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The original Dead Rising is known for being one of the most challenging games that Capcom has released and, whileDead Rising Deluxe Remasteris a little easier, there are still plenty of tough times to be had.
While 72 Hour Mode and Overtime Mode are plenty difficult on their own, the most notable trial to overcome in Dead Rising is Infinity Mode, a special bonus challenge that tasks Frank with surviving for as long as possible in Willamette while his health constantly drains.
Infinity Mode Explained
Infinity Mode is a bonus mode that can beunlocked in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster once you’ve cleared Overtime Mode(you can check out the specific requirements for both of those modes in our guide here). In this mode,the only objective Frank has is to survive for as long as possible in Willamette Mall, while not having to worry about saving survivors or completing Scoops.
That might sound relaxing, but there’s a catch.Frank’s health is constantly decreasing as time passes, which means that you need to find food from around the mall and keep your health up.Food and drink no longer infinitely spawn in the mall(Seon’s Food & Stuff is completely closed, for example), meaning there’s a limited amount of it for you to find and horde.
There’s simply not enough food around the Mall to survive for more than a few days, butFrank can find more by defeating survivors and Psychopaths that spawn throughout the map at certain times. All of the survivors are hostile now, which means you basically just have to kill everyone you come across and then take the food and weapons that they drop.
Although Infinity Mode is mostly just a fun bonus that’s unlocked after the main story is cleared, it does house two big rewards that we’ll detail later in this guide.
Infinity Mode Changes In Deluxe Remaster
Deluxe Remaster is mostly the same experience as in the original game, but there are a number of changes that make it less time-consuming. For starters,you can quit a run at any point and save your progress, which means it doesn’t have to be done all in one go. The original mode took around 14 hours to beat and you had to do it all in one sitting, so this is a major improvement.
Just like in the base game,Frank can also speed up time at save points, meaning it no longer takes the full 14 hours. My completed seven day run took me around four hours in one go, which is much more manageable. Combine that with being able to quit, and it’s much less intensive than it once was.Frank can also now look at his watch to see the time and use his camera, which wasn’t possible in the original game.
Another change that’s been made to Infinity Mode is that zombies can now occasionally drop reward boxes similar to survivors. The contents are always random and you’ll only get one item, but there’s a chance for it to be a healing item or a powerful weapon.
If that all soundstooeasy for you, then you’ll be happy (or frightened) to know that Infinity Mode does make one big change that makes it much,muchharder. When you hit a certain point in Infinity Mode (around the second or third day), the Raincoat Cult members and Special Forces will start to show up and spawnin almost every location in the mall.
The Special Forces in particular are total run killers and make Infinity Mode a ton more difficult. It’s not quite as hard as the original game since it’s much more relaxed about time, but the overall experience is more challenging with those enemies mixed in.
How To Clear Infinity Mode
Preparation
Now that you know how Infinity Mode works, it’s time to talk about how to actually beat it. Most players are just going to aim for the 7 Day Survivor challenge to get both rewards, so we’ll assume that you’re doing the same. Before even starting the mode,ensure that you’re at Level 50so that Frank has all of his moves unlocked and has the maximum amount of health, attack, and speed.
It’s also very helpful ifyou’ve already completed the Zombie Annihilator challenge and gained access to the Real Mega Buster,which will infinitely spawn from the Security Room as long as you’ve not got one in your inventory. The Real Mega Buster makes things a lot easier as it takes out most enemies in one hit and will tear through survivors and Psychopaths.
Some players like to do Infinity Mode without the Real Mega Buster to make it harder, but I imagine most players are just trying to get through for the unlocks, so we’ll assume that as well.
Once you’ve reached Level 50 and unlocked the Real Mega Buster, it’s time to jump into Infinity Mode and go through Dead Rising’s most difficult challenge.
Grab The Health Books Straight Away
The first thing you’re going to want to do when you spawn into the Security Room is tofind all three of the food-related books in Willamette Mallto max out how much health each piece of food restores for Frank. The nearest food book,Health 1, is located in Sir-Book-A-Lot in Wonderland Plaza, which is easily reached by using the shortcut in Paradise Plaza’s bathroom.
