Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Dead Rising 2 was a big success for Capcom. It introduced a new lead character in the awesome Chuck Greene, who was motivated to survive in order to keep his infected daughter Katie alive. Adding to the time-restraints, survivors and psychopaths, you also had to worry about getting Katie Zombrex, the official infection suppressor which only works for 24 hours at a time. It was fun, but many wondered why they chose to leave Frank West out. Although we got more of Frank in Case West, people felt it wasn't enough. Well about a year later, Capcom answered with Dead Rising 2: Off The Record.

In terms of Off The Record's story, it's pretty much the Dead Rising 2 story tweaked to include Frank. Terror is Reality plays into the game, as well as the conflicts with C.U.R.E, TIR host TK and his plans, and finding Zombrex since Frank has been infected.

After the famous reporter scored major points with the world after Willamette, his career and fame skyrocketed, but soon he became a passing fad. The outbreak was going global, and people were more concerned about protecting themselves than checking out stories and shows about Frank West.

Scrolling through channels on TV, Frank stops on a Terror is Reality commercial, sees the show a chance to get back into the spotlight.

The brief intro showing what Frank has been up to is pretty neat, but after that it is more or less the story of Dead Rising 2. While it is fun playing as Frank, if you've already played a good amount of DR2, Off the Record may not seem like a worthy purchase, but at $40 retail with the new sandbox mode and co-op, I would still suggest checking it out. Newcomers to Dead Rising 2 could start here and have a great time as well, especially if you've only played the original Dead Rising, or just prefer Frank over Chuck.

In terms of content, Off The Record has a few ways to play. The entire main game can be played in co-op, as well as the new sandbox mode. Sandbox allows you to explore Fortune City without any time-restraints, and places challenges all over the place, which include co-op and single player goals to complete.

Terror is Reality is gone from this game, but it's a mode that wasn't real critical to the game. Sandbox and Story co-op are contain a good amount of gameplay, and re-introduces the camera functions from the original game and Case West.

While saving survivors and defeating psychos is your best bet for gaining PP, taking photos can help out too. When survivors reunite or Psychos taunt you, you'll gain extra PP for those shots. The best part is that you have unlimited juice in the camera, so you no longer have to worry about finding camera batteries.

Off The Record is a good deal at $40, especially if you've never played Dead Rising 2. Sandbox and co-op are a blast, and you get to play as Frank again! Well, unless you don't like Frank that would be a downside. For returning players, sandbox is a good way to complete challenges and level up before going into story mode, and you get a new amusement park area called Uranus Zone to play around in.