DEAD RISING 2

Dead Rising 2 is, of course, the sequel to Dead Rising, a unique video game from 2006.

In the first Dead Rising, players assumed the role of freelance photojournalist Frank West. Set in a zombie infested Mall (ala Dawn of The Dead) Dead Rising gave horror fans a unique experience that really hadn't been seen before in a video game. Of course, you could argue that Resident Evil did this first. However, Resident Evil was set in a mansion and you couldn't kill a zombie with a lawnmower in that game, could you? No offense whatsoever to Resident Evil, I love that game and without it's success there will definitely be no Dead Rising.That being said, the ending of Dead Rising was somewhat of a cliffhanger, leaving fans eager to know what had become of Frank and Isabella, the sister of the terrorist Carlito, who had caused the outbreak. So what happened to Frank and Isabella? Is this question answered in Dead Rising 2?

The answer is simple. No. No it is not. At least not yet.

Instead, players take the role of motocross superstar, Chuck Greene. Chuck is actually a pretty cool guy. He's a good father and when it comes to defeating bosses, can toss out a wise ass remark or two. Chuck lost his wife in the Las Vegas outbreak, in which his daughter was bitten. However, thanks to the new medicine known as Zombrex, his daughter survived. Zombrex is not cure however, and only lasts 24 hours. It pretty much delays the zombification process as long as it's taken every 24 hours. In short, it's the medicine that Frank and Isabella invented using the Queens at the end of the first game.

Zombrex is incredibly expensive and in order to afford it Chuck must compete in TIR or Terror Is Reality, a PPV game show in which people slaughter zombies for points. The show is not appreciated by the protest group CURE, which supports zombie rights. Seriously. If you think about, it actually does make sense.

Regardless, if that's all that would happen, this wouldn't be much of a game would it? Sure enough, a zombie outbreak occurs and Chuck is framed for it. Chuck makes it to the safe room with his daughter Katey, and only has 3 days to clear his name. What happens in 3 days? The army arrives and arrests Chuck. If this were not enough trouble, Chuck must keep finding Zombrex for Katey or she becomes a zombie. 

The gameplay in Dead Rising 2 is a massive improvement from the first game. The controls are much less clunky this time around and feel a lot smoother and responsive, maybe this is because of the involvement of Blue Castle Games, which is a new company I think. If this is there first game, I'm very impressed and I'm eager to see more from them in the future. Capcom definitely made the right choice in picking Blue Castle Games to handle this title. 

I can honestly say that I can't really praise this game enough. In nearly every aspect, it's a step up from the first game. That being said, there are some nagging flaws with it, no game is perfect by any means. My main complaints aren't very major though. First of all, the bosses this time around just didn't do anything for me honestly. I mean, they're pretty freaky, but they just don't seem to have the same amount of creativity put into them as their predecessors did. Also, the last boss, (not the S ending boss) just felt kinda thrown in. So really my main complaint is that the antagonists don't have much character to them this time around. It makes the boss battles a bit lacking.

It all other aspects, Dead Rising 2 has surpassed the original and is definitely worth picking up. And don't worry, if you're eager to hear about Frank West, an upcoming DLC pack called Dead Rising 2: Case WEST will feature West and Chuck teaming up. So that will definitely be something to look forward to in the near future.

A great game, worth every penny. Definitely pick this one up if you can spare the cash.

My Rating

9 out of 10