The crowd sourced guide I started for Dead Rising 2 was a huge success so I thought I would start one for Off the Record to help out newcomers to the series or people who need a little help.

Off the Record changed some things up so while most of the original guide is still applicable, locations of certain items etc are different and it is going to take some time (and help from the community) to get that stuff logged down. I need your help so post your tip and if it's a good one I'll add it to my first post, with credit.

What is this?

The Dead Rising series is known for being slightly awkward and somewhat unapproachable because of it's uncompromising design. It's a sand box with a time limit, and because of the levelling system it's unlikely you'll be able to tackle everything successfully on your first, second or even third playthrough. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record has ironed out a lot of the problems of the original but in copying the design of it's predecessor has inherited some features that people might take issue with. I have created this thread so that we can all share any tips we've picked up or read elsewhere. A comprehensive list of things that will help a player out no matter how simple. I think it's better than the inevitable 50+ threads asking for help with certain things.

What's Different?

• You now play as Frank West, the protagonist from the first game who is down on his luck and decides to join the Terror is Reality game show.
• The events in this game take place in an alternative reality where Dead Rising 2 never happened. The events are almost entirely the same but with noticeable changes and Frank's own storyline mirroring that of Dead Rising 2.
• Chuck Green still exists in this universe but he came before Frank and plays a much different role in the game.
• There are a bunch of new Combo Cards, Items and magazines littered around the mall.
• Magazine, item and Zombrex locations have all been changed from Dead Rising 2 as well as the rewards for level progression.
• Back from Dead Rising 1, Frank brought with him his trusty camera and the photography mechanic allowing you to take photos at any time.
• One new area has been added to Fortune City, a sci-fi theme park along with one new Psychopath.
• Sandbox mode has been added to allow players to mess around in the game without a time limit. Player progress including money and levels carry over in to the main game and you are able to go back and forth between story and sandbox at any time.

The Basics

Here I will outline the basics of the game which will also form the headings for the tips covered below. If you are just getting started with the game this will help you out with some basic concepts and tips about how to play the game and what you should be doing.

Concepts

• Prestige Points: The name given to experience in dead rising. Once you have earned enough you level up gaining new abilities and combo cards, as well as improved stats.
• Photography: Frank West is a journalist and you can use his abilities to earn PP. There are tons of tiny PP stickers hidden over the world for you to photograph, and you can also earn PP for capturing photographs in 5 categories: Horror, Drama, Brutal, Erotic and Out-take.
• Money: You collect money to spend in the various pawn shops around Fortune City, as well as some vending machines. You can collect money from gambling machines as well as earn some through side quests.
• Zombrex: A drug that suppresses the zombie infection within a person preventing them from turning in to a zombie. You will have to take this once every 24 hours, and there are 2 other optional characters who require it. The drug can be purchased from each of the 4 pawn shops in fortune city. It becomes significantly more expensive the more times you buy it, even across playthroughs until you get an actual ending which causes the price to reset.
• Survivors: Most of the quests you receive that are not case mission will involve you finding a survivor and then returning them to the safe room. Sometimes you will have to meet a requirement such as having another survivor with you, a certain weapon or piece of clothing.
• Psychopaths: These are humans who have snapped due to the stress of the outbreak and you will have to kill in the form of a boss battle. There are a few unavoidable battles related to the story but most are optional side quests.
• Combo Cards: By combining 2 items with a wrench icon in a maintenance room you will make a 'combo weapon' and get a scratch card that shows you how you made it. This gives a small PP bonus per kill. By completing quests and levelling up you gain the full combo card which gives you more PP per kill and you unlock a heavy attack. Combo weapons often do much more damage than regular weapons.
• Clothing: You can wear various items of clothing around the mall. These are purely cosmetic and are not accumulated so if you want to wear a different piece of clothing you have to go back to it's location. You can change back to unlocked clothes, DLC costumes or the default gear in the Safe Room's bathroom.
• Magazines: There are various books scattered around the game that give bonuses to various things such as PP, gambling, hand to hand damage and so on. They take up an inventory slot and must be carried at all time to receive the effects.
• Juice: By mixing various food and drink items in a blender you can make drinks with unique effects that also restore health. All Juice effects are temporary.

Resources

Below are links to various guides that will assist you in everything from books to Zombrex locations.

• Interactive Map

COMING SOON

Dead Rising 2 version:

General Tips

• To easily access doors connecting areas without being ravaged by Zombies use your dodge roll to roll towards the door. You can go through the door during any part of the animation so you don't have to wait for the animation to end.
• You can buy keys to the various vehicles scattered around the city, for a large sum of money. Keys obtained through the story or bought from pawnshops will carry over between playthroughs too so are worth the investment.
• Knife Gloves (Boxing Gloves + Bowie Knife) will make short work of almost every enemy in the game, and net you tons of PP in the process. - by Mmmslash
• Eating/drinking something normal after consuming 2 alcoholic drinks keeps you from throwing up, even if you consume in fast succession. - by Sessh
• Don't be afraid to jump over balcony/2nd floor railings. You will at most take 1 block of damage, sometimes none at all. It is much better and faster than finding the nearest stairs or escalator.
• If you jump off a high ledge then if you elbow drop you'll take no damage and kill anything beneath you. But not when you hop a balcony, because you can't elbow drop after hopping over a rail. - by Sedasys
• The best way to open boxes is to jump on them. It is much quicker than picking it up and throwing it. - by Abyssfull
• Save as often as you can. Every time you do something significant like beat a Psychopath or save a survivor take the time to save, it's worth the time. - by Pokechapp

