Not to take anything away from Chuck Greene, but Frank West was, is, and will always be, the protagonist of the Dead Rising series.
While I appreciate Capcom’s desires to take the games somewhere else, and introduce different angles and stories so that we can fully grasp the concept of the zombie apocalypse (possibly in preparation for it, because it’s totally coming); Dead Rising 2 sort of left us in the lurch.
It offered us no explantion as to what happened to Frank as he was left on top of a tank, surrounded by a zombie horde at the end of Dead Rising 1 – and now finally, thanks to Off The Record…we still have no idea what happened.
But at least we know he surivived.
Raising the Dead
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is pretty much exactly the same as Dead Rising 2.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be – it was never going to be vastly different.
Never fret though, because there are quite a few new things here as well.
The biggest difference to Dead Rising 2 is obviously the new narrative angle – Chuck Greene and his motivations for saving his little girl, and in the process uncovering the truth, are replaced by a down-and-out photojournalist Frank West, trying to regrasp his lost fame, and finding himself hot on the tails of a new lead.
If you’ve played Dead Rising 2 – you know exactly what that lead is; if you haven’t – let’s just say that zombie outbreaks happen for a reason, and you’ll find out exactly why.
And if you were wondering; yes, you will still need to go out and find Zombrex because, if you recall, a certain popular zombie-smashing journalist done gone and got himself infected in the last game.
But that’s really it – cutscenes and over-all narrative follow the same route as Dead Rising 2 – but feature Frank, not Chuck, and are adjusted accordingly; and there have also been some plot re-workings and new twists added in.
The world is your playground
The next big changes to Off The Record come in the form of two new large additions to the game’s world:
The Uranus Zone is a new theme-park area added to the south section of the map – linking to the Fortune City Hotel and Atlantica Casino – it’s really just a playground area to extend your zombie-killing slaughter fields.
It’s quite a sizeable space-themed location, that has a bunch of rides (which you can use to kill zombies for much PP) and a handful of mini-games to try your hand at. a few additional stores with space-age clothing are also located there.
The other change is the big one – Sandbox mode.
Sandbox mode is exactly what you’d expect – it’s Frank, set loose in Fortune city, with no time limit, and nothing to stop him but his own constitution.
But it’s not just running around killing zombies – it’s running around killing zombies with PURPOSE! The sandbox mode presents Frank with a wealth of challenges, located all across Fortune City, and unlocked by killing zombies.
Survivors are also running around Sandbox mode, but they are all psychopaths, attacking you on sight.
No worries, though, because you can bring a buddy in to play with you via co-op – unlocking a set of co-op challenges for you to tackle as well.
Tweaked up Frank
Okay, so far we have Dead Rising 2, a new character with an altered plot, a new area and a new feature – so what else is on offer here?
Well, Capcom have also thrown in a few more gameplay tweaks and updates.
The loading times between areas are still very much there, but they are noticeably shorter (especially if you put DR2 and OTR in, back-to-back) and there’s also the new checkpoint system, which auto-saves your game as you enter into new areas and at other key points.
Trust me when I say that you’ll not miss having to trek across the entirety of Fortune City in the event of your death.
There are also about 10 more weapon combos, on top of the 50 or so found in Dead Rising 2 – giving you a treasure trove of ways to maim the undead; if you can find all the parts.
Oh, and of course, we can’t forget Frank’s camera – which he still lugs around amidst the brain-eating shufflers. It can be brought up at any time during the gameplay, and once again rewards you with glorious PP depending on the theme of the moment you capture; be it a dramatic embrace between survivors; a horrific artery getting munched – or the…’erotica’ of a zombie up-skirt?
Ew.
The sequel that should have been
It’s difficult to completely recommend Off The Record, simply because it’s an old game with a fresh coat of paint and a few new features slapped on.
If you’ve already played Dead Rising 2, there may not be enough here to warrant a second trip to Fortune City through the eyes of Frank West – especially considering all the big games that are coming out round about now – unless of course you’re a huge fan of West, and the series, and absolutely must have it.
If you’ve never played Dead Rising 2, and have always wanted to – then this is the version I would absolutely recommend.
The gameplay is solid; it’s challenging, it’s fun and can be unforgiving – but in the end, this is the sequel to Dead Rising that should have been.
Whether it’s a case of “too little too late” – well, that’s up to you to decide.
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record reviewed << Comments and views
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