Once you’ve grabbed that one, head straight to theEntrance Plaza and grab Health 2 from the Sinister Read on the top floor near the entrance to the mall. Both books offer a 50 percent increase in health which is a great bonus here, but you’re also going to want tohead to North Plaza and go in the room next to Crislip’s Home Saloon to grab the Survival Bookfor another 100 percent increase.
Locate Some Reliable Weapons
Now that you’ve boosted your health restoration by 200 percent, the next thing you’re going to want to do is to find some reliable weapons to put in your inventory.All of the hidden spawns like the Katana and Submachine Gunwill appear where they usually do, but it’s worthgrabbing the overpowered Mannequin Torsofrom the Warehouse whenever possible too.
It’s also worth taking a trip to the Huntin' Shack to grab some firearms there before Cletus shows up.
If you’re doing this with the Real Mega Buster, that’s going to be your go-to weapon, but it’s always good to have some melee weapons for when enemies get a bit closer to you and so that you don’t use all of its ammo. Day 1 is the perfect time to stock up on weapons, since the Special Forces and Raincoat Cult members haven’t started spawning yet.
These two steps can be combined to cut down on time by grabbing nearby weapons as you go to collect the health books. Just ensure not to eat anything until you’ve maxed out your healing.
Stockpile Food Items And Note Some Locations Down
By now, you’ll likely have noticed that Frank’s health has decreased by quite a bit after spending time collecting the books and weapons, so it’s time to gather some food.The key thing to remember in Infinity Mode is that food is a limited resourcethat doesn’t spawn infinitely from anywhere like it does in the base game -that means you’re able to’t just rely on Colombian Roastmasters' Orange Juice.
Infinity Mode has also moved around a lot of the foodand placed some random items in shops that you didn’t have anything in 72 Hour Mode, which means you’re going to need to search around a little. I’ll share some of the most reliable food spawns below, but a key tip to keep in mind is that the areas in 72 Hour Mode with lots of food still usually have some good items.
Towards the end of my 7 Day run, I was running low on healing items and had to resort to grabbing some Apples from random shops to survive.
Ignoring some of the smaller food spawns like Apples and Snacks in random shops, some of the best places to find high-healing items in Infinity Mode include Colombian Roastmasters and Jill’s Sandwiches in Paradise Plaza, the concession stand in Colby’s Movieland,Chris' Fine Food and several of the shops in the Food Court, and Hamburger Fiefdom in Al Fresca Plaza.
All of the areas listed above have at least one or two healing items that canrestore all of Frank’s health at Level 50 with the three healing books equipped. There are some areas in the Mall, such as Theatre 2 and 3 in Colby’s Movieland and The Distinguished Gentleman in the Entrance Plaza that have a single Orange Juice or Coffee Creamer to nab, but the best places to find high-healing food are listed above.
It’s best to rely on these high-healing food items for the first few days of Infinity Mode before trying to find smaller healing items like Corn, Snacks, and Apples when you get further into the run.
Use Food At The Last Minute Before Speeding Up Time
One of the most important things to know about Infinity Mode is when to use your healing items. Smaller health items are generally okay to use whenever Frank is low on health or if you take damage, but the big healers like Orange Juice, Mixed Juices, Milk, and Coffee Creamershould be saved for when Frank is on his very last block of health.
The best way to get through Infinity Mode is by grabbing a few healing items that will completely heal Frank,going to a bathroom or save point, and then speeding up time to just before Frank’s last block of health runs out. Then, use another healing item to get him back to full strength and rinse and repeat until you need to go out and find more food.
You should always have at least one or two spare healing items on you so that you can either restore health lost when looking for food or so you can wait out the clock until more Psychopaths or survivors spawn. Speaking of which…
Defeat Psychopaths And Survivors To Get More Healing Items
Although it might be possible to survive seven days of Infinity Mode by just using the food you find around the mall, the best way to ensure you’ve always got healing items around isby defeating Psychopaths and survivors as they appear around the mall. In the original game, you weren’t told when anyone spawned in, but Deluxe Remaster lets you know by marking everyone on your map.
Whenever you’re running low on food or simply want to stock up on more,head to the marker that’s shown on the map above and defeat whoever it is you run into. Most of the enemies are going to be survivors from the base game who have turned hostile and now have weapons, but Psychopaths do also show up from time to time, usually with greater rewards.
