As mentioned in the title, I've never played a Dead Rising game. I did try the demo for the Case Zero that came out last year and thought it was decent. I've always been sort of scared off by the saving issues and having to die and constantly restart your game. However, with the sandbox mode in off the record, couldn't I technically start off in there, level up my guy a bunch and then head into the story? If I start having trouble, go back to sandbox, level some more and re enter the game where I left off?

@GetWhatYagive: Either this coming week or the week after case zero will be on sale for 200 points, a killer deal. I suggest buying that and if you want a better looking, much bigger experience then I say go for it. Case West will also be half price but that is set after vanilla DR2.

Saving isn't as much of an issue any more, really. There are bathrooms everywhere, and you just have to go and save. I really don't see what the issue with fixed save points is, many games have them. The problem in Dead Rising 1 is that there were only one or 2 places you could save but the second game fixed that.

Regarding the dying and restarting thing, you don't have to do that. It only effects you if you care about the missions, which you shouldn't first time round because you aren't high enough level. You can totally keep playing without main missions bothering you after you fail, so its all good. With the sandbox mode though you can just play that to level up but again, some slight misinformation or skewed perception from people here. Just play, have fun, kill zombies and when you are ready jump in to the story.

Edit: also, check out my guide on this forum or the Dead Rising 2 forum. There are some great gameplay tips that span all of the games on there as well as help with some of the trickier parts of the game. It isn't very spoilery.

Off the Record is the best Dead Rising game yet, and playing Case Zero doesn't really do justice to the fun that can be had in an entire mall with about 100+ more weapons to screw around with.

But I would do what AlisterCat said, you should buy Case Zero for cheap and see how much you enjoy that. It's a fun little adventure, but it really has no comparison with the actual full game.

@AlisterCat: @Landon: @Pr1mus:

Sounds good, thanks for the tips guys.

I'll keep an eye on it then. It sounds like the missions don't play as big of a role as I thought, and it's more just about taking out as many zombies as you can...and having fun while doing so.

@GetWhatYagive: Well, the missions are what give the game structure and drama, but the way the formula is set up its pretty much impossible for most people just to plow through the game as its set up. Luckily there is pretty much no penalty for just ignoring the missions other than you can't tackle the story for that playthrough any more but you can still mess around and rescue survivors if you feel like it. It is still worth doing the missions as they add variety and the story is worth seeing, but you cant do it straight away.

Like I said, pick up case zero and give that a go. A bitesize experience for cheap.