Retro Review: DEAD RISING 2
Well, being that it's the Halloween season, I figured I'd sift through some of my backlog and try to finish some horror games. After groaning at Silent Hill: Downpour, I decided to pop in something a little more on the silly side: Dead Rising 2.
Almost exactly seven years ago, I finished the first game, and wrote a favorably decent mini-review if I remember correctly. I bought 2 in early 2011 for about $30 new, but it still sat shelved up until last weekend. Why? I mean, I did have a good romp with Frank West's adventures through Willamette Mall, you'd think doing the same thing through a mock-up of Vegas would be ten times the fun!
I dunno. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. I mean, to be fair, I'm really sick of the zombie genre. Really fucking sick of it. It wouldn't sadden me to see zombies get put to rest for a good decade or two, I am that exhausted with them. Don't even ask me to play any of the Dead Island games, because I will tell you where to stick it. I'm not even that excited for Left 4 Dead 3...
Okay, I'm starting to get negative way too early with this review. Let's get the ball rolling, and see if Dead Rising 2 holds up as a memorable experience, even though I'm four years late on it!
Pros: Gory, silly, mindless fun; The ability to combine items into new weapons is extremely satisfying; Hundreds upon hundreds of zombies in packed areas, with little to zero slowdown; Entertaining story with a delightful b-movie tone; Being able to start over with all your stats greatly reduces frustration
Cons: Gridlocked and punishing time limit severely diminishes the open-world freedom the game offers; Escorting survivors becomes stale and repetitive; While survivors handle themselves better, they're still dumb as bricks; Excessive loading times; Some hit detection is problematic; Having to stop and hunt for Zombrex in the middle of the action is a pain in the ass
First Impressions & Story
Set in a fictional mock-up of Las Vegas, Fortune City is glamorous resort full of casinos, fine restaurants, luxurious suites, and the showcase of one of the biggest arena tournaments in the world: Terror is Reality. This gladiator-style event is hailed as the greatest zombie spectacle in existence, as viewers watch contestants battle it out over how much undead they can slay.
Chuck Greene is a former Motocross champion, who recently lost his wife in an outbreak, and was left to look after his ailing daughter Katey, who was unfortunately bitten. To keep her from zombification, he strives to do everything he can to keep her medicated on expensive and rare doses of the drug Zombrex.
Well, things go out of control once the barricades are sabotaged. Chuck and Katey manage to escape to an underground safe house with a handful of survivors, where they must wait for the military rescue to arrive. But with limited supplies, Chuck must make his way up to the surface for not only his daughter's medication, but to find any other survivors who may need help. It gets even more out of hand once Chuck learns early on that he's being framed for destroying the barricade.
So not only is Chuck forced to fight for his daughter's life, he must also fight to clear his name, and get to the bottom of what really happened.
The story is a pretty good setup, and it feels right at home with all the other b-movies we're familiar with. It has just the right amount of horror to make the setting perilous, but it doesn't try to overdo it. It refuses to take itself too seriously, adding many layers of cheese to the action, characters and dialogue.
As soon as you gain control of Chuck, things feel just as familiar as the first game. You exit the safe house through a ventilation shaft, and enter the basement of a shopping mall. Familiar territory as it may be, it's effectively used to help us regain that sense of momentum, but also give us an idea on how the mission structure works. You're immediately introduced to the game's weapon creation system, as well as how much Zombrex you need to find before the crisis is over.
There are even a couple of survivors you're able to rescue near the safe house's entrance, so everything is presented in a way that it feels more like a game and less like a tutorial session.
Visuals & Presentation
Being that the first Dead Rising came out in 2006, it's pretty obvious that the sequel has made some significant improvements in the graphics department. However, that's not saying that the original was an inferior effort. To be really honest, the original was a great example of what the XBOX 360 was capable of at the time. Hundreds of zombies wander around aimlessly, and not a single drop in framerate occurs. The same can be said for its sequel... but only prettier.
