Dead Rising 2 Review

It might be more of the same, but it's refined, tight, lean and utterly massive. One of the very best games of this generation.

Finally, after four long years of waiting, after all the teasing videos and images, after that excellent taster in the shape of Case Zero, the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time. To say that Dead Rising 2 has a hell of lot of expectation on its shoulders is a bit of an understatement. Dead Rising 2 has so much expectation on its shoulders that anything less than a solid gold slice of zombie-based sandbox mayhem will be a complete waste of those four years. Happily, Capcom with the aid of Blue Castle Games has risen to the challenge and delivered what might be the best game of the year. If you haven't played the first Dead Rising yet, slight spoilers may follow.

It's been a couple of years since Frank West and Isabella Keyes escaped the Willamette mall with the truth of what happened there. Zombie outbreaks have occurred in isolated pockets and have been more or less contained. The world has moved on and zombies have become a part of it.

Former Motocross champion Chuck Green managed to escape the Las Vegas outbreak with his daughter Katey and has gone on the run to Fortune City. Unfortunately, Katey managed to receive a bite on her arm and in order to keep the infection at bay, Chuck must give her regular injections of Zombrex every twenty four hours. To pay these expensive medical bills, he takes part in the extreme sports game show 'Terror Is Reality, where zombies are brutally slaughtered for entertainment. After a sizeable winning, Chuck is knocked unconscious in an elevator shaft - when he wakes, he finds that the zombies have gotten free and taken over Fortune City. To make matters worse, a tape has been leaked to the press showing someone in his bike outfit releasing the zombies. With a military rescue arriving in 72 hours, Chuck's time is short. Can he survive for long enough to prove his innocence?

If that plot summary sounds a little bit familiar, that's because it is. In truth, Dead Rising 2 is so similar to its predecessor that you could be forgiven for thinking that Capcom accidentally released the same game twice. You still have a tight time limit. You still get around via a vent shaft. You still rescue survivors. You still defeat psychopaths. Items still break after awhile. You still have to manage your time efficiently to survive. Even most of the achievements are identical! Half of this review could easily be a cut-and-paste job and there wouldn't be a problem.