My Review On: Dead Rising 2

[DarkBlade325]

Once again- I'm a bit late to the party. But I definitely figured that this game deserved to get my word. Now- I never played the first one, but I had seen footage, pictures, ect ect. So when this second one came out, figured I'd pick it up. Definitely a good call. The game is based around a Las Vegas- like area/mall that is over run with zombies, and I mean ALOT of them. Ever play Left 4 Dead / 2? Take the number of zombies you see in a regular horde, and multiply that number by like 5 times. The game is made by Capcom, and is an incredibly fun zombie shooter. Long read ahead, by the way. My walls of text shall blot out the sun!

This is a typical scene in Dead Rising 2, by the way.

As you can see above (that is, if you still have eyes and they didn't melt when you laid eyes on it), it doesn't exactly take it's self seriously. Come on- it's made by Capcom, what did you expect? Anyways, figured I should talk about the story and gameplay now. Seeing how the game is made by Capcom, don't expect a...Great, story I should say. It's not exactly bad, but it's definitely not great either. The story is based around the main character, Chuck Greene who has found himself in this Las Vegas-like city which is called Fortune City. He travels with his daughter Katey, and due to an unfortunate incident, the little girl was bitten by a zombie and as such, she carries the zombie virus which can only be contained with Zombrex, which is incredibly expensive. Because of this, Chuck had to travel here and compete in a TV show called Terror is Reality to get the money to buy it. After he has done so, someone who has impersonated Chuck has released the zombie horde into the city, causing a massive outbreak, and Chuck is to blame. Now he has 3 days to clear his name, all while giving Zombrex to his little daughter throughout the whole thing.

The gameplay is excellent, to say the least. There's a ton a weapons in the game- just about anything that's not bolted to the ground (some things that ARE bolted to the ground can be used as weapons, still!) can be used as a weapon of some sorts. Even things like you wouldn't think to use can be, like Ketchup, a handbag, a base-ball, and freakin' water gun? And even a dildo. Sure- they're joke weapons, but these small touches are absolutely awesome in my opinion.

Another typical scene in Dead Rising 2. Good-luck getting to the other side.

Along with the whole 'anything is a weapon' thing, there's also combo weapons which can be obtained by combining two weapons into one. Basics from a baseball bat with nails, to things like a home made flame thrower, a wheel chair with 2 assault rifles strapped to them, and propane tanks with nails jammed into it. You can also customize Chuck in a variate of ways, as you can see above. Sure- you can put him in a suit and hat and be all 'dressed to kill', but you can also put on a dress and a beanie cap with a handbag and go around hitting zombies with it. And of course you can be a cowboy with a knife, too. Which is my favorite.

There's a basic leveling up system as well. The game encourages you to rescue survivors, and use combo weapons to boost your experience up. Personally, I found that using the Boxing Knives weapons was the best weapon to use- and whenever I was seriously playing, those were my main weapon. They're easy to make, and destroy anything standing in their way. But as I said, I only use them when I'm playing seriously...which is like 5% of the time in Dead Rising 2.

Now- the graphics aren't amazing. But the game has it's reasons. Look at that second picture, all those zombies with standard generation graphics would KILL consoles and computers. So it has to have low quality graphics. But graphics don't make a game, so don't let that determine the game's quality for you. I've only got one complaint about Dead Rising 2 though: Time Limits.

This game REVOLVES around time limits. 3 Days, saving survivors, giving Zombrex to Katey, on missions- EVERYTHING, has a time limit. And I hate time limits in games. I like to take my own swell time in games, even more so in a game like Dead Rising.  Seriously, you got all these zombies, and all these ways to kill them. You can use Chuck's epic martial arts, use flaming boxing gloves, a wheel chair, a tricycle, ect ect. And the game expects you to ignore all that and focus on the missions. It wouldn't bother me so much if the game let you do any of these things at anytime you want. But no- the only reason the zombies are there are to kill time is what it feels like. And that just kills some of the fun for me. So here's what you do for all the PC Dead Rising 2 players out there. Make an alternate '!@#$ around' save. Download a trainer that allows you to Add/Subtract time (and preferably Infinite ammo, and weapon duration for bonus fun) and subtract time until your Main Mission, and Katey's Zombrex dose timers run down to 0. Sit though Katey's zombification cut scene, get scolded by the game, and hit 'Continue Play'. Then boost the time back up and just kill shit and rescue the occasional survivor if you feel like you can be asked. So use that save whenever you wanna !@#$ around, kill shit, and explore. And use your regular save for the story and missions. I'm on this save 90% of the time when I play Dead Rising 2. All I want to do is to explore the area, kill zombies, rescue the occasional survivor, fight the psychopaths, and over all just have fun with all the little things the game has to offer. The time limits aren't THAT bad, but I hate being on a leash when there's a ton of zombies with no hope of survival just waiting to be slaughtered and then that leash gets pulled back so you have to do some mission or find Zombrex for Katey.

"Yippee ki-yay, my dead, illiterate friend!"

Despite it's time limit and other flaws, this was definitely one of my favorite games of 2010. I havn't had the chance to play other great titles like Just Cause 2, and Red Dead Redemption, but that's only because I don't have Windows 7 for Just Cause 2, and I havn't had the chance to pick up Red Dead. But I put DR2 up there with one of my Top 5 games in the past 2 years. I definitely think you should pick this up- don't rent it, BUY it. Also- kudos to you if you actually read though all my bullshit. If I had to give DR2 a rating, it would be a 9.0 easily.