Environments are much brighter, the casinos alone illuminate and flicker with vibrant colors. Take out a swarm of zombies and their corpses will pile up on top of one another... but sadly, they do disappear over a short time. There is a minor issue with hit detection, as there are times where I'd have weapons go completely through some zombies.
But there is one thing I need to bitch about right out the door: The load times are inexcusably frequent, and far longer than what should be tolerated for a game released in 2010. For every section of the map, you enter a static loading screen, and when you're having to backtrack (which this game makes you do A LOT of), it really kills the momentum. A game like this should NEVER have it.
Gameplay
If you've played Dead Rising, you know the drill: Kill lots of zombies in creative ways, rescue survivors, and build experience (PP/player points) to improve your stats. Restart the game from the beginning, and you get to keep your stats like a typical "new game plus" mode. It's a great incentive to promote replay value, but it also greatly reduces frustration later on, being that you don't have time to grind in the regular story.
But the biggest thing this game improves upon the original with is definitely the ability to fuse items together. Combine a box of nails with a baseball bat, and you get a spiked bat. While a simple concept, the game has a LOT of fun with you. Find a power drill and a bucket? Have a drill bucket, in which you place on a poor zombie's head. Put some gems with a flashlight, and you get a lightsaber! Fuse a knife with some boxing gloves, and you get knife gloves! I about died laughing when I fused a car battery with a wheelchair, and ran around the mall, charging at zombies with it.
There are dozens of creative combinations, and while you can't exactly create something out of EVERYTHING, it's just enough to offer some hilarious surprises. And rewarding at that, as you gain higher PP when you kill with combined weapons. You also earn weapon cards later on as you level up, thus increasing the value per kill.
Another improvement is the scale of the playground you're thrown in. While it was just a shopping mall in the first game, this has multiple shopping centers, large casinos, fancy restaurants, and even a beautiful open courtyard. The casinos themselves are an amusing distraction, as you are able to gamble with the machines inside.
So yes, that implies money is a big factor this time around. Mostly used at pawn shops, you're able to buy combined weapons, vehicle keys (one absurdly priced at $2 million), and even supplies of Zombrex if trying to hunt for the stuff isn't your style. If you ask me, having that option is definitely a welcome one, and I'll explain why further down.
And people who enjoyed dressing up Frank in the first game won't be disappointed with Chuck. There are awesome and hilarious outfits aplenty scattered throughout the resort, I think it's almost impossible to find them all on your own. There are also these magazines you can find and carry which give stat boosts to specific weapons or actions.
Gee... I'm being awfully positive so far. Well, don't fret... I'm done with that.
Okay, while it was somewhat tolerable in the first game, if you want to fuck around and have fun in Dead Rising 2, you have to sever all intentions of finishing the game and lose on purpose. Like before, you are on a strict time limit of 76 hours before the military arrives, and that clock never stops ticking. But to be fair, it goes at a pretty reasonable pace, I was able to grind 30 levels before it ended.
But the missions and tasks are what will drive you to pull your hair out, and if you want to finish the game with a decent ending, you need to act like you're doing a speed run for a Twitch stream.
You have all these events that take place at certain times during each day, and if you don't complete them, people either die as a result, or you will no longer "know the truth" as the story puts it. The missions throw you all over the map, and they aren't just some simple "point A to point B" tasks. Most of them require you to rescue survivors, make contact with a key character, or kill a psychopath.
Now there's nothing wrong with the psychopath fights themselves, as some were pretty fun on their own. However, the clock never stops, and the longer you spend with them, the less time you have to complete other missions. You can skip some of them, but they'll run around the area forever until you do kill them, thus creating an annoyance if you're trying to escort a group of survivors back to the safe house.
