Dead Rising 2 Classics
ajroworth
|
3 years ago
2010-09-24 15:53:27
Buy it now!
Ever wanted to spray-paint a zombie red, smack it on the backside with a raft paddle and then cave it's face in with a crowbar? Yeah, me too! Thankfully, Dead Rising 2 lets you do just that and much more!
The original Dead Rising was released in 2006 and can now be considered fairly dated in terms of looks, but Dead Rising 2 manages to maintain the same gritty and realistic appearance of the first game, while being more polished and befitting of today’s graphical expectations. From the moment you switch the game on you’ll notice that the level of detail is incredible. Despite the spacious environments being littered with equipable junk and 10,000 zombies groaning and shuffling towards you like pensioners in a buffet queue, the game never suffers any slowdown, and is continuously pleasing to the eye. To complement the game’s good looks, DR2 also boasts a decent musical repertoire, and while in the mall areas you’ll be subjected to typical elevator’esque atrocities, you’re treated to some awesome tracks during boss fights, and they’re usually well worth the wait.
In truth, apart from better graphics there hasn’t actually been a lot of changes to this instalment, but a few of the niggles from the first game have been corrected. You can now have multiple save files, save points are more frequent, AI has vastly improved and the learning curve is a lot more forgiving. These small changes might not sound like much, but they make the game infinitely less frustrating than the original, and this should help it appeal to a wider audience.
The plot is rather basic, albeit intriguing. Throughout the game you’ll be playing as protagonist Chuck Greene. Chuck, a father with a tragic past, has been framed for the current zombie outbreak and takes it upon himself to search for survivors, while trying to unravel the true mystery behind the infestation and clear his name. You have 72 in-game hours to accomplish as many rescues as you are willing to brave the zombie masses for and gather evidence. The gameplay itself is almost identical in every aspect to the original Dead Rising, but as the saying goes if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! (Zombie + Crowbar = Fun!). You travel from A to B either on foot or by unlocking vehicles, surviving on whatever food and drink are laying around, and keep the undead at bay by using anything and everything. Then, upon successfully locating a survivor, Chuck has to persuade them to join him by whatever means seem appropriate and escort them to safety while protecting them along the way. One of the main concerns of the original Dead Rising is that the font used for these interactions was too small for SD Televisions, and while survivor scenes still aren’t voiced, fortunately the font is now larger and easier to see.
As before, zombies aren’t the only problem, even when they become twice as deadly from 7pm onwards, Human crazies are also in abundance. You’ve got everything here from slightly odd individuals, to stark raving lunatics and everything in between. Want to give them a taste of their own sorely needed medicine? Go for it! No? Well, don’t. While unlike the first game, the bosses don’t dodge bullets like they’re Jesus, the majority of them are completely optional. So, if you’re finding one psycho to be a little too much to handle, just leave the area and avoid going back there until they find somebody else to toy with. Of course, these quirky types do usually have hostages of some description, so if you let the mission expire, so do the lives of innocent people. Successfully rescuing people might be in your best interests though, as along with gathering information and killing psychopaths and zombies, they will earn you Prestige Points (PP). PP are used to level up, which the game does for you automatically, and will increase Chuck’s speed, attack damage, health, inventory capacity and combat skills. So, if you can’t carry quite as many spiked baseball bats as you’d like, then it might be a good idea to grind… some zombies into mush.
Speaking of spiked baseball bats, let me introduce Combination Weapons: Throughout the game you can find and earn Combo Cards which will give Chuck the recipe needed to craft deadly new weapons. May I recommend a bucket and a power drill? How about a wheelchair and a car battery? The resulting weapons will increase the PP earned from killing, and help you to level up faster. Admittedly, weapons are everywhere, and practically anything can be used to destroy the undead, but Combo Weapons are stronger and more beneficial. You can spot modifiable weapons and items by their blue wrench icon, and once your required “ingredients” have been obtained, you can take them to one of the numerous maintenance rooms available, slap them on the workbench and create a destructive abomination.
Money, as with real life, is also a fairly important factor in the game. While you may be able to finish the main story without spending a penny, every 24 hours you’ll be needing a dose of the drug Zombrex. Zombrex can be gained by rescuing survivors and defeating psychopaths, but occasionally time runs short and you’re out of luck. However, shops are dotted around the game environment and they do sell Zombrex, with a catch. The price of it increases upon every successful purchase, and due to this very reason the shops should only be used as a last resort. Basically, if you keep relying on the shops for your Zombrex the price won‘t just be steep, after a while it will be practically vertical and leave you very little cash for some of the more exotic items on sale.
If you’re struggling to acquire the necessary funds for your fix, running out of time and simply can‘t find any of the stuff, a quick nip onto Dead Rising 2’s Multiplayer could sort you out. The Multiplayer aspects are very basic, but sometimes leaving something simple is the best course of action, and the two options available here don‘t need any frills. If cooperative is your thing, the Online co-op allows two players to work together throughout the main story, and for those of you with a more competitive streak, you can opt to play a game called Terror is Reality (TIR). In TIR, 4 players battle it out using a variety of vehicles and imaginative weaponry (razor edged antlers, anyone?) to kill the most zombies and earn the most points. One bonus, is that the prize money won from playing TIR can actually be cashed into the main game, boosting Chuck’s available funds and help towards those major purchases.
If you liked the first game then you’ll love this, and fortunately if you’re new to the franchise, you need little prior knowledge of the original. As it stands, Dead Rising 2 is an extremely entertaining, zombie maiming experience, and offers a great deal of longevity. To gain all achievements and trophies you’re going to want to do multiple playthroughs, but hey, with a game this good you’d want to anyway!
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by: AJRoworth
Version Tested: Xbox
XB2DE10
XB2DE10
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