We create our own weapons in this zombie-slaying sequel.
Nothing bleeds quite like a de-armed zombie. Capcom showed off the latest build of its zombie-murder simulator at Microsoft's X10 event today, and Dead Rising 2 is shaping up to be a hilariously gruesome depiction of one man's fight against a horde of stumbling brain eaters. The battle for survival has moved from the quiet suburban mall from the first game into the bright and glamorous Fortune City (the ironically named casino town based on Las Vegas), but the core slicing-and-dicing gameplay has made the transition intact. The streets overflowed with hordes of zombies, hundreds of weapons, and the copious bodily fluids that spilled forth when one was unceremoniously stabbed. We got a chance to test out some of the extreme violence first hand, and it seems to offer a lovely vacation for those who just cannot stand the thought of ambling zombies.
The story hardly matters when you're busy chopping undead monsters into tiny pieces, but there is one very important aspect of protagonist Chuck Greene's personality that separates Dead Rising 2 from its predecessor. Chuck appreciates art just as much as the previous game's star, Frank West, but he doesn't express himself through photography. Instead, you craft weapons of unbridled destruction that allow you to show off your creative side in decidedly deadly ways. As you can imagine, this has a significant impact on the combat. Previously, you might have found a shiny chainsaw on the ground and used it to slice up some zombies in an up-close-and-personal fashion, but now, you can use your skills to combine weapons to make that chainsaw even more worthwhile. If you strap a couple onto either end of a kayak paddle, you not only extend your reach significantly, but you can also spin and swing it with such flair that large groups of zombies tumble to the ground in a blink of an eye. Killing zombies is always fun, but it feels even more special when you put such care into crafting the perfect weapon to dispose of them.
You combine these vicious tools behind enticing red doors that are sprinkled liberally throughout the strip, which means you will have to step momentarily away from the bloodshed if you want to spice up the combat a bit. Flexing your creative muscle in the privacy of these sterile rooms is probably a good thing, and it gives players a chance to meticulously duct tape tools together without the fear of a zombie chomping on their heads. If you are feeling adventurous, you can attempt to combine the various tools you find around the environment together to form your own personalized superweapon, but there are also helpful hint cards that spell out the perfect recipe for mass destruction. You earn these hint cards either by leveling up, finding them hidden somewhere in the environment, or reading informative posters that line the walls and various kiosks. At this time, developers at Blue Castle are working on a system to reward players for finding these cards, but this is not yet reflected in the game. In the future, you may earn special attacks or extra experience points for finding the hint cards before you create a weapon on your own, though.
The combination weapons make an already violent game that much more gooey and red. The chainsaw oar is just the beginning of the extreme necrocide. We attached a few standard construction nails onto a baseball bat and proceeded to pound razor sharp spikes into the heads of the unsuspecting undead. Nails can also be attached to propane canisters, and, if you have a standard firearm and a strong stomach, you can cause the barrel to explode, singeing the monsters closest to the blast while impaling those farther way with deadly shrapnel made of metal. We discovered by reading a helpful poster in the middle of a casino that you can make a smoking flamethrower by putting gasoline in an ordinary squirt gun. And if you think punching zombies with a plain boxing glove sounds less than thrilling, you can strap your trusty knife onto the front and create a weapon that would certainly be banned from most officially sanctioned boxing events. It's a robust system that continually surprises and entertains with the vast array of ridiculous weapons you can create.
The basic structure remains intact from the first Dead Rising game. There is still a time limit urging you through the mall, which keeps the pace moving so you don't get so caught up in killing zombies that your actions lose all meaning. Major story events, as well as optional side missions, count down in real time on the in-game clock, which means you will have to make careful decisions on how you want to spend your time in this terrifying town. Like in the first game, if you miss an important story sequence, you will not be able to progress further into the game, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. You can spend your free time hunting down hint cards, leveling up, or just enjoying the scenic view and then restart the adventure with all your unlockables intact. The save system is getting an overhaul as well, though specifics have not yet been revealed. Expect more than one save slot, though, which should give players a way to backtrack if they find themselves continually showing up late for unskippable appointments.
Although the biggest addition to combat is the ability to combine weapons, there have been changes made to the core gameplay as well. The most notable is how guns have been implemented. In the first Dead Rising, aiming your gun required you to stand motionless on the ground, which made you an enticing target for the swarming undead. But Dead Rising 2 allows you to move and shoot at the same time; thus, this time-tested concept makes firearms much more viable weapons in the sequel. Because of this added freedom, there will be a greater variety of guns to play around with, giving less creative players a chance to quickly dispose of their prey without the need to spend time in the construction room.
In Dead Rising 2, murdering zombies isn't the only vice in which you can partake. Fortune City is home to oodles of casinos, and you can unleash your gambling monster on slot machines with their hypnotic display of flashing lights. Money is actually important in Dead Rising 2, despite the majority of the population being made up of brain-dead brain eaters. You earn money by gambling or just slamming a stool against a slot machine or ATM until money spills out, and you take your hard-earned winnings to pawn brokers who are all too willing to exploit your needs for a quick buck. On sale are such life-saving items as hint books for powerful combination weapons, unique weapons that can only be found in a pawn store, and magazines that give Chuck added abilities. These magazines replace the books from the first Dead Rising but serve the same purpose, though we can only cross our fingers that the downgrade from legitimate literature doesn't portend a dumbing down of the entire game.
Dead Rising 2 is shaping up to follow in the footsteps of the first game quite nicely. There are lots of little touches that really make this game stand out from the zombie-slaying crowd. A fire extinguisher can be used to freeze then shatter your many foes, and consuming too much alcohol not only makes Chuck puke in glorious high definition, but the zombies will actually slip in your sick if they wander into the middle of the puddle. We look forward to seeing what other surprises Dead Rising 2 holds in the future.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