Also, every day between 7am and 8am, you need to give Katey a dose of Zombrex, or else she'll turn. Is it "game over"? No, but it'll definitely leave you for a bad ending. But it is a severe pain in the ass to hunt for the shit, as soon as I found out that I could plop down $50,000 for a shot at a pawn shop, I breathed the biggest sigh of relief. I wouldn't mind trying to search for it if I wasn't on such a strict time limit!
Okay, I often bitched about how many sandbox games lack that "sense of urgency" with missions, but this is fucking ridiculous. If you're not fast enough to complete the endless list of tasks and escort missions, the game punishes you by either holding back on the story, or giving you a potentially disappointing ending as the result. If anything, a mode like this needs to be completely optional. How am I supposed to leisurely enjoy the world you've dropped me into if I have to be in a fucking hurry with everything from the get-go?
Then there's the escorts... This was the one thing I hated about the first game with a passion. If you're unfamiliar with the process, allow me to explain. You go to where someone is in danger. You talk to them... sometimes a lot. Sometimes while trying to fight off zombies. They agree to join you, and you can even hand them a weapon. Now, you must drag them back to the safe house, so you can earn a high amount of PP, but not without having them constantly get attacked by zombies on the way there.
To be fair, they hold their own a lot better this time around, and will dodge zombies to catch up. Unfortunately, they're still dumb as bricks, and will often run off and attack even though you told them to stay put. They have absolutely no problem getting in your way as you're swinging bladed weapons in the air. Hit them enough times and they'll defect, attacking YOU instead and leaving no chance of rescue.
But let's go back to escorting them. The entire process is doing the exact same thing, over and over. Go to this location, and escort a survivor or four back. Oh look, my cellphone rang. More survivors are showing up as time passes. Time to go repeat the process again! ... and again.... and again... To the point where you have to memorize where and when they show up, as well as rescue them in the right order if you want to save the most time.
This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the game didn't have loading screens with every single fucking area on the map! Jesus fucking Christ, I swear it feels like I spend more time waiting than running on some of these. And if these guys I'm rescuing can hold their own with the weapon I gave them, why can't Chuck just point them the way and go "Hey, it's over there! You can't miss it!"? I don't do anything to help them out. All I do is play "follow the leader", and they're almost always unscathed when they arrive.
But make sure they're RIGHT THERE if you enter the next area. I've had plenty of situations occur where I would notice a survivor missing in my group, only to realize she's still in the previous area. Just because she wasn't close enough to the door as I entered.
Some survivors are badly injured or too weak to walk on their own, and you have to carry them back. I'll admit, I actually preferred these ones as I didn't have to worry about them trailing behind me as I'd race to the safe house. I just couldn't do more than one at a time.
While being able to restart with all your stats is generally a positive thing, it's sadly the only way to make the game somewhat enjoyable. You run faster, you're able to hold more items at a time, and you're able to sustain more damage. But if that's the case, why not start me out with this from the get-go? Why offer a grind that cannot be done on a normal playthrough? Sure you can let all the missions expire and grind like crazy in one sitting, but the enjoyment slowly deteriorates.
I mean, you're stronger and less-likely to die as easily, but the frustration remains because of how gridlocked you are to a set time. That means no matter what, you cannot deviate from the set path at all if you want the best ending.
Oh, and last but not least... an auto-save feature would have been nice. Having to manually save by using the restroom like the original is pretty damn archaic for a 2010 game. Yeah, it's not that hard to do it yourself, but it's very easy to forget nowadays. Most games either auto-save, or allow you to do so from the menu.
Final Verdict: 5/10
A bit harsh of a score for a game that has good gameplay amidst the infuriatingly limited structure, but when you put strict limitations on how I'm supposed to play a game that's set in an open sandbox, I'm definitely going to stick it where it hurts. Having a time limit with everything should be something like a specific mode to pick from.
