Dead Rising 2

“Everything you’ve heard about the newly renovated Fortune City? It’s all true.

Unbelievable things happen here.

Are you hungry for adventure? Explode your senses. You can risk it all with cutting edge competition. Lose your head, or just maybe your heart.

Open yourself up in Fortune City”

Yeah… if you like death, mayhem and zombie guts splattered on your face! Luckily for me, I do!

Let us get one thing clear, if you ever need a dose of the undead, there is only one place you should turn: Capcom. Their history with the evil bastards is nothing short of epic and if anyone knows how to dish them out in the most entertaining way possible, it’s these guys. If you want to feel the isolation and fear of a zombie apocalypse then Resident Evil is always going to be your best friend. If you want to get your own back with a chain saw and carve the mothers up into a million pieces, then get your ass to Fortune City, the new home of the Dead Rising series!

Since the first outbreak in Willamette, Colorado, five years ago, the notion of zombies is a world wide realisation. Following the investigation by Frank West in Dead Rising, you now play as Chuck Greene, who has found himself in Fortune City with his daughter to take part in a zombie game show called ‘Terror Is Reality’. His aim is to earn cold hard cash for Zombrex, a new anti-viral drug that suppresses the zombie infection in newly bitten victims. His daughter, Katey, is one such afflicted casualty and the primary focus of Dead Rising 2 is to stop her breaking out into an “I wanna eat your brains, Daddy” fever by dosing her up every 24 hours.

Thanks to the zombie infestation taking over Fortune City, the threat of the undead requires you to stay alive for 3 days before military aid comes to town (yeah, we can all see how well that one is going to end after the first game!). On top of this, and similar to the first title, you are then required to uncover the mystery behind the town’s new zombie plague whilst ferrying survivors to the safe room as the arrival of help counts down.

While a summary of the plot behind this game can seem like a handful, the result for the gameplay is a zombie-paced slug for the first hour. The initial opening sequences are incredibly fragmented with animated sequences and loading screens. Those of you who played the Case Zero Xbox Live Arcade title prior to this will recognise the frustration of wanting to just get in and kill things! However, once you have the chance to really get your teeth stuck into what this game has to offer, you won’t be disappointed, as the developing storyline that results from the opening sequences is full of genuinely surprising twists and heightens the plot of the game… once it gets going.

Capcom definitely use a ‘bigger, better, more’ assumption to combat the fact that the game mechanics are pretty much the same as the first Dead Rising title, but luckily for them, it works. The new combo weapon and collectible card system allows gamers to combine items into super weapons to use on the decrepit locals and creates a new twist on the old frustration many players felt from the first title. After all, if I have a chainsaw and a shopping trolley, why can’t I gaffer tape them together to make a wagon of death like the other psychopaths in town? Unfortunately the infamous shopping trolley is, as of yet, nowhere to be seen in Fortune City, but some of the many combinable options include the Boom Stick (a shotgun combined with a pitch fork), a beer hat, for on the go drinking, and Freddy Kruger style claws made from knives and boxing gloves!

Another fresh addition to the Dead Rising game-play is its multiplayer feature of ‘Terror Is Reality‘. Acting as part of the show from the main game, players can battle against other ‘still human’ competitors online in mini-game fashion to earn money to spend in Fortune City pawn shops during solo campaigns. While the feature is not as in-depth as it could have been, it does feel worthwhile taking part just to smash up some zombie bodies in humorous ways and earn a couple of extra K’s to spend in the pawn Shops of Fortune City while you play; imagine raving rabbids wanting to eat your brains and you’ll be on the right track.

Speaking of pawn, another factor worth mentioning is the extra attention to detail in shops, posters and locations. This was a feature that was impressive in the first game and helped players feel like they were really walking into a town centre. This has been improved on in Dead Rising 2, and thanks to the City of Sin theme, now features a range of iconic and dazzling Playboy pinup covers from the long running history of the magazine *insert wolf whistle here*! On top of this there are more weapons, usable items and themed shops, plus a host of casinos for you to gamble in, or smash up to your heart’s content!

Also in the mixing pot of juicy brains and entrails that is Dead Rising 2, are a host of new psychopaths to meet and destroy, challenging missions, and plenty of survivors to save. Thankfully the A.I of the people scattered around Fortune City is much more advanced than in the previous title, and feels like less of a mission and more of a quest to save them. After all, if they’ve managed to survive an outbreak for this long they should be able to get from one door to another right?