Dead Rising 2

Rating: M

Score: 8.5/10

Zombies, what can you say about them? They're everywhere nowadays, having multiple movies and video games about the virus that may sweep the world any day. For now, we can all sit in the comfort of our homes and enjoy the free training and amusement the little guys bring.

Dead Rising is a game renowned for its interesting zombie mayhem. Instead of killing zombies simply with a gun or a random blunt object, you become Frank West, a man trapped in a mall with no gun and no blunt objects handy. He used whatever was readily able to pick up and swing around. Whether he used TVs, or benches, or even water guns, it was use your imagination or you'll have trouble surviving. Now, years later, Dead Rising 2 steps up to claim Dead Rising's title of Best Zombie Game Ever. Can it succeed? This game is available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

The story stars Chuck Greene, motorcross junkie and game host contestant. The game show gets infected with a virus, and everyone in the city turns into zombies, and Chuck gets framed for all of it! After seeking shelter with other survivors, he must keep himself and his daughter alive, while going out to clear his name.

Chuck spends most of his time around a mall, complete with casinos, hunting stores, and shoe shops. Like the original Dead Rising, you can change your appearances by taking a visit to certain shops, and collect survivors around their shops. Each survivor rescued rewards PP, which is used to level up Chuck to gain more inventory, health, and fighting moves. Lowering the zombie population also helps in your quest for PP, and different items can reward different PP. Crafted items rewarding the most PP.

Chuck, unlike Frank West of the original game, isn't a photographer and doesn't have the extra feature of taking interesting zombie pictures for points. Instead, Chuck is good with his hands and can combine objects on a workbench. Objects include simple things like nails + bat = bat with nails on it, right to stuffed bear + gun = sentry teddy bear. Testing different objects with others can make for an interesting fight, and that's besides the whole "use any object in the mall as a weapon" perk. CDs, foam fingers, tables, and shopping carts can still