Playing Dead Rising 2 for
the first time is a bit strange: walking around the place
bashing the daylights out of zombies is great, but I found myself engaging less in combat as I made my way into the mall area. That’s probably because I forgot to get proper weapons before leaving, and had only a serving tray in my hands.
You begin the game as Chuck Greene, a motocross star who is scouring the city for an
expensive drug called Zombex. Because his daughter has been infected
you are forced to locate this item and feed it to her during specific
time periods. You have a floating navigation arrow sort of telling
you where to go, but it took me the better part of 30 minutes to try
and figure out exactly how it was aligned. As I struggled with
understanding the directional pointer, I couldn’t get out of the
beginning complex and Katey (the daughter) ‘turns’, thereby
ending the game!
What an idiot.
So I tried again, and once I got over my
knuckle-headedness the game became very straightforward in terms of
your objectives and areas of exploration. Like the original game, you
essentially run through the mall and surrounding town, obliterating
the undead with various objects. And there are loads of different
items one can use for murder weapons, from trash cans, brooms and
portable water fountains, to the more traditional baseball bat and
wrench items.
Thanks to the 2 hours I spent with this game, I’ve prepared a few bullet points that might be helpful to those not so
familiar with this franchise.
GOOD
- You have hundreds of available weapons to destroy with.
- Creating weapons can become extremely addictive, and is a great addition to the game.
- Save-game files are created by having your character use the toilet.
- Cash can be earned through creative side-games.
- Appropriately moody music and ambient noises make the experience more immersive.
BAD
- The controls are a little weird at
first, and some may find them a little sluggish and unresponsive at times. - Cut scenes abound, and can sometimes take the player out of the game flow.
- Graphics are good, but nothing boundary pushing.
- A bit of back-and-forth quests at the beginning, especially involving the medicine.
- No true interaction with NPC’s, outside of short text boxes.
The simple answer here is that if you’re looking for a right ol’ basher of a game, Dead Rising 2 is perfect for you. It has issues, but is absolutely worth a rental at the very least. Try it and see for yourself.
