Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
Developers: Capcom, Blue Castle
Publisher: Capcom
Producer: Keiji Inafune
Platforms: PS3, XBOX 360, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed by: Bitches Leave
There are very few things that end up as high on the “Favorite Things To Do In a Zombie Apocalypse” list as “kill massive amounts of zombies in creative ways.” Dead Rising has long been known as the best outlet for zombie murdering madness, and they failed to disappoint again with Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. In this version of the sequel we once again take control of everyone's favorite photojournalist, Frank mother-fucking West.
I will say here and now that I loved Chuck Greene. When I found out that there was going to be a different protagonist in Dead Rising 2, I didn't start whining (as a lot of people I spoke with about it did). I was excited to see what they could do differently and how it would be connected, and I had a lot of fun with it. When I played Case Zero I was already hooked to the new features – combo weapons, the need for Zombrex, all of it. I did, however, miss the capability to take photos, so I was thrilled when it was reintroduced with Case West (which I have yet to play), and even more-so when I heard about Off the Record.
If you've never played a Dead Rising game and the idea of slaughtering zombies, rescuing survivors, and defeating whack-jobs, all while digging to the bottom of a deep conspiracy of what caused the zombie outbreak makes you ecstatic, then you are doing yourself an injustice. All of them are most definitely worthy of your attention, and if you are able to get Case Zero and Case West, I suggest you start there. It's like a small expansion pack that doesn't require you to own the full game, probably because it's just enough to get you hooked and ready to purchase the bigger, better version. Anyway, from here on out I'm going to just assume that you've played at least one DR game and know the gist of what I'm talking about.
This game isn't like other disappointing add-on's - just a lame extension that changes your character's appearance and add new maps - it's a complete revamp of DR2. It is essentially a remade version of it, from the basics up. The dialogue was reworked in the majority of the cutscenes, while some (where there is no dialogue from Chuck/Frank in either version) remain untouched. If you've played any of the previous titles you'll be rewarded with some allusions in the updated script. There are new combo weapons, survivors, and more – but I'll get to that later. The main storyline is largely unchanged, so you won't find much there except for the previously mentioned dialogue changes. There are some slight differences but all in all the plot is maintained from DR2. Fear not! For there is a pretty good list of other things to keep you committed to seeing it through.
The new map area is basically a giant state fair with zombies instead of carnies, thrown into a space age theme. Complete with food that never fills you up, absurd amounts of mindless wanderers (yet the midway is empty), and rides that are sectioned off with movable barriers, the “Uranus Zone” is a great place to meet some new zombie friends and brutally kill them. It is also the location of the Fortune City Bank, where you can open a bunch of safety deposit boxes for extra swag. The keys are scattered all over the city, so good luck finding all of them.
As far as weapons go, there have been a lot of additions. When I noticed the laser sword (read: generic lightsaber) was a combo item this time, I was disappointed that it wasn't combined with another laser sword to make a double-sided blade. Although I did have a lot of fun searching for new combos (and discovering others on accident) that are completely new to this installment. Fear not! All of your old favorites are still around, including horror favorites like the Portable Mower (Braindead) and Boomstick (Army of Darkness in name only, for the Boomstick is only part shotgun in DR2). Besides having new combo weapons there are also new component weapons and regular items, so there is an entirely new round of experimenting to conquer. Most of it begins with the question “I wonder how badly this would hurt...” Reactions to some of the new combos include “Holy Shit!”, “What... the... fuck...”, “You have to look at this!” and “Are you fucking kidding me!?”
There are also more characters to bump into, survivors and psychopaths alike, and some of the survivors are located in different areas (but their needs are the same as before). Although the number of these new NPC's is limited – it can't be much more than ten altogether, if that – there's so much going on that you can spend all of your free time answering Rebecca's “assignments” and bumping into your own randomly. A second play-through is good for gathering trophies/achievements, and I always ignore everything but the main missions in favor of my own agenda. If you like to play like that anyway, you will love...
Sandbox mode is available directly from the beginning. You do not have to even start the story mode in order to access it, and if you are strapped for play time or stressed at a difficult mission, this is exactly the answer. In DR2:OTR the sandbox mode is basically a free-for-all where you can go wherever you want to and destroy as many zombies as you can. As your kill count rises, you will be able to access challenges (locations conveniently marked on your map) all over the city, unlocking the more grueling ones as your progress. Also conveniently, you are notified every time you unlock a new challenge. These are pretty basic timed challenges; kill as many zombies as you can in 20 seconds, score as much pp as you can in 30 seconds, etc. but you can revisit them over and over to beat your score and try to attain a gold medal for each one. To keep you busy in between challenges, all of the survivors from Story Mode are scattered around the city, ready to kill you for no reason. Also a bonus, your Sandbox Mode and Story Mode are connected, so any stats you gain on one side will go to your game file on the other. Yes, that includes your money. Yes, that includes your level and PP. Basically, the only thing that isn't shared by the files are the items you are holding.
So if you agree that 1) it was too soon for a Dead Rising 3 but 2) the wait between Dead Rising 1 and 2 was ungodly long and 3) it's always fun to slay the undead, then you should agree that 4) Off the Record is totally worth your time and 5) people who complain about it have no soul.
