Fun but simple.
Dead Rising 2 is an extremely fun game albeit it relatively simple. Compared to Dead Rising, the structure of the game is virtually identical. You have the 'Case' which is your story for the game and survivors, which I'll mention again shortly. As before, it is up to the player whether or not they wish to seek the truth or save anyone [aside from the starting survivors]. Unlike Dead Rising however is a distinct lack of urgency in regard to whether or not you can do the case or save someone.
There will be multiple periods where you are left doing almost nothing. There are no active psychopaths and no active survivors. All you have is yourself, the city and a ton of zombies to get through. There are achievements which you can attempt to do during these barren spells but it would have been nicer to have the game a little closer together. Also unlike the first Dead Rising is Chuck's daughter Katey. She requires daily doses of the anti-zombification drug, Zombrex. It sounds like it might hinder gameplay but it doesn't. The hour [ingame] window in which the Zombrex has to be administered is virtually impossible to miss without intentionally doing so.
The zombie count has increased dramatically but this had some drawbacks, most notably with how bland other areas of the map can look in comparison. Whilst running through the grounds of Fortune City, it is not uncommon to have pretty large vacant plots with zombies huddled up together in some huge crowd nearby. Some people may enjoy that but its not something that this reviewer is particularly fond of. Like a marmite sandwich, even spread is better than splotches.
The weapon combo system is GREAT fun. I can't stress how much fun some of the weapons are. There is one item called Roaring Thunder. It is made from a Goblin Mask and a Battery. If you know what the Electro-Bastard Ray is from Carmageddon, this does a similar thing to zombies. The combo system works in two ways; Scratch Cards and Combo Cards. The Scratch Cards are granted by combining items to make a weapon that you do not currently have a combo card for. Combo Cards on the other hand give the player bonus PP for killing zombies with that weapon. These can be earned through leveling, defeating enemies and completing tasks.
Disappointingly, money in the game has only the minor of purposes. Yes, there are some survivors who require money and there are some set pieces and special items that are somewhat expensive... but beyond being used to buy Zombrex, it really isn't that important. Buying weapons from the vendors is lazy and they offer nothing different from that which you can make yourself.
True, there are some special items that you can buy [Sports Car in Royal Flush Plaza] but these don't have a huge impact on the game except for the Knights Boots, perhaps.
The survivors are mostly scoops [as per DR1] but there are a number of people who will pop up from time to time. They will call out but sometimes you might not hear them or mistake it for voices from nearby equipment. Similarly, there is a limit to how many survivors you can have outside the safe house at any given time and this can given the mistaken impression that there is nothing to do when in fact there could be non-scoop survivors in different locations of the City.
Positively however, there is considerable worth in saving as many of the survivors of Fortune City as you can. Some offer assistance in the form of Zombrex whilst others will grant you Combo Cards for successfully rescuing them from undead hordes. The amount of PP you can get from these rescue operations is amazing too. Within a complete play of the game, there is no reason why you can't be pushing close to 40.
Their AI is similiar to DR1. If you go up some stairs and there is are a couple of zombies in the way, don't be surprised to find your survivor trying to get to you by other means. Mindlessly running through anything and everything to be with you at your location. Some survivors are ridiculously slow however and extended periods of waiting can be frustrating. There are often times where the survivor will stand in one spot and won't move until they've been called a couple of times. The positive is that you don't have to worry too much about survivors getting WTFpwned by zombies. You don't have to arm them and so long as you spam the 'call' command, they'll keep running after you and won't attack a thing.
If you choose to arm them however, they're not actually that bad. If you're carrying a few spare guns with you then its not a bad investment to arm them with someone. Not only does this ensure that they keep a little distance from the enemies but survivors holding weapons are granted infinite ammo. Sadly, the survivors cannot wield any of the combo weapons which is particularly disappointing given their usefulness.
The psychopath battles are largely disappointing and can be overcome easily with either a little patience or a little creative thinking in regards to your surroundings. Certain battles also give you the impression that the fight is one thousand times more complicated than it needs to be. Well, it isn't and you shouldn't make the fights complicated. A fellow player that I conversed with claimed that you could "tank" these psychos once you hit level 50. Sincerely, I disagree as if you stand and trade with most psychos, you'll likely end up dead.
I rate this game as 4 stars. Its an amusing and entertaining experience but is let down by the lack of difficulty and easily exploitable bosses. If you loved the first Dead Rising then you are most likely going to love this and if you're a first timer to the franchise, I don't think you'll be too disappointed. Just don't go into the game expecting it to be a world beater and just have some fun. You'll be a lot more satisfied with your purchase this way.
