Just like mom used to make
Dead Rising 2 is a stupid, stupid game. But's it's also a game that lets you kill untold amounts of zombies with a sledgehammer, a chainsaw, or even a lawnmower. The original Dead Rising was a fun novelty act that let you smash zombies with anything you could get your hands on, and Dead Rising 2 ups the ante in all the right ways. Its quirky structure will still prove to be as divisive as ever, but killing zombies has never been this satisfying.
As with the original, almost anything you find in Dead Rising 2 can be used as a weapon, from powerful swords and guns all the way down to useless CDs and stuffed animals. It's just as fun as ever to experiment with all the different items lying around, and Fortune City has a wide variety of shops that contain all sorts of possibilities. The new combo system amps things up significantly, as you can combine various items to make some absolutely ridiculous weapons. Maybe you'll duck tape a pair of fire axes to the side of a sledgehammer for unrestrained power. You could attach some 2x4s to the top of a lawnmower, creating a hand-held zombie chipper. Or, and my personal favorite, you could stick machine guns in the hands of a robot bear, creating a zombie murdering Freedom Bear. All the combo weapons are great, and it's a total blast to experiment with the entire system. This is Dead Rising 2 at its best, and all told there's nothing quite like it.
That being said, most everything else about Dead Rising 2 will probably prove to be pretty divisive. All your missions are timed, there are no checkpoints, and you can't do everything in a single playthrough. You also carry your status over from one playthrough to the next, making it pretty clear that you're expected to play through this relatively short game multiple times. This is horrible for those who want to sit down with a game and feel like they have been shown something amazing by its end. On the flip-side, this structure concedes a lot of control to the player. You can do as much or as little as you want in any given playthrough, which is great for players who don't need games to hold their hand. I personally like the quirky structure, but also know that in flies in the face of what a lot of people play video games for. Different strokes for different folks, if you will. What is universally terrible, however, are some of the controls, animations, and boss fights. Moving and aiming is fairly imprecise at times, knock back animations are way too long and aggravating, and the cookie cutter "dodge and counter" boss designs are kind of lame. It's staple Capcom stuff if you've played a lot of their games over the years, and I just wish it would go away.
Dead Rising 2 may be a stupid game, but there's still nothing quite like it. It's a novel game that scratches an itch seemingly ignored by everything else out there, and it absolutely nails the act of murdering large amounts of zombies in awesome ways. Sure, its quirky design will stroke some players the wrong way, and if you're the mainstream "serious" gamer then don't even bother. But if you have a sweet spot for something a little offbeat and completely crazy, Dead Rising 2 is right up your alley.
For additional information on my review style and scoring system, click here.