I'm someone who likes to do everything in a sandbox game (well, at least try to!), and the Dead Rising series definitely hinders that. While many do find it to be an enjoyable game, and I will agree that there are some fantastic aspects of it, it felt far too restrained to give me the enjoyment I wanted. Sorry, I know there are die-hard fans, but I just felt really "meh" with Dead Rising 2. It's not horrible.... just passable. :/
Almost exactly seven years ago, I finished the first game, and wrote a favorably decent mini-review if I remember correctly. I bought 2 in early 2011 for about $30 new, but it still sat shelved up until last weekend. Why? I mean, I did have a good romp with Frank West's adventures through Willamette Mall, you'd think doing the same thing through a mock-up of Vegas would be ten times the fun!
I dunno. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. I mean, to be fair, I'm really sick of the zombie genre. Really fucking sick of it. It wouldn't sadden me to see zombies get put to rest for a good decade or two, I am that exhausted with them. Don't even ask me to play any of the Dead Island games, because I will tell you where to stick it. I'm not even that excited for Left 4 Dead 3...
Okay, I'm starting to get negative way too early with this review. Let's get the ball rolling, and see if Dead Rising 2 holds up as a memorable experience, even though I'm four years late on it!
Pros: Gory, silly, mindless fun; The ability to combine items into new weapons is extremely satisfying; Hundreds upon hundreds of zombies in packed areas, with little to zero slowdown; Entertaining story with a delightful b-movie tone; Being able to start over with all your stats greatly reduces frustration
Cons: Gridlocked and punishing time limit severely diminishes the open-world freedom the game offers; Escorting survivors becomes stale and repetitive; While survivors handle themselves better, they're still dumb as bricks; Excessive loading times; Some hit detection is problematic; Having to stop and hunt for Zombrex in the middle of the action is a pain in the ass
First Impressions & Story
Set in a fictional mock-up of Las Vegas, Fortune City is glamorous resort full of casinos, fine restaurants, luxurious suites, and the showcase of one of the biggest arena tournaments in the world: Terror is Reality. This gladiator-style event is hailed as the greatest zombie spectacle in existence, as viewers watch contestants battle it out over how much undead they can slay.
Chuck Greene is a former Motocross champion, who recently lost his wife in an outbreak, and was left to look after his ailing daughter Katey, who was unfortunately bitten. To keep her from zombification, he strives to do everything he can to keep her medicated on expensive and rare doses of the drug Zombrex.
Well, things go out of control once the barricades are sabotaged. Chuck and Katey manage to escape to an underground safe house with a handful of survivors, where they must wait for the military rescue to arrive. But with limited supplies, Chuck must make his way up to the surface for not only his daughter's medication, but to find any other survivors who may need help. It gets even more out of hand once Chuck learns early on that he's being framed for destroying the barricade.
So not only is Chuck forced to fight for his daughter's life, he must also fight to clear his name, and get to the bottom of what really happened.
The story is a pretty good setup, and it feels right at home with all the other b-movies we're familiar with. It has just the right amount of horror to make the setting perilous, but it doesn't try to overdo it. It refuses to take itself too seriously, adding many layers of cheese to the action, characters and dialogue.
As soon as you gain control of Chuck, things feel just as familiar as the first game. You exit the safe house through a ventilation shaft, and enter the basement of a shopping mall. Familiar territory as it may be, it's effectively used to help us regain that sense of momentum, but also give us an idea on how the mission structure works. You're immediately introduced to the game's weapon creation system, as well as how much Zombrex you need to find before the crisis is over.
There are even a couple of survivors you're able to rescue near the safe house's entrance, so everything is presented in a way that it feels more like a game and less like a tutorial session.
Visuals & Presentation
Being that the first Dead Rising came out in 2006, it's pretty obvious that the sequel has made some significant improvements in the graphics department. However, that's not saying that the original was an inferior effort. To be really honest, the original was a great example of what the XBOX 360 was capable of at the time. Hundreds of zombies wander around aimlessly, and not a single drop in framerate occurs. The same can be said for its sequel... but only prettier.