Once you kill a survivor or Psychopath, they’ll drop a cardboard box that contains a few set items that vary from character to character.Each cardboard box will contain at least one healing item(usually something capable of restoring a full health bar) along with some weapons. Most of these weapons aren’t worth grabbing, but some enemies drop valuable boss unlocks like the Small Chainsaw and Ceremonial Sword.
Whenever you’re not skipping time ahead or locating food,make sure to defeat every Psychopath and survivor that is marked on the map to collect their healing itemsand give yourself as many resources as possible. It’s worth noting that zombies now have a chance of dropping a cardboard box too, so if you’re feeling brave it’s worth taking as many of them down and potentially getting some cool items.
Be Extra Careful When The Special Forces Show Up
Although the first few days of Infinity Mode are fairly easy if you follow the steps above and always make sure you’ve got some food and weapons handy by killing survivors and Psychopaths, things get a lot more difficult a few days in. Unlike in the original game,the Raincoat Cult members and Special Forces will eventually start spawning around the mapin set locations, adding a new challenge to the mode.
The Raincoat members are generally harmless and can be avoided easily,but the Special Forces are where things get really difficult. They’re already the most difficult enemies in 72 Hour Mode when your health isn’t constantly ticking down,but their ability to hit you on a loop with high-damaging machine gun fire is a total run-killer in Infinity Mode.
If you’re carrying the Real Mega Buster then they’re a little easier since it kills them in one hit, but they can still surprise you and cut down your health significantly. This makes the Real Mega Buster one of the most important things to carry in Infinity mode, so make sure you’ve always got one on you.
The Special Forces can be killed in one hit by using Frank’s grab moves like Lift Up, Hammer Throw, and Suplex. It’s not as reliable here since you’ll want to stay away from them, but it’s handy in a pinch.
One of the only blessings of the Special Forces is thatthey always spawn in the exact same location in each area of the mall. That means you’ll have a good idea of where they’ll be as you make your way around. Generally, you’re going to want to either completely avoid them if you can or deal with them as soon as you load into a new area.
Things Get A Little Easier After Day 5
Once you’ve reached Day 5, you’ll be in the home stretch of Infinity Mode and will havegained access to the Laser Sword in the Security Room(more on that later). verify to add this to your inventory as soon as you can, as it’s one of the most powerful melee weapons in the whole game and has great durability.
Be warned, though, aszombies will now start spawning in the Security Roomand will need to be taken out every time you enter the area. It’s still one of the safest places in the mall and lets you fast-forward time from the save point, but be wary of sticking around here for too long if you can avoid it.
By this point in the run, you’ll likely have used up most of the healing items that spawn at the start of the mode.This makes killing Psychopaths and survivors essential, so the main thing you should be doing when you’re not fast-forwarding time is heading to these locations and taking them out to get their food and health. Do this and keep all of the tips above in mind, and you should clear the seventh day without much trouble.
Other General Tips
Although you should be able to beat Infinity Mode by following the guide above so far, here are some smaller tips that should make things a little easier.
Rewards For Beating Infinity Mode
5 Day Survivor
The first, and best, reward you get for playing Infinity Mode is unlocked after you survive for five days straight. It’s worth noting that you have to actually get past the fifth day,so it won’t pop until you’ve reached Day 6.Doing so will unlock the Laser Sword, an infinitely spawning melee weapon that appears in the Security Room and is basically the sword equivalent to the Real Mega Buster.
Without a doubt,the Laser Sword is the most powerful weapon in Dead Rising history.It can cleave through any zombie in one hit and take Psychopaths down easily. By the time you unlock it, you won’t reallyneedto do that as you’ll likely be max level, but it does help if you’re trying to get every survivor in a run - it also simply looks awesome and is one of the coolest weapons.
Completing the 5 Day Survivor challenge will also award you a trophy or achievement depending on your console of choice. The same goes for 7 Day Survivor.
7 Day Survivor
If you manage to survive for seven days in Infinity Mode,Frank will unlock the Ghost & Goblins Underwear, which is a replica of the same ones that Arthur wears in that game. Beyond being a nice reference and fitting Frank surprisingly well, this unique pair of pantsdoesn’t actually offer any bonuses to the player and is more there for bragging rights.