PP (Prestige Points)

• Using combo weapons that you own the combo card for is a quick way to level up. You get bonus PP for each kill, but how much varies greatly depending on the weapon.
• Alternatively you can rescue survivors. You get a good bonus of 10,000 PP initially whichescalates over the course of the game to over 60,000 per survivor. Magazine's can provide additional bonuses.
• On the Silver Strip there is a peepshow place called the Peep Hole, it has 3 doors for 3 different peep shows (you don't actually get to see anything) each peep show cost $1000 and get you 1,000 PP and after you do all 3 you get a bonus 10,000PP. - by Uri555
• There's a gym in Palisades Mall called Flexin' where if you run the treadmills and use all of the bikes then you get bonus PP. - by RelentlessKnight
• In the Yucatan Casino (can't remember exactly where within it) there is a large fire burning as a part of the scenery. You can continually throw increasing amounts of money into for a lot of PP. - by Dragnet
• At the centre of the Palisades Mall there is a bar with a pool. Climb the water stairs to the top and ride the slide down for a 10,000 PP bonus.
• There's a giant novelty craps table with two big red dice in the middle of Royal Flush Plaza, if you pick up the dice and roll a seven, you get 10,000 PP. Both dice are at six, so all you would need to do is pick up one and roll a one. - by Angerpanda
• There's a store in Royal Flush Plaza called A Man's Sport where you can punch three Slam Man dummies apart for 1,000 PP each . - by Angerpanda
• In that same store there is strength test, the kind you see at circuses, where you pound a hammer as hard as you can to make a bell ring for 5,000 PP. - by Angerpanda
• Combat books give additional 10% PP each for kills that give PP (combo weapons and special moves). Horror books gives 50% bonus PP on zombie killing milestones (for every 50 killed and every 1000 killed).

Money

• Big Money: Obtain all 3 Gambling books then go to the big slot machine at the back of the Slot Ranch Casino and place $1,000 bets continuously. You might not win that often but you can get over a million in 20 minutes or less using this method. Repeat as needed.
• Not all slot machines are winners. You can tell which slot machines you can win money on by looking to see if they have money already dropped in front of them. You can place three guaranteed winning bets on these machines.
• After winning on a slot machine several times you will stop winning, but you can smash it open to get a final boost of cash. - by Pokechapp
• Using the Hacker (Flashlight + Computer Case) on ATMs causes them to spit out $10,000 instead of the usual $2,500. - by Pokechapp

Zombrex

COMING SOON

Dead Rising 2 locations:

Survivors

• Survivors cannot be given combo weapons. Always bring an ordinary weapon if you want to give it to them.
• Returning survivors to the safe room will make the weapon they were carrying disappear. Recover any important weapons before returning them.
• Survivors need to be near you when you transition between an area. As a green door icon appears above their head you can go through without leaving them behind.
• You can put survivors in cars and wheelchairs, speeding up the process of getting them back to the safe room. Especially if they are injured.
• Do not stick around and fight. The survivors can fight back but as long as they are running they will almost never take damage so just keep running and you'll have no problem getting them to safety.
• Give survivors guns. They are more effective with them. wont rush forward to attack zombies and have unlimited ammo. - by Pokechapp
• If you pick up the 3 gambling mags and play Ante Up or that poker escort mission you will get face cards 90% of the time, thus making both missions do-able in a quicker time. - by Hoghad
• The 'Leadership' magazine improves the state of injured survivors so that you do not need to carry them, they run at normal speed.

Secrets

• Feeding Snowflake 3 steaks will allow you to tame her and return her to the safe room.
• During the 'Wilted Flower' mission the survivor will unlock a shortcut from Brand New U on the second floor of Palisades Mall to the bathroom of Royal Flush Plaza. - by dudeglove
• There is a secret combo card called 'Wingman' which you get by combining a Queen Bee and a Nectar Juice. This also unlocks an achievement/trophy.
• Glitch: You can combine the Assault Rifle with the Electric Chair to make a Blitzkrieg even though it's meant to be a merc assault rifle, and the regular Assault Rifle isn't even a combinable item.
• By using the fortune teller in the Silver Strip you can gain several PP bonuses as well as the burning skull combo card as the final reward. To get the combo card just keep using it but be warned; the price goes up each time and in total costs about $1.2million. - by Vorbis
• Right in the middle of the underground area is a hamster ball. Use it wisely, it is very fragile but treated as a vehicle so no health status.
• If you play the mini-game in the Hamsterball in Fortune Park a few times you can unlock that one and roll around that whole outdoor area. - by daftdethmonkey

Achievements

• The game contains 50 achievements including 1 secret achievement and 51 trophies.
  Click here for a list of the Xbox360 Achievements
  Click here for a list of the PS3 Trophies