A desperate Frank travels to Fortune City after his fame and fortune have dwindled and he’s in dire need to score some cash in order to afford his daily dose of Zombrex. His plans are quickly spoiled when he finds himself in the middle of an outbreak, and he decides he should cover the chaotic events that are transpiring and reveal them to the world. It will take all of Frank’s survival instincts and reporting skills to find out what caused the plague and manage to stay alive in the process.
While DEAD RISING 2: OFF THE RECORD is marketed as a whole new game, it does contain many glaring similarities to the original. Around 80 percent of the missions require you to travel to the same destinations, kill identical enemies and complete the exact same objectives as you did in DEAD RISING 2. If you’ve played through the original, however, you will notice that many of the cutscenes throughout this one have been altered to allow Frank’s unique personality to shine through. In addition, there are plenty of new missions to conquer and a number of new psychopaths for you to beat down. An amusing new section known as the Uranus Zone has also been added to the map; this is a futuristic-styled theme park located within Fortune City. It has many exciting things to offer, such as three different rides, minigames and the ability to kill zombies to win additional prestige points (PP).
There have also been a number of subtle improvements made to DEAD RISING 2: OFF THE RECORD. For starters, your cooperative partner now joins you as Chuck Greene rather than as a clone of the main protagonist. Loading times have been cut drastically, and you are now alerted when a survivor isn’t close enough before entering a new zone. Both of these enhancements are tremendous assets when completing escort missions. Another key addition is the camera. You can snap pictures with your camera to earn extra PP, and share them with your friends. However, the best addition to DEAD RISING 2: OFF THE RECORD is Sandbox Mode. This can be played solo or in cooperative play, and allows you to travel around Fortune City without the frustrating timer and missions holding you back. There are several challenges scattered throughout the map to unlock once you have killed a certain number of zombies, which adds a whole new level of zany fun. It gives the player the ability to search casinos, shops, malls and all the great areas of Fortune City that were previously unexplored. Best of all, you have all the time in the world to kill zombies in crazy and humorous ways.
DEAD RISING 2: OFF THE RECORD is overall a phenomenal game. The tweaks to the original have taken this exceptional franchise to a whole new level. It’s well worth your time to revisit Fortune City once more, and the $39.99 investment is well worth it. While some fans have become disgruntled with the amount of content being released recently under the DEAD RISING banner, I say, “When is too much of a good thing a bad thing?” Not yet, obviously, because I would recommend this title to anyone. Get the title on October 11, 2011.