Dead Rising 2 Game Review

First of all if you were not a fan of the first game then Dead Rising 2 won't be for you. The sequel is essentially the first game improved in every way. Everything that worked so well in the first game has been multiplied insanely to give fans of the first game an even better experience this time around. Capcom have also managed to fix the pre-release issues allot of critics were complaining about such as, the frame rate, and extremely long loading times.

In Dead Rising 2 you will play as Chuck Greene. Chuck's wife was gobbled up by Zombies years ago and his daughter infected by the same incident however with a daily dose of Zomberx he is able to save her from turning into the walking undead. As a contestant on "Terror is Reality" Chuck must mutilate the undead for money, however after the show there is a mini Zombie uprising which Chuck is framed for. The remaining survivors hold out in the Fortune City safe house to await rescue in 3 day's leaving Chuck with no option but to fight the undead, find his daughters meds, and clear his name.

Dead Rising 1 was basically complete a mission in the various locations casino/hotel/mall before the time runs out, gain experience points, use the experience gained to level up more health, more moves, and more inventory spots. Then repeat the process. So if you were not a fan of this then you won't like Capcom's latest version which is really just the same thing but with enough new features to make the game feel fresh enough to spend your money on.

The game feels like the old one but doesn't feel like a repeat, the survivors have new story's to tell, there are even more exiting boss battles, and the issues with saving seem to have been corrected by Capcom with the introduction of multiple save slots after big events during the game and more toilets available to save in. This is all great but the biggest addition to the game is the ability to create combo weapons. Dead Rising has always been about grabbing the closest item to your character and swinging it with vicious intent at the approaching herds of undead. This is all still present in Dead Rising 2 however you can now collect combo cards which show you how to combine 2 items to create a super weapon at any of the work benches. These weapons will also last longer and gain more experience points than regular weapons which will all eventually break, My personal favourite is the wheel chair mini gun.

The Dead Rising franchise is one of the most rewarding around, much like an RPG you will start off with the ability do to very little and end up feeling like a god. The game does this extremely well and on your first playthrough some of the bosses might prove too much for you but when you return with all your improvements it can feel very satisfying to stand toe to toe with your enemy and rip him limb from limb.

Dead Rising 2 implements strict timing though mainly because the game is meant to be played multiple times, however this can just sometimes make the player feel frustrated. You will have to balance the main campaign with the side missions which i personally found annoying, i like to take a rest from the campaign when i am playing a game and explore all the little missions and details before returning to the more serious side of the game and in Dead Rising 2 that is just not possible. The only advantage this creates is the re-play value of the game.

The voice acting is solid for the most part creating a relationship with chuck which actually makes you care about saving his daughter, and some of the psychotic people you run into can provide a few giggles but it's nothing outstanding.

The game does have issues though and quite a few, while there are plenty of undead to brutally mutilate in exiting ways the game suffers from a few frame rate issues. Character models don't look as smooth as they could and although the loading times have been improved it is still poor by today's standards. The game does offer a variety of vibrant colourful objects and environments though which can make these issues feel less annoying. The photography system from the first game has been removed for some strange reason which is also dissapointing.

Competitive and cooperative multyplayer has been added to the mix this time around which should please the fans and add to the re-play value.

Competitive multyplayer will see you and 3 friends face off in challenges set on the "Terror is Reality" TV show stage. You and your friends will square off in the Zombie mini games where you will be inside one of those giant American gladiator balls squishing Zombies in your path, or flicking the undead onto a scale with a set of antlers. You square off in 3 randomly selected events and compete in 1 final to see who can decapitate the most Zombies with a chainsaw motorbike. These games sound great on paper but after you have experienced them a few times they just become repetitive and rather boring, the only benefit is any experience gained in these 4 rounds will be carried over to your single player game.

Cooperative multyplayer however is slightly better but still nothing exiting. A friend is added into the hosts single player game as another Chuck, which just seems lazy on the designers part. They could have made you play as a different character rather than have two Chuck's on screen but at least you can take a friend along as you do whatever your sick mind will allow you to think of to the Zombies and bosses in each area. Framerate is even worse when you let a friend enter your world as well and apart from the money you can share with each other there really is no reason you would want to play this mode. This really just feels like something to pass the time, a Zombie playground to waste a few hours.

Dead Rising 2 does provide a fun rich single player experience which doesn't feel too much like the original. There are plenty of ways to torture the Zombies you are faced with and some fun costumes which show a great sense of humour, weather you are punching a Zombie with Boxing gloves you attached a set of Knifes to, or even just casually driving through the hoards on a motorbike you will have a great time for the most part. There are allot of issues with the game technacally and co-op is poor at best leaving a game which feels 50/50.

Dead Rising 2 is not that great but can be fun at times 7/10