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Dead Rising 2
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Blue Castle Games
Price: $59.99
Back in the summer of 2006 Capcom released a brand new IP titled Dead Rising. It was a brand new take on the zombie style video game, from the developer who basically started the entire zombie video game craze with the Resident Evil franchise. Unlike Resident Evil, Dead Rising was a much more comical, laid back take on the idea of a zombie outbreak. Placing you in a mall in the middle of nowhere USA, and giving you freedom to kill zombies when you want and with whatever you want. It was an amazing experience, which brought some much needed originality and freshness to a genre that was lacking.
Fast forward 4 years and now Capcom is getting ready to release Dead Rising 2 with a whole slew of new additions and some much needed improvements. The first of which needs to be mentioned right off the bat; the save system. To say the save system was broken in the first game is an understatement. While there were those who loved it, the majority hated it and have hoped that Capcom would rectify the problem in the sequel. Luckily, Capcom has decided to do that. While the main means of saving in the game remains the same, via restrooms, you are now given multiple save slots, ensuring that you will never save at the wrong time and have to restart your game.
Like Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2 focuses on a central character who has a 72 hour time limit to uncover the truth behind the zombie outbreak but this time it's not in a mall, it's in a Vegas-esque city. Fortune city, as it's called is as large if not larger than the first games mall and provides the player with an even greater amount of flexibility when it comes to weapon selection. Like the first game, almost everything you see can be used as a means of pummeling the zombie horde. Of course, Dead Rising 2 puts a new twist into the weapons aspect of the game by introducing a new weapon crafting system.
Strewn throughout the game are workbenches, where you can bring different weapons and items and attempt to combine them into something greater and more powerful or even something completely useless. It is a nice new addition to the gameplay and really adds an element of strategy that wasn't seen in the first game. Figuring out what items combine to form better, stronger weaponry can really help you in your quest for the truth. The developers have even stated that there are hundreds of thousands of different combination, so it's safe to say that you will be at it for a while.
Beyond the new weapon crafting system, there are a couple of new game modes, including 2 player co-op and competitive multiplayer. 2 player co-op allows you and a buddy to player cooperatively throughout the entire campaign. This was a feature that everyone was dreaming of for the first game and something, which I am personally dying to try out. Just imagine the possibilities when you have a buddy at your side, ready to take down the hordes of zombies that are standing in your way. On the competitive side of things, Capcom is introducing a game mode entitled, "Terror is Reality".
"Terror is Reality" is setup like a reality game show, wherein you and your friends will compete in events centered around zombies. An example of these events is Zomboni. A mini-game wherein two human players drive around in a zamboni, chewing up zombies and spitting them into a giant mouth on one side of the ice rink. Not much else is known about "Terror is Reality" but it seems like it will be a fun distraction from the main campaign.
As you can see Capcom and Blue castle Games are really stepping it up with Dead Rising 2 and I know that they are hoping that it will be another smash hit. I personally, am just hoping it will be another fantastic adventure in the art of killing zombies. Luckily we don't have to wait to much longer as the game is set forth to release on September 28, 2010. Stay tuned!
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