Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Zombie games are a dime a dozen but only few have managed to really capture the intensity and horror of going up against the undead. This year’s Dead Island won us over with its flawed yet highly enjoyable gameplay while the Left4Dead series still sits atop the throne of the best co-operative zombie shooter ever made.

Wolverine ain't got sh*t on Frank

Capcom’s Dead Rising series on the other hand is a tough cookie to recommend even though it probably has the best setting of them all. Trapped in a huge mall, players must use anything and everything they can to take down the horde. This could include anything from soft toys found in a toy store, sports goods found in a sports store to more serious firepower in the form of a chainsaw, a sword or conventional weapons. And while killing zombies in both Dead Rising games is a ton of fun, it also comes with its own sets of problems.

Erratic difficulty spikes, exasperating boss fights, anal checkpoints and annoying escort missions are just some of the issues that have plagued this series from the start. Dead Rising 2 strived to rectify many of them but still fell into the same rut laid down by its predecessor. And the latest game in this series, Off the Record also follows suite.

Police brutality

Ok let me rephrase that last part; Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is not an entirely a new game. In fact it’s pretty much Dead Rising 2 with Frank West as the game’s protagonist. West, if you remember is the photographer from the first Dead Rising game who managed to survive the Willamette mall debacle. Upon reaching civilization, he soon became a celebrity in his own right but fame and fortune soon got to him. Spiralling out of control he loses everything in the process and hits rock bottom. To reclaim some of his lost glory, he takes part in a reality TV show where gladiators face off the undead in an arena while the crowd cheers on. Somewhere down the line, the poop hits the fan and the contained horde from the arena breaks out to infect all of Fortune City. Now it’s up to West to save the day.

Now you can be at two places at once

If you’ve played Dead rising 2, there’s no reason to come back to this game. Sure all the cut-scenes are different factoring West into the equation but it is essentially the same game. You’ll embark on the same missions, square off against the same bosses (with a few new ones thrown in) and rescue the same annoying civilians you did before. The ability to create your own weapons is obviously present in this game as well and even though West has access to a few new toys, it’s nothing to write home about.