My Review of Dead Rising 2. (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
Dead Rising 2. The second game in a franchise about putting humor into the zombie apocalypse. After journeying the wastelands of a zombie-infested mall with Frank West, we were so excited when a sequel to the amazing game was announced. And how did it turn out? Well, imagine living in a world where you don't have to pay for anything, you live in a huge house, you have an awesome spouse, and you have an adorable puppy. Take that feeling that you have during that alternate timeline, and you have the feeling you get when playing DR2.
Dead Rising 2 mixes an amazing dramatic Zombie story with some hilarious humor and pop culture references. And unlike some things, Dead Rising 2 makes it work. It far surpasses it's predecessor, and it's all around awesome. But what makes it awesome? Let's take a look, shall we?
1: The Story.
The story of DR2, follows the life of Chuck Greene. A motocross star working in a game called "Terror Is Reality" to earn some money for his daughter, so he can buy her "Zombrex", a miracle drug that postpones zombification for 24 hours. If his daughter, named Katey, does not receive Zombrex before that time, she will turn and die. Anyway, after winning (Or failing) Terror is Reality, Chuck heads to find his daughter so they can get some Zombrex together. However, things do not go as planned when an outbreak starts and releases flesh eating Zombies all over the place.
Chuck saves Katey, and the two of them, plus many survivors, reach the shelter, in which no Zombies can get in. Chuck then meets Stacey Forsythe, a protest leader of C.U.R.E, an organization dedicated to understanding Zombies as people, and looking to cure them.
Not much else to say for the story other than some twists and turns, boss battles with psychopaths, and a woman named Rebecca. Either way, the story is gripping and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.
There's a lot more to the story, but I think I'll let you guys play the rest to find it out. (Still spoiling the ending though)
2: Gameplay and Controls.
The gameplay is fantastic. Everything is a weapon. As you Journey outside the safe house, you can pick up Baseball bats, Knives, Guns, Even a park bench. Anything you can pick up, it can likely be used to kill a Zombie. The healing items, while rarer to come by, are pretty cool too. You can use Alcohol as a healing item, but if you consume 3 alcohol items, Chuck begins to vomit. He does this about 4 more times, and stops every time he does. You also drop whatever item you're carrying when he vomits, so if you're fighting an entire horde, sickness is not going to be your ally. It's a pretty cool mechanic, I must say.
Other aspects of the gameplay include crafting and Rescue Missions/Psychopath Fights. Rescue missions are usually simple. Stacey contacts you on the radio, she lets you know of the where-abouts of a survivor, you do an easy task for them, you bring them back the the bunker. However, the Psychopaths are another story.
Rarely, Stacey will call you and let you know of a peculiar character in an area. That person will be a Psychopath. They will usually be holding a unique weapon that is rare to find or craft, but it's extremely difficult to kill them, and more often than not, they'll have a long range weapon. Something you probably won't have. However, some of the Psychopaths are really fun boss battles, and They're some of my favorite parts of the game.
Next, We have the Crafting. The basic idea of crafting is "If it's an unrealistic thing to combine, you bet your sweet ass you can combine it." The crafting items are AMAZING. We've got "Freedom Bear", which is a Robotic Teddy Bear fused with a machine gun. The "Paddle-Saw", a fusion of 2 chainsaws on the ends of a paddle. The "Defiler", which is a fusion of a Fire Axe and a Sledgehammer, and many more. Each item gives you 2x or more EXP, which you need to beat most of the boss battles. Crafting is just all around awesome.
Finally, in gameplay, We have the Missions, or in this case, "Case Files". (See what I did there? In this CASE. See? Sorry.) Case files are the main missions of the game. Each one is on a timer, and you have a limited time to complete them. Fail any of them and you have the choice to either keep playing or load the game up from before you failed. The choice to keep playing instantly gives you the worst possible ending, while retrying gives you an extra chance to learn from your mistakes. But in the "Give Katey Zombrex" missions, if you fail, the game ends.
All you need to know about the controls is that most of them are convoluted as hell. But after playing for a while, you'll get the hang of it.
3: The Atmosphere.
Honestly, though it IS a horror game, The atmosphere is pretty weak. It doesn't build up any tension, it just feels calm and peaceful, that is, until you're attacked by a herd of Zambos. Nothing much can be said about the Atmosphere, it's just elevator music.
4: The Ending.
I can't say anything about any of the endings except for one, because I only received "Ending A", which is the second best possible ending, but I will talk about the ending I got.
In the final Cases, Case 7-3 and "THE FACTS", Chuck returns to the Safe house, wielding important information about the outbreak. It was revealed that Phenostans, (Is that how it's spelled/said?) is behind the outbreak, Ironically, Phenostans were the creators of Zombrex, and they started the Outbreak so people would buy more Zombrex, as did they start the outbreak in vegas that claimed the life of Chuck's wife.
After Rebecca says that she would call the news station to inform them of this, the game throws the most emotional curve ball in HISTORY and has Sullivan (The watchman of the bunker) kill Rebecca. He then reveals that he had been working with Phenostans and started the entire outbreak. Sullivan escapes with the information, and tries to leave the city as the Government prepares the firebomb the entire thing.
Chuck chases after Sullivan, and kills him, preventing the info from escaping. Shortly afterwards, Stacey, Chuck and Katey all prepare to leave the city via helicopter. But after seeing Katey dropped her backpack, Chuck runs back and attempts to get it, but is attacked by a herd of walkers, including TK, who had been zombified because of your selfishness.
Stacey and Katey escape, as Chuck goes missing. And there's nothing more to it.
The ending is fantastic, and I worked so hard to get it, and it was time well spent.
5: Final Rating.
I rate Dead Rising 2 10/10. While Chuck not being able to sprint pissed me off, and the Atmosphere was bad, it does not excuse this game from being all around nearly perfect. It's an amazing game with amazing mechanics, and amazing fucking everything, and if you're a fan of Zombie apocalypse things, I STRONGLY recommend you play this game ASAP. If Capcom were to make more games like this, they'd be sitting on top of so much more money than they are right now, along with a lot more fans.
Comments
I'm glad I'm not the only one who loved this game
How could you be? It's fantastic!
I love Frank and Chucks cheesy as hell one liners.
Its my least favourite of the games for just how cooky the whole game is. Its always been fun and all but I always appreciated more of a serious story, plus the game was way too easy, the survivors you escort literally require no effort whatsoever to take to the saferoom. Also Ihated how money became a thing, so ridiculous.
Again I did still like the game
I'd rank them
1,3,2
I just like the original the most, even if it quite dated by now.
It was more of a chore in pretty much all of the installments, but they were ok I guess. Plus, it was better than having the retarded A.I. from the first Dead Rising. Literally almost all of them died while I was escorting them because they fell behind.
I liked that though, it was hard and to be honest they were not even that hard, people make the mistake of telling them to follow you. If you give them a way point they are not even that hard to direct. Also they had death scenes which was pretty cool, they could turn into zombies, the new ones just meh, not to mention I hated pretty much everyone in 2 as they always wantedhelp withsome task before coming with me. Not a life or death situation but just "Get me money or get me this item". I didnt even like any of the main characters in 2 either.
I still save all the guys who actually just need help but I just kill the rest
Oh yea, there were death scenes for the survivors. I thought that was cool.
No doubt Dead Rising one had more interesting characters than 2.
But in terms of gameplay I thought DR2 was better, and DR2 Off the Record was like the best of both worlds because we get Frank West. Probably in the minority with that.
dr2 otr was better but im still trying to get one mllion dollars for the ransom
I love Off the Record. Its my favorite even though it's a spin off.
"I've covered wars, You know!" ~ Frank West. I love how THAT'S how he shows he's a professional.
Eh. I thought the game was pretty challenging. And the laughable story was one of my favorite parts of the game. but hey, to each their own.
Not to mention Otis. Fuck that guy, calling me in the middle of a horde.
Just break all the ATM's, Leave the area, and break them again. I got 50,000 in a few minutes by doing that.
Yeah, OTR is pretty cool. I liked Case West a bit better though.
Ugh. In Off the Record they fixed that by having actual dialogue, and making it skippable!
The Psychopath bosses were a little harder. That fucking chef for example.
I was thinking more along the lines of their one liners whenever they defeat psychopaths.
ive gotta try that ive just been doing sandbox mode to try and get the million fo
r story
Love this game, but I like Frank West a bit more than Chuck. A bit more. But yeah, 10/10, I agree.
I love Otis, but for fucks sake man, I'm in the zombie apocalypse, don't call me rude cause I hanged up. I prefer Isabel's dialogue if you hang up on her.
Yeah. I like those too.
Exactly!
Yep. I also hate it how Otis only calls you when you're in the middle of like 30 zombies.
Oh, and don't forget that fucking asshole sheriff guy in the Hotel.
Yeah, it's pretty simple for me. It'll take a while, but it will get done.
Oh I love Frank West too. But I feel like Chuck is a bit more relatable.
OMG! Out of all the bosses that had crazy weaponry such as a huge ass chainsaw, a cannon, and a butcher's knife, this guy has a fucking nightstick and a six shooter and could kill your ass easily in like 5 hits. No idea how thats possible