Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

Ready to go back to Fortune City? With Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, you can… but fair warning, you might get a severe case of deja vu. Grab a baseball bat (or a purse, or a pot plant), smash some zombies, then read on to find out why…

Dead Rising 2 put you in the shoes of Chuck Greene, then put those shoes in a zombie-infested mall. The result, much like the first game, was chaotic fun mixed with a few frustrations. The semi-free-roaming action was undoubtedly the highlight: picking up one of a thousand different items and beating zombies with it was simple, gratuitous fun. Unfortunately, a few things — such as an annoying story, an annoying save system, and an annoying timer — sometimes got in the way of that fun.

Fast forward to October 2011, and Capcom has seen fit to repackage Dead Rising 2 with the star of the original game: photographer Frank West. Now something of a has-been, West relishes the opportunity to uncover more about the zombie plague that just keeps breaking out, while piling up the (previously shambling) corpses along the way.

So what’s actually new here, then? If you’ve played through Dead Rising 2, then I’m afraid Off the Record may disappoint. Dedicated fans of the series might really appreciate being able to snap photos again, or enjoy playing through the story from a different perspective, but most of the changes are only skin deep.

After some introductory cutscenes and the need to stay alive via a drug called Zombrex, you pretty much settle into the same old routine as you did in Dead Rising 2. Again, there’s a clock constantly ticking down. Again, there are survivors to rescue. Again, there are a ton of objects, both useful and useless, with which to smack zombies with. And again, annoying design decisions, such as needing to find a bathroom to save the game, are here to stay.

Still, having a new character to play through the game with is actually pretty cool for a DLC pack. Only, this is a retail release, and will set you back by about $80. This is something of a rip-off: the content here justifies the existence of a $15 downloadable pack, not a whole new game. Capcom, this is what’s known as being greedy [Capcomnomnom - Ed.]

If you really enjoyed blasting through Dead Rising 2, and were keen to do so again, maybe you’ll be satisfied with what’s on offer here. But I find it hard to recommend an expansion pack masquerading as a full release. Newcomers to the series: I recommend finding a cheap copy of DR2. Die-hard fans: if you’re dead set on getting Off the Record, expect familiarity to creep in pretty quickly.

"Much the same as before."

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