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    Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

    Game » consists of 16 releases. Released Oct 11, 2011

    Frank West visits Fortune City in this "what if?" retelling of Dead Rising 2.

    Short summary describing this game.

    Dead Rising 2: Off the Record last edited by SpongeBat1 on 02/13/21 06:44PM View full history

    Overview

    Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is a re-imagining of Dead Rising 2. In this "what if?" scenario, Frank West enters Fortune City during the zombie outbreak and the game shows how things would've been different if Frank had been there instead of Chuck Greene.

    The game features new weapons as well as new areas and missions. The game was released for reduced value price.

    Story

    Frank's back.
    Frank's back.

    Frank West has hit rock bottom. After rising to fame for reporting on the Willamette Mall incident, he began living the good life full of alcohol and women. However, he ended up bankrupt and was forced to parrtake in Terror Is Reality (TIR), a television game show whose sole focus is to slaughter zombies. After the show, Frank over hears the game show host (TK) talking to an unknown villain and before he knows it, zombies invade Fortune City. Frank has a limited amount of time to unveil the conspiracy and get out of Fortune City.

    The game's story differs from the one found in the original Dead Rising 2. Frank does not have to go back to the safe room anymore to give somebody Zombrex. Characters from Dead Rising 2 will appear in the game, like zombie activist Stacey Forsythe. There are new characters, psychos and environments (such as the "Uranus Zone", a sci-fi inspired amusement park) as well as new missions. The game also has a brand new checkpoint system where the game saves after every major plot point (for example after and before a boss). Players can change this in the options menu if they wish to save their game like in Dead Rising 2.

    Deviations from Dead Rising 2

    Off The Record plays out near exact to the events from the original Dead Rising 2. However there are still many differences, minor and major, that occur across the story:

    • Frank West takes part in the Terror Is Reality game-show as a wrestler, who is to stave off and kill as many zombies as possible using the large grinders at each corner of the ring.
    • Frank West learns about the conspiracy revolving around T.K from the outset when he hears him talking with Brandon Whittaker.
    • Brandon Whittaker is shown to be the person who sets off the bomb to initiate the Fortune City outbreak.
    • Stacey Forsythe is then thrown the blame for said bombing. (Her face was also remodeled for whatever reason).
    • Chuck Greene has gone insane due to the death of his daughter Katey (which is implied was caused by not getting a zombrex shot in time), and will invariably attack Frank West during the story as a psychopath boss battle.
    • Brandon is eventually fought as a ''main story'' Psychopath boss battle, this time in the toilets of Uranus Zone, and will also always kill his hostage; during Dead Rising 2 she was a potential survivor the player could escort to the safe house.
    • When T.K kidnaps Rebecca Chang after his failed heist of Fortune City, he blackmails Frank into bringing him one million dollars in exchange.
    • Stacey Forsythe is revealed to be the inside Phenotrans Agent, while Ray Sullivan is instead depicted as being a legitimate Reserve Man for Fortune City.
    • Ray Sullivan is killed by Stacey, while Rebecca is wounded and left unconscience (mistaken for dead by Frank).
    • Stacey, now with the removal of what was a fake ponytail, is fought by Frank aboard a huge, giant Crab-Mech, that was originally disguised as just another large set-piece in Uranus Zone.
    • Should the player have given T.K zombrex prior to Stacey's unveiling, T.K will capture the wounded Rebecca and force Frank to collect a series of items in a similar fashion to the blackmail thrust upon Chuck.
    • After T.K is killed, Frank and Rebecca begin what is insinuated to be a romantic relationship and the two journalists embark on getting the truth behind the Fortune City outbreak to the public.

    Gameplay

    Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is all about killing zombies in the most imaginative manner possible while keeping an eye on the clock. Like in previous games in the franchise, missions are only available at certain times and failing to meet the time limit can result to a premature ending. Like in Dead Rising 2, the workbench is back where players can combine items to create combo-weapons of mass zombie genocide.

    The game also features a new vehicle, being a clown car. While it is slow in speed, it can carry an unlimited amount of survivors. Off the Record marks the return of the camera. Being himself a journalist, Frank can take pictures of different things around the environment and earn PP. Each picture is graded and tagged as scary, funny, erotic...

    Off The Record, like the original Dead Rising 2, will also allow the entire game to be played cooperatively. The guest player who joins will take up the role of Chuck Greene.

