dead rising 2 or off the record, im thinking of picking one up since they are on sale for steam today but i dont know what one to get. is the story the same, different gameplay? Any help would be great. Thanks.

I have the exact same question. So i'll post it here as well. 
 
I played the original Dead Rising on 360, but did not played the 2nd one yet : Which version should I get, Vanilla, or Off the Record?

From someone who has played both. I enjoyed the original dead rising 2 better. But saying that, each game pretty much offers the same thing. If you enjoy just killing zombies on the cheap and don't care for story, the go with off the record cause its only 9.99 as of right now (like half an hour left). But the original dead rising 2 has a far better story in my opinion.

Sorry for the Necro but I was gonna to make a thread asking the same question. Both versions are on PS4 now and I was wondering if any more people had advice as to which one I should buy (I realize they're selling all three as pack but I kinda want to save money and just get one for now).

I played Dead Rising 1 and really liked the character of Frank West, but am I missing out on anything by playing Off the Record first?

@claybrez: Off the Record, to me, feels very cheap in terms of the Dead Rising canon. It's basically taking all of the new, interesting stuff from vanilla DR2 (weapon combinations, the fantastic playground that was crafted, new characters that are actually sort of interesting) and grafting them all on to Frank West, and then they make Frank West into a completely unlikable jerk.

So, if you've never played either of them and just want the best gameplay possible, I'd recommend (begrudingly, and with a frowny face) Off the Record. If you're hungry for more Dead Rising and are willing to engage with a sympathetic and likeable main character at the expense of some content, I'd (gladly and whole-heartedly) say go for vanilla DR2.

So to sum it up: Off the Record has more content, DR2 is a more interesting game.

@the_nubster: Thanks for the thoughtful reply! I'll admit the idea of playing a re-imagined DR2 before playing the first version kinda bugged me, but I wasn't sure if DR2's story stuff was anything to write home about. I'm not too worried about the extra content, in fact, it's probably better to save it as a incentive to play Off the Record. So sounds like I'm going with Chuck Greene's version of the events. I kinda thought his story was a more interesting one, glad to hear it actually is. Thanks again.

You should probably play both.

If you complete one I would be very surprised if you will go back and do the other. They are functionally very similar and the thought of having to restart the game with a level 1 character is really off putting.

Just play Dead Rising 2 the extra stuff in Off The Record isnt that great, and I found the "Terror is Reality" gameshow to be a fun little diversion that feeds into the main game.

I would say Off the Record for its gameplay, but as much as I love Frank West, the story in DR2 is better.

OTR also has the first much requested actual sandbox mode.

Glad to see the shared sentiment! The story in DR2 is good for what it is, and Chuck's earnestness in the face of it worked particularly well for me. I've played both, but whereas I beat DR2 3 or 4 times, I didn't finish my first playthrough of OTR.