Dead Rising 2: Review

[Quadcentruo]

Before anyone says anything, I know I'm late, but who cares? I might be on time if I were to get paid to say good things about a game that I never played/owned. But luckily for you people, I own Dead Rising 2, and I have played it.

Dead Rising 2 is that not-so-long awaited sequel to Dead Rising, that is why there is the number "2" on the box. And seeing as it is a sequel, you would think one of two things. The first being "It is worse because it is a sequel" or the complete opposite being "It is better because it is a sequel".

If you ask me, the second is true. But now that I have said that, I have to back that up with some actual review stuff.

You play as Chuck Greene, an ex-motocross star whose daily job is to get medicine for his daughter who had an unfortunate run-in with a zombie. Sadly, we don't get to see the daughter get bitten by a zombie because it is, according to Chuck, a "pre-existing condition".

Just like last time, something goes wrong, there is a zombie outbreak, and you take refuge in a security room that just so happens to have an air duct leading to the mall in it. The only difference between then and now is you have been framed for said outbreak.

Other than saving people from the seemingly endless amounts of zombies and running from place to place trying to clear your name, your job is to find medicine for your daughter, who had an unfor- you know what, I already said this, so you will have to go back up and read it again. But really, finding this medicine is no walk in the park.

Besides every thing else I just mentioned, you can also fight some psychopaths. Some are harder than others, though. For example, one psychopath is one of the contestants on the show you had to compete in during the opening part of the game. Another is a mailman who will not stop delivering mail, and then he tries to kill you because you signed your name for some medicine for your daughter.

For anyone who bothered to get far enough in Dead Rising 1, you will know there was a gun store, but there was a crazy red-neck guarding it with a 12-gauge shotgun. Fortunately, you wont have to fight a man wielding the weapon that blows the only thing keeping your head connected to the rest of your body off.

Now to get to the fun stuff, the weapons and their unique ability. In the first game, if you could pick it up, it was a weapon. The same goes for this game, but there are more useful weapons AND you can combine certain weapons together to make even more useful weapons. But some of the combination's are things you would never think would go together. For example, you can mix a drill with a spear to make a driller.

I think I'm missing something big here - the story. As one big reviewer once said: (Quote from Ben Croshaw) "This is Capcom, the story is naturally retarded," I disagree with him. Sure, the idea of people opposing violence to zombies isn't really logical, the main story is understandable - you've been framed, you have to clear your name before the military arrives or be arrested for terrorism.

Something new that was added in this game is money. You may be asking yourself, "Why would I need money during a zombie outbreak? Wouldn't I just loot stores for food/weapons/clothes/etc.?" Well, yes and no. Yes because you will loot stores for food, clothes, weapons and such, no because you need that money to pay for things in the stores that looters have set up. Although, it is a bitter-sweet relationship between you and the looters because they try to rob you of everything you have (well, just your items and clothes) after knocking you down once with a swing of their crowbar.

If you ever feel lonely or have felt lonely while playing Dead Rising, you can put your lonely-ness behind you because Capcom added an online co-op. Now you can jump into your friend's games and kill hordes of undead with each other. Or, if your not a fan of co-op, you can always play Terror Is Reality (abbreviated TIR) online. In this mode, you can compete with others at "who can kill the cast of Zombie Land first."

Another big thing I forgot to mention is the level up system. Just like in Dead Rising, you get everything through leveling up - health upgrades, skills, larger inventory, and even combo cards. Sadly, this game has the same problem Dead Rising 1 has, you can't choose what to upgrade - it all happens for you.

I know I'm dragging on, or at least that is what it feels like while typing all of this up, but I need to say everything you need to know. The only other thing I really need to say are the movements. When using larger/longer weapons, moving at short distances, or even turning your body while standing completely still, becomes challenging with all the zombies in the way and the crazy movements of Chuck.

And now, for the part everyone truly cares about - the score. It looks something like this:
Graphics: 9 of 10 - motions of things from far away is very clean, unlike Fable III. But the blood splattering onto your weapons and clothes just from tapping a zombie could've been better.
Controls: 7.5 of 10 - most of those points are from simplicity, but a lot of them are lost due to choppy motions.
Fun Factor: 8.7 of 10 - this game is very fun, but the frustrating psychopath fights, along with main story fighting and medicine finding, makes this game seem less fun.

Overall: 8.9 of 10 - This is the kind of game you can sit down and enjoy for hours at a time. The only thing keeping this game from a 10 of 10 are the controls, the annoying medicine gathering, and some logic issues. Example, you can win slots 5 times in a row just because some money was found in front of it.