Environments are much brighter, the casinos alone illuminate and flicker with vibrant colors. Take out a swarm of zombies and their corpses will pile up on top of one another... but sadly, they do disappear over a short time. There is a minor issue with hit detection, as there are times where I'd have weapons go completely through some zombies.
But there is one thing I need to bitch about right out the door: The load times are inexcusably frequent, and far longer than what should be tolerated for a game released in 2010. For every section of the map, you enter a static loading screen, and when you're having to backtrack (which this game makes you do A LOT of), it really kills the momentum. A game like this should NEVER have it.
Gameplay
If you've played Dead Rising, you know the drill: Kill lots of zombies in creative ways, rescue survivors, and build experience (PP/player points) to improve your stats. Restart the game from the beginning, and you get to keep your stats like a typical "new game plus" mode. It's a great incentive to promote replay value, but it also greatly reduces frustration later on, being that you don't have time to grind in the regular story.
But the biggest thing this game improves upon the original with is definitely the ability to fuse items together. Combine a box of nails with a baseball bat, and you get a spiked bat. While a simple concept, the game has a LOT of fun with you. Find a power drill and a bucket? Have a drill bucket, in which you place on a poor zombie's head. Put some gems with a flashlight, and you get a lightsaber! Fuse a knife with some boxing gloves, and you get knife gloves! I about died laughing when I fused a car battery with a wheelchair, and ran around the mall, charging at zombies with it.
There are dozens of creative combinations, and while you can't exactly create something out of EVERYTHING, it's just enough to offer some hilarious surprises. And rewarding at that, as you gain higher PP when you kill with combined weapons. You also earn weapon cards later on as you level up, thus increasing the value per kill.
Another improvement is the scale of the playground you're thrown in. While it was just a shopping mall in the first game, this has multiple shopping centers, large casinos, fancy restaurants, and even a beautiful open courtyard. The casinos themselves are an amusing distraction, as you are able to gamble with the machines inside.
So yes, that implies money is a big factor this time around. Mostly used at pawn shops, you're able to buy combined weapons, vehicle keys (one absurdly priced at $2 million), and even supplies of Zombrex if trying to hunt for the stuff isn't your style. If you ask me, having that option is definitely a welcome one, and I'll explain why further down.
And people who enjoyed dressing up Frank in the first game won't be disappointed with Chuck. There are awesome and hilarious outfits aplenty scattered throughout the resort, I think it's almost impossible to find them all on your own. There are also these magazines you can find and carry which give stat boosts to specific weapons or actions.
Gee... I'm being awfully positive so far. Well, don't fret... I'm done with that.
Okay, while it was somewhat tolerable in the first game, if you want to fuck around and have fun in Dead Rising 2, you have to sever all intentions of finishing the game and lose on purpose. Like before, you are on a strict time limit of 76 hours before the military arrives, and that clock never stops ticking. But to be fair, it goes at a pretty reasonable pace, I was able to grind 30 levels before it ended.
But the missions and tasks are what will drive you to pull your hair out, and if you want to finish the game with a decent ending, you need to act like you're doing a speed run for a Twitch stream.
You have all these events that take place at certain times during each day, and if you don't complete them, people either die as a result, or you will no longer "know the truth" as the story puts it. The missions throw you all over the map, and they aren't just some simple "point A to point B" tasks. Most of them require you to rescue survivors, make contact with a key character, or kill a psychopath.
Now there's nothing wrong with the psychopath fights themselves, as some were pretty fun on their own. However, the clock never stops, and the longer you spend with them, the less time you have to complete other missions. You can skip some of them, but they'll run around the area forever until you do kill them, thus creating an annoyance if you're trying to escort a group of survivors back to the safe house.
Also, every day between 7am and 8am, you need to give Katey a dose of Zombrex, or else she'll turn. Is it "game over"? No, but it'll definitely leave you for a bad ending. But it is a severe pain in the ass to hunt for the shit, as soon as I found out that I could plop down $50,000 for a shot at a pawn shop, I breathed the biggest sigh of relief. I wouldn't mind trying to search for it if I wasn't on such a strict time limit!
