, there’ll be a boarded up doorway to a woman’s clothing store. Inside are two survivors, Burt and Aaron. Burt will attack you on sight, so you need to hit him a couple times with a melee weapon to placate the troubled jock. Once that’s done, talk to the brothers and convince them to come with you — pass them a melee weapon if you have one.
A Mother’s Lament Scoop – Leah Stein Survivor Guide
In Al Fresca Plaza, the Riverfield Jewellers is on the right hand side. It’s an open-plan store, and you should see a woman behind one of the counters. Leah Stein will lurch at Frank at first, but you can push her off and talk to her to recruit the poor survivor. Unfortunately, Leah can’t walk well, so you’ll have to carry her to the Security Room by interacting with her, which means you can’t use any weapons. So make sure the other survivors have some baseball bats to defend you with! If you’re being efficient, it may be worthwhile to pick up the Thompson brothers, go to Entrance Plaza, and then grab Leah on the way back through Al Fresca Plaza.
Bill Brenton Survivor Guide
In the Entrance Plaza, there’ll be a cutscene, and Brad will hit the road. You need to go back to the Security Room now, but you can’t take the Entrance Plaza shortcut — you need to go all the way back across the Leisure Park, and through Paradise Plaza. Before you do that, you should grab Bill Brenton, and it’s kind of the only time you can, as they disappear once you finish Case 1-4.
Bill is behind a stack of cardboard boxes in the back room of a store called In The Closet on the second floor of the Entrance Plaza. Take your growing crew of survivors there and bail the poor guy out. Now it’s time for the terrible trek back to the Security Room, with four (soon to be five) friends in tow.
Food Court Preparation
Head back through Al Fresca Plaza to the Food Court, and then to the raised platform on the right, where you began the Carlito boss battle. There’ll be a ton of wine bottles to heal your party with (and store for the upcoming battle).
You can also grab a Hypnotism Tips Book on the floor nearby, a magazine which reduces the damage taken by escorted survivors. Make sure that everyone is at full health, and that the able survivors have a melee weapon to fight with.
Sophie Richards Survivor Guide
Once you leave the Food Court and enter the Leisure Park, you’ll summon the convicts, a trio of prisoners in a jeep with a mounted machine gun. There’s also a survivor called Sophie in the park now, a boon for extra PP who will die if you don’t save her here. You can try and make your way across the park, grab Sophie and avoid the convicts entirely, but if you’re feeling up to it, you can also try and kill them for extra PP.
If that’s your plan, head into the middle where there’s tons of trees so the jeep can easily get stuck. Focus on the gunner with ranged fire first, as they’re by far the most dangerous part of the battle. Then grab the machine gun they’ve left behind and make short work of the driver and passenger’s health bars — now you can recruit Sophie without any complications.
Carjacker Achievement Guide
Now that the convicts are gone, hop in the driver’s seat of their jeep to unlock the Carjacker achievement. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use it to transport your five-strong crew of survivors.
How to get back to the Security Room
Now that you’ve min-maxed your PP farming abilities, it’s time to take those five survivors back to the Security Room and reap the rewards. Head across the Leisure Park to the Paradise Plaza, then cut right towards the warehouse exit, next to the camera store. Follow the path back to the Security Room and you’ll receive a boatload of PP for the hassle of transporting this hefty crew.
Remember that you can repeat this process as much as you like by starting a new game and following the same instructions — Frank will maintain his level from the start this time, and you can keep farming PP until you’re comfortable to continue without any more head starts.
With that, you should have earned enough PP to get Frank close to Level 20 depending on your PP photo hauls. I managed to achieve Level 17 in around an hour and a half, but I could have definitely been more efficient. You should have seven blocks of health, and seven blocks of item stock for your trouble, too. I believe they could be randomised, but here’s the skills I unlocked in the process, in order:
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Skills and Upgrades
Jump Kick — Knock zombies away by pressing X or Square in mid-air
Zombie Ride — Climb on zombies by pressing A or Cross while pushing the left-stick towards them.
Flying Dodge — Point in a direction with the left stick and then press B or Circle to dodge out of harm’s way
Power Push — Tap B or Circle when grabbed to push a number of zombies down with your escape animation
Football Tackle — Hold RB / R1 and press B or Circle to begin an uninterruptible charge
Kick Back — Tap A or Cross when grabbed to kick a number of zombies away with your escape animation
