Released: September 28th, 2010
Developer: Blue Castle, Capcom
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Rated: M for Mature
Minor issues and time constraints make for a somewhat flawed game. But it’s still good. It’s damn good.
THE DOWN LOW:
Dead Rising 2 is the sequel to Capcom’s surprising success Dead Rising that was released in 2006. This time around you play as a motocross superstar, Chuck Greene, who makes ends meet as a contestant on the pay-per-view TV show, Terror is Reality. When not duking it out with the undead, he cares for his daughter Katey who was infected in an outbreak that killed his wife years ago in Las Vegas. Katey’s “condition” is kept in check with a daily dose of a medication called Zombrex. After an episode of Terror is Reality, another outbreak begins. Our manly hero escapes to a safe house with his daughter and a handful of other survivors, finds out he’s being framed for the start of the outbreak and needs to clear his name within the 3 day time limit before rescue arrives. Oh, and he also has to hunt down Zombrex to give to Katey every 24 hours. And save survivors. And slay psychopaths.
Yep.
It’s not what one would consider to be a direct sequel to Dead Rising, but it is very reminiscent of it in many aspects so far. You go in and out of your safe haven using an air duct, find yourself lead into a mall, and your missions are relayed to you via radio. Ring a bell?
Considering that the game is quite similar to its predecessor, you’re probably wondering what this game has to bring to the table. The new, shiny feature added to the game is the ability to make “combo weapons”. What really drew people to the original Dead Rising is the concept of being able to pick up pretty well any object to use as a weapon against the undead. Dead Rising 2 is very much the same, but this time you can combine two different items to make something else. One of my favourites is combining the bowie knife with the boxing gloves to create Freddy Krueger like weapons. Killing the undead and saving survivors gains you experience points which help you to level up. As you level up, you’re rewarded with “combo cards” that give those combo weapons more experience point value. This way you can level up quicker.
Leveling up is a great feature. Being a fan of RPG’s, I think having a leveling system is a nice touch. As you progress through the game and level up, you’ll find that your character moves more fluidly and you can also do fancy pants things like jump-kicks and different moves to escape the clutches of the zombies gnawing at your neck. Leveling up will also extend your life bar and give you more spaces to hold your weapons and snacks to keep your health up.
Another add-on that I really enjoy is the options for multiplayer. You can either play co-op or play rounds of competitive mini games. Co-op is played through the regular storyline. You’re just playing the game with an additional player (a twin Chuck). It isn’t necessary, at all, to have an additional body along while you play the storyline but it can be fun. I enjoyed playing the game with a good friend of mine and nothing says bonding like mayhem and carnage. Unless you’re both incredibly driven I can guarantee you’re going to fail a lot of missions together. The game has so many fun things to do and it makes it that much easier to be distracted when you’ve got a friend along for the ride.
Competitive multiplayer is played as if you were all contestants on Terror is Reality. You and three others duke it out in a very American Gladiator-esque setting. The gameplay does come and go very quick, but it’s forgivable because the little games are pretty fun. My favourite was wearing giant antlers to stab and hoist the undead onto a scale for points. Rather disturbing, I know! The best part of the competitive multiplayer is probably the fact that you can take your cash earnings and use them in your single player games. This can come in handy because finding Zombrex for Katey isn’t too easy. Luckily, the pawn shops riddled around the map do sell them (not for cheap. It starts at 25,000 and goes up from there).
On the topic of gameplay.. I’ll have to get to Dead Rising 2’s biggest pitfall for me. That God forsaken game clock. I find that the game has so much to offer and yet I’m constantly running from place to place only to appease the clock. If you run out of time for getting Zombrex to Katey- game over. If you run out of time for completing a case file- game over. And although you do have the option to continue on and save survivors and goof off for the remaining time till rescue arrives.. it sort of makes the game pointless. I had to restart a few times more than I’d like because I was running low on time for both a case file mission AND for getting Katey her Zombrex to the point where it was just impossible. It does give the game a heck of a lot more replay value, but it did sometimes feel tedious to constantly be on the run to beat the clock.
The game also feels a little rough around the edged at times. There’s nothing major to complain about, but sometimes the framerate can be somewhat slow and sometimes the loading screens were a bit too long. Another thing I found myself not liking was the control. As I said in my first impressions, they do leave a bit to be desired. The best word I can use to describe them is “clunky”. Not so irritating that I wanted to tear out my hair, but irritating enough for me to curse words you can’t say in front of children now and again. It can be argued that sometimes the movements of the character are meant to seem more realistic due to the size and mechanics of some of the weapons, but it often times left me sneering at the screen amongst a hoard of the undead.
IN SHORT:
I can’t lie and say that Dead Rising 2 is perfect. It does have its issues that can have you frustrated, but there are plenty of positives to make up for the few short comings. Once you can sit back and appreciate just how fun this game is it puts all the issues right to the back of your mind. A few lagging spots and moments of Tourettes when the clock runs out are all made worthwhile when you combine a car battery to electrify a wheelchair and find yourself mowing through crowds of zombies with it. The game combines a rather serious storyline with very comedic gameplay and at the end of the day.. it just all works.
PRESENTATION: 7 / 10
Rather long loading times and there’s not much different than the first game. From the life bar to the watch, it pretty well looks the same.
GAMEPLAY: 8 / 10
Bashing zombies, completing case files and saving survivors is the name of the game. Also very similar to the first game, but it all runs a wee bit smoother this time around.
GRAPHICS: 7.5 / 10
It all looks pretty good, but it’s nothing spectacular. Occasional slow framerates and “blocky” stiff characters lower the score.
REPLAY VALUE: 9 / 10
The number of weapons in this game is mind boggling. You could spend hours on end simply finding different weapons to use, as well as discovering new combo weapons. As stated above, because of how strict the clock is, you’re gonna miss out on a lot of cool and fun things you could be doing so an additional run through is something I’d consider vital.
FINAL SCORE: 8 / 10