Okay, I often bitched about how many sandbox games lack that "sense of urgency" with missions, but this is fucking ridiculous. If you're not fast enough to complete the endless list of tasks and escort missions, the game punishes you by either holding back on the story, or giving you a potentially disappointing ending as the result. If anything, a mode like this needs to be completely optional. How am I supposed to leisurely enjoy the world you've dropped me into if I have to be in a fucking hurry with everything from the get-go?
Then there's the escorts... This was the one thing I hated about the first game with a passion. If you're unfamiliar with the process, allow me to explain. You go to where someone is in danger. You talk to them... sometimes a lot. Sometimes while trying to fight off zombies. They agree to join you, and you can even hand them a weapon. Now, you must drag them back to the safe house, so you can earn a high amount of PP, but not without having them constantly get attacked by zombies on the way there.
To be fair, they hold their own a lot better this time around, and will dodge zombies to catch up. Unfortunately, they're still dumb as bricks, and will often run off and attack even though you told them to stay put. They have absolutely no problem getting in your way as you're swinging bladed weapons in the air. Hit them enough times and they'll defect, attacking YOU instead and leaving no chance of rescue.
But let's go back to escorting them. The entire process is doing the exact same thing, over and over. Go to this location, and escort a survivor or four back. Oh look, my cellphone rang. More survivors are showing up as time passes. Time to go repeat the process again! ... and again.... and again... To the point where you have to memorize where and when they show up, as well as rescue them in the right order if you want to save the most time.
This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the game didn't have loading screens with every single fucking area on the map! Jesus fucking Christ, I swear it feels like I spend more time waiting than running on some of these. And if these guys I'm rescuing can hold their own with the weapon I gave them, why can't Chuck just point them the way and go "Hey, it's over there! You can't miss it!"? I don't do anything to help them out. All I do is play "follow the leader", and they're almost always unscathed when they arrive.
But make sure they're RIGHT THERE if you enter the next area. I've had plenty of situations occur where I would notice a survivor missing in my group, only to realize she's still in the previous area. Just because she wasn't close enough to the door as I entered.
Some survivors are badly injured or too weak to walk on their own, and you have to carry them back. I'll admit, I actually preferred these ones as I didn't have to worry about them trailing behind me as I'd race to the safe house. I just couldn't do more than one at a time.
While being able to restart with all your stats is generally a positive thing, it's sadly the only way to make the game somewhat enjoyable. You run faster, you're able to hold more items at a time, and you're able to sustain more damage. But if that's the case, why not start me out with this from the get-go? Why offer a grind that cannot be done on a normal playthrough? Sure you can let all the missions expire and grind like crazy in one sitting, but the enjoyment slowly deteriorates.
I mean, you're stronger and less-likely to die as easily, but the frustration remains because of how gridlocked you are to a set time. That means no matter what, you cannot deviate from the set path at all if you want the best ending.
Oh, and last but not least... an auto-save feature would have been nice. Having to manually save by using the restroom like the original is pretty damn archaic for a 2010 game. Yeah, it's not that hard to do it yourself, but it's very easy to forget nowadays. Most games either auto-save, or allow you to do so from the menu.
Final Verdict: 5/10
A bit harsh of a score for a game that has good gameplay amidst the infuriatingly limited structure, but when you put strict limitations on how I'm supposed to play a game that's set in an open sandbox, I'm definitely going to stick it where it hurts. Having a time limit with everything should be something like a specific mode to pick from.
I'm someone who likes to do everything in a sandbox game (well, at least try to!), and the Dead Rising series definitely hinders that. While many do find it to be an enjoyable game, and I will agree that there are some fantastic aspects of it, it felt far too restrained to give me the enjoyment I wanted. Sorry, I know there are die-hard fans, but I just felt really "meh" with Dead Rising 2. It's not horrible.... just passable. :/