    Gameplay Alterations

    Despite still playing largely the same, Off The Record was privy to numerous updates, improvements and alterations to allow this to become the most accessible Dead Rising game to date. A list of these changes are as such:

    • Checkpoints have been added into the game, allowing the player to restart from the start of the area they entered should they die.
    • Manual Waypoints, allowing players to place their own waypoints anywhere on the map to follow.
    • All of the buff books have been rearranged.
    • The order of which Survivors will be alerted to the player by Stacey have been remixed, and Stacey will also deliver the messages with full spoken dialogue this time around.
    • Certain items and Zombrex boxes that can be found in the world have been moved around, forcing even veteran DR2 players to have to search for the most valuable supplies.
    • Money looting is made to be significantly easier, with slot machines and ATM's dropping a much larger amount of cash.
    • All three of the vehicle keys in the pawn shops are more expensive, however.
    • During Case 2-1, as T.K is heading off on the underground train with his small squadron of mercenaries, the bike riding segment is completely cut, initialising the player on the train from the outset.
    • Many more context PP opportunities have been added into the city -- most of which are hinted at during loading screens.
    • There are a series of keys the player can find that'll unlock a number of safety deposit boxes (which hold a variety of goodies, including Zombrex) in the Fortune City vault located in Uranus Zone.
    • The Money Hacker combo weapon also has a slightly slower deterioration rate.
    • Whenever looters are in close proximity, their new musical theme will begin to play alerting the player.
    • Littered through Fortune City are ''jump-scare zombies'', zombies that'll either hang around a corner or pretend to be dead, then quickly strike at the player with a loud instrumental cue.
    • From the outset at level 1, Frank will be able to perform a small four-hit hand-to-hand combo, the Jump Kick, a charged Karate Chop and his roll--which also now features varying animations depending on what direction Frank will roll.
    • As Frank, certain standard weapons perform with different animations over Chuck's, including the baseball bat, 2x4, pick axe and many more. This can even lead to different Power attacks, such as the acoustic guitar featuring a lunge attack over its more comedic vertical smash attack.
    • The Mercenary Assault Rifle has a larger ammo count of 45, raised from DR2's 30.
    • The color of the chainsaw's body has been altered from orange to blue.
    • Frank won't go through a reaction animation when he ''returns clothes'' after trying some on.
    • Denyce, the first survivor the player encounters in Roy's Pharmacy, has a large increase of health to benefit any attempts at the 'Alpha vs Omega' trophy/achievement.
    • Pieces of DR2's DLC costumes can be found throughout the world for the player to collect as apart of the main game. Some of which are unlocked via other means, however, such as beating a boss or earning specific trophies/achievements.
    • The hostage Vikki Taylor, held by Brandon Whittaker, cannot be saved in Off The Record for she is killed by Brandon during his introductory psychopath cutscene.

    Combo Weapons in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

    All combo weapons from the original Dead Rising 2 return, alongside some ported over from Case West, and even more have now been added into the ever-growing combo card archive. Some make use of the extra standard items, while others are made up of items that were already in Dead Rising 2 but weren't able to be combined. See the Dead Rising 2 page for a complete list of the original DR2 combo weapons.

    Case West Imports

    WeaponItems Required
    ShockerDefibrillator + Medical Tray.
    Zap N ShineFloor Buffer + Electric Prod.
    ReaperKatana + Sickle.
    Laser GunLaser Sword [Gems + Flashlight] + Lightning Gun.
    Lightning GunBlast Frequency Gun + Electric Prod.

    New Combo Weapons

    WeaponItems Required
    Weed TendonizerKitchen Knife + Grass Trimmer.
    Cryo PodEscape Pod + Fire Extinguisher.
    Electric CrusherSledgehammer + Battery.
    DecapitatorBoomerang + Kitchen Knife
    Saw LauncherTennis Ball Launcher + Saw Blade.
    Laser EyesAlien Head Mask + Gems.
    Super MassagerLeaf Blower + Massager.

    New Psychopaths

    Alongside the already substantial list of psychopaths taken from Dead Rising 2, there are three extra Psychopath Boss Battles thrown into the fray; one is simply a re-skin of Leon Bell from DR2, the other an optional while the final is a mandatory battle at the end of the game.

    Optional PsychopathDescriptionMission Name
    Evan The ClownThe brother of Adam The Clown from Dead Rising, Frank and Evan will appear to meet by unfortunate chance in the Platinum Strip just outside The Arena. Initially Evan tries to sell Frank some ice-cream, with Frank shrugging it off and explaining that he's not likely to sell any ice-cream anytime soon. Once Evan realises it's Frank West he's talking to, he confesses to him that Adam was his brother (and appears to be just as crazy) and opts for revenge since Frank inadvertently lead to Adam's death in self-defence. Evan is also a two stage boss:
    • Stage 1 - Evan is a very small man, possibly a dwarf, who uses large stilts to move around. He'll use a small snow-cannon toy gun, but his most often use of attack is hurling multiple freeze grenades, which will slowly begin to freeze the player, then attack with his stilts.
    • Stage 2 - Once Evan hits around 30% health, a cutscene will trigger showing him falling of his stilts and apparently dying. Soon enough he'll get back up and then proceed to attack on foot. Evan now primarily attacks by charging at the player, but the damage he inflicts is minimal and is made to be significantly easier to beat from this point on.
    Once he has been beaten, the player will from on have access to Evan's small snow-cannon toy, which'll respawn every time the player revisits the Platinum/Silver Strip.
    Snow Go
    Chuck GreeneAfter what can believed to have been the death of Katey Greene, Chuck went insane with grief and is found by Frank West drunk, unkempt and highly depressed; he has a doll hanging in his bag on back as well, and believes that Katey is infact alive.
    He shows distrust to Frank for touching his bike, but calms down once Frank explains he's just looking for survivors. Chuck then heads into a rant about how the people are the real monsters within this ordeal; he contemplates about the zombies also, confessing that he finds them fun to kill just as he rips a zombies head off. After Frank then grabs the doll's leg to get Chuck's attention, Chuck quickly explodes with rage and implicates that Frank is another ''villain'' and is only trying to stop Chuck from finding his daughter the zombrex she needs.
    Chuck as a boss battle plays exactly like Leon Bell did from the original Dead Rising 2; he'll ride around on his slicecycle trying to run the player over. What is unique to Chuck over Leon, is that he'll sometimes hurl molotovs at the player, which are easily identified as Chuck will shout out a tell before he does so. Once he has been beaten, he will drop the key to a modification lorry that the player can use to customise bikes.
    People Like Us
    Main PsychopathDescriptionCase Name
    Stacey ForsytheStacey is now situated as the final boss (minus T.K from the Overtime extension) over Ray Sullivan from the original Dead Rising 2. The battle itself plays completely different, however, with Stacey piloting some kind of huge crab-mech in Uranus Zone. This boss also has a three stage design:
    • Stage 1 - The machine's claws will constantly lunge to the ground, often getting stuck allowing the player to attack. While this happens, Stacey will periodically shoot out a series of homing missiles; fortunately they are easy to avoid, and like most battles the player can opt to divert from the battleground for some added supplies.
    • Stage 2 - Similar to stage 1, Stacey has now become more aggressive and introduces a few new attacks, such as a huge swipe and a pounding move that covers near enough the entire battleground. The same tactics still apply, though the opportunities to attack the claws are fewer and far between.
    • Stage 3 - The metallic covering of the claws is now sheathed off and Stacey will become more aggressive. Now the player is to take Frank up top the missile launchers that fell to the ground (they are automatically activated once the player climbs on top of them) forcing the machine to fall close to the ground. The player only needs to quickly clamber up and enact a QTE event displaying Frank and Stacey engaging in a hand-to-hand fight.
    The Facts

    Sandbox Mode

    Hats!
    Hats!

    Off the Record features a brand new Sandbox mode where players will be able to mess around freely in Fortune City without having to worry about time or missions. This mode lets players kill as many zombies as they want as well as experiment with new weapons. The mode features optional challenges where players can earn medals by, for example, putting as many hats on zombies in a limited amount of time.

    Throughout the city, the player will encounter all of the same psychopaths (minus T.K and Stacey) and survivors from the main game. The psychopaths will spawn in their respective locations from the story, but only for a limited time during the time-frame when they spawned during the story. Even when beaten, they will eventually resurface in the same location. They reward cash, PP and their weapon(s) much like the rewards for beating them during the story mode.

    Survivors are also hostile and will attack the player on sight. They function just like a ''defected'' survivor and similar to the psychopaths will award the player with some cash and whatever weapon they were using to attack the player. These too only spawn during specific times of the day, and if killed will respawn once more after an allotted time has passed.

    Player progress made between this and the Story Mode is completely tied; whatever PP and cash Frank has, and what costume Frank is wearing, will persist across both modes.

    System Requirements

    • OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7
    • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or better, AMD Athlon X2 2.2 Ghz or better
    • Memory: 2 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better, ATI Radeon™ HD 3850 or better
    • DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0c or greater
    • Hard Drive: 8.5 GB free hard drive space
    • Sound: Standard audio device
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