If it ain't broke...
Who doesn't like zombies ? Yes, they're getting old but they're just so much fun to kill ! Seeing their rotten head pop, rotten brains flying everywhere, is probably one of the coolest things video games let you do in this day and age. And I bet you hadn't guessed it yet but Dead Rising 2 takes the art of killing the walking dead and turns it up to 11.
Dead Rising 2 is the sequel to 360 exclusive Dead Rising that came out mid 2006. The original locked you up in a mall and you had to survive 72 hours to survive the zombie outbreak. What made the first one so much fun was the fact that you could kill the zombies in creative ways (shower head anyone ?) and the fact that there were so many zombies onscreen was a technical feat at the time. What made the first one not so much fun was the time limit. That's right it was the first open world game ever that asked you to pay attention and manage how much time you spent on things. This and a rather dumb save system made for an overall frustrating experience. Dead Rising 2 tries to fix this while staying true to the original.
You play the game as Chuck Greene, a motocross champion who must tend to his infected daughter Katey. The only way to keep the infection at bay is by giving her Zombrex, a costly drug that must be administered to her every 24 hours. While in Fortune City, Chuck participates in a game show to try to win some money to buy Zombrex. After winning, a zombie outbreak hits Fortune City and Chuck must survive 72 hours until the military arrive. The story is amusing at best, with some unexpected twist and turns. It has a sense of humor which keeps it from getting boring or overly dramatic. But like in the first Dead Rising, the story takes the backseat and lets you concentrate on doing more important, meaningful stuff so if you came for social commentary, it ain't here.
Like in the first game, you have a 72 hour time limit to do everything you want to do in Fortune City. The time doesn't count down in real seconds but gives you enough time to complete the main story. What was frustrating in the first game was the save system. This time you have three save slots, but still no quick save, which is a big problem. This means that you can accidentally stumble across an incredibly powerful boss, without even knowing he was there (Dead Rising 2 has no mini-map). He'll kill you and this may set you back a long way. Annoying and frustrating are two words I'd use to describe this problem, making Chuck look like an 80 year old man, having to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.
Despite these flaws, dying in Dead Rising 2 can be rewarding. After your death, you have the choice to start the game over again but with your current level and stats. This can make the game alot easier. Like in the first game, you gain PP for doing stuff in Fortune City. This can range from saving survivors (who're actually smart this time), killing psychos (who're still as hard and annoying) or killing zombies. By gaining levels you upgrade your stats and trust me, extra health can really mean life or death in a crowd of zombies. This is a fun and addicting feature and one of the highmarks of DR 2.
Now for every-body's favorite part: the zombie slaughter/genocide part of the game. Is it good ? It's phenomenal. Killing the dead is as easy as swinging a bat but the variety in the items let it never grow old. DR 2 adds combo weapons (the drill bucket !) which takes the gore to a whole new level. One of the coolest weapons is the guitar + amplifier. By playing heavy metal, all zombies around you get their minds blown. This is one of the goriest games I've seen in a long time, do not play this in front of your grandma and do not use this as an example of how video games have "matured". Killing zombies is enough to make you forget the story, hell if there was only zombie killing in this video game, I'd probably still buy it.
The zombies wouldn't be as terrifying if it weren't for their numbers. The game has hundreds of zombies on screen at the same time which is awesome. The game does have difficulty sometimes keeping up with the mayhem but programming so many zombies to be on screen at the same time must have been hell. The living dead are varied and sometimes carry weapons, such as a hunk of their own meat. Yum.
On the presentation side, things hold up. The game has nice looking environments and cut scenes. Characters animate well and I have yet to see a weird bug or glitch. The music is truly to be experienced as it is one of the goofiest parts of the game. The voice acting is intentionally campy and fits right with each character.
Dead Rising 2 is more Dead Rising. If you didn't like the first one, you're not going to like this one. It's still a weird game but a fun one non the less. If you enjoy killing zombies and are ready to turn a blind eye at stupid, ancient game mechanics than jump right in. And shower in the blood of the undead.
One word review: Gory
Yann
