Dead Rising Too: More of the Same

I’m a huge fan of the first Dead Rising. I had more fun playing it than the time Hugh Hefner’s limo broke down in front of my house – I can’t say much but Hughie (he calls me Matchew – long story) lives by the old saying “sharing is caring.” But I digress.

The much hated save system (or any of its’ other caveats) didn’t bother me in the least but the community was vocal enough about the first Dead Rising’s shortcomings that I thought someone listened and there couldn’t possibly be anything to complain about in Dead Rising 2. I was wrong – so very wrong.

For starters, the time limit is incredibly restrictive; I haven’t had enough time to rescue everyone, deal with psychopaths, and move the story along. There were too many instances in which I had to choose between the three and I hated it. I have no time to appreciate the world in which Dead Rising 2 is set. I want it to be possible to experience everything the game has to offer in one playthrough without being rushed.

I would also enjoy the opportunity to freely experiment with combining objects and testing them out on the walking dead without the distracting thought that I could be missing out on case files required to progress the story. All the tools are provided to have a bloody romp at the expense of the zombie masses but that annoying clock hinders the party.

The PC mod that sets the clock back an hour with a press of a button is desperately needed on the console version. I’m so jealous of the PC gamers who get to enjoy this game at their own leisure.

Although Dead Rising 2 has a huge flaw that cannot be ignored there a couple of aspects I enjoy. For instance, the weapon combining provides tons of fun surprises. I love taking two seemingly unrelated items into the maintenance shop and combining them to form some crazy weapon. Attaching fireworks to a dinosaur mask then plopping it on an unsuspecting zombie will grab the attention of other zombies making them crowd around leaving a huge group for me to ride my electric wheelchair through then punch/stab the remaining undead with my knife wielding boxing gloves. Oh, the epicness!

Another improvement, albeit small, is the survivors are much more capable of handling zombie hordes themselves. In the first Dead Rising you would have to constantly babysit them. Now, I can just tell them to follow me and I trust that they’re never too far behind. Even if they are grabbed and bitten they will always get out of the situation and continue following. Also, they can actually use guns without shooting each other. Survivors killing survivors was a big problem in the first game.

My anticipation for Dead Rising 2 was greater than that of a middle-aged cougar waiting in line for the next Twilight movie. I ignored all the naysayers and I purchased Dead Rising 2. I was ready to defend this game like I did the first but I can’t. There’s nothing fun about timed and escort missions. Having those two glaring hindrances as the main focus of Dead Rising 2 is inexcusable. Both Blue Castle and Capcom knew what the imperfections of the first title were so why did they blatantly refuse to address them in the sequel?

I haven’t completed the game yet but I fully intend to because I’m having fun exterminating the dead with outlandish weapons. It’s just a shame that the fun has to be overshadowed by such harsh blemishes that test my willingness to tolerate the game.