The bugs and repetitive gameplay dull the experience a bit, but hopefully downloadable content will expand the gameplay, and a patch will fix the bugs. The humor, weapon combos, kill variety, and Sandbox mode makes it one that warrants a look. Should You Buy Dead Rising 2: Off The Record?ĭead Rising fans will find much to like in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. What really stuck with me were the squishy sounds made by hard objects as they penetrated soft issue it made impaling and smashing the dead that much more satisfying. I also appreciated the camera that shifts to dynamic angles when you land one-hit kills (such as decapitating a zombie with a crowbar).Īudio is what you'd expect from a zombie game lots of moaning and semi-eerie B-movie tunes that serve as the action's soundtrack. I would've liked more blood-soaked walls and weapons, but when zombie-juice splatters on Frank West's suit as he regulates zombies, it turns from gray to a dark crimson-a nice touch. The zombie horde is deep-really deep-and you'll marvel at the sheer number of walking stiffs that are onscreen at once. What the game lacks in mind-blowing graphics design, it makes up in scale. The bugs aren't as extensive as those of the original Dead Island, but they're still very annoying when they pop up in the heat of battle.ĭead Rising 2: Off The Record won't win and end-of-year awards for its visuals-they're solid, but not spectacular. There were times when I would pick up a weapon, only to have Frank either freeze in place or get stuck in an animation frame until I dropped the weapon. That isn't a huge negative, but the bugs that appear amid all the killing do prove quite irksome. You kill zombies, kill more zombies, and then kill even more zombies. The first few hours of massacring monsters are quite thrilling-especially with the creative weapon combos and usages-but soon after you realize that it's a shallow experience. The combat, however, gets old after a while. You can even use hacked-off zombie parts as weapons themselves-there's few things in video games as funny as stuffing a severed hand into a zombie's own dripping maw. Objects can be combined to form new, hilarious weapons meld a sledgehammer and battery and let the electrified zombie-bashing begin. Plus, any coolant or frozen parts cause zombies to slip and fall when they step on the icy areas.
Fire extinguishers are particularly sweet weapons, as you can use then to freeze and then shatter zombies. For example, a bucket can be hurled from a distance, or plopped over a monster's head to confuse it and put you in the position to score big damage. Virtually anything in the environment that isn't a zombie can be used as a weapon, be it a baseball bat, 2 by 4, or wrench. The Dead Rising franchise is known for its creative combat, and that tradition continues in Off The Record. Of course, the option still exists to partake in timed challenges so that you can quickly earn cash and add some structure if you'd so choose. Some would say that the lack of urgency dulls the zombie-killing experience I say that sometimes you want to lop a head off without worrying about other matters.
In the Sandbox, gamers are free to run about and kill zombies without missions, timers, or other pressures. New to the franchise is Sandbox mode-one of series' fans most requested features, according to Capcom.
Snapping pictures of the zombie invasion earns Prestige Points (the game's version of experience points) that let players level up Frank and his weapons. Frank West's return as lead character-explained in rather boring cutscenes in Story mode-means that photo opps have also returned as a gameplay element.
The $39.99 Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 I reviewed the PC game.ĭead Rising 2: Off The Record wears its intent on its sleeve-the game is all about giving gamers the opportunity to absolutely destroy zombies in myriad ways while rescuing any survivors that they stumble across. Stomping the undead is fun-for a while-but bugs and repetitive gameplay keep Dead Rising 2 from achieving true greatness. This Dead Rising 2 reimagining sees the gruff photojournalist facing off against a wider array of monsters, building new weapons, snapping photos, and best of all, mixing it up in a new open-world sandbox mode.
How to Set Up Two-Factor Authenticationįrank West returns to zombie-slaying action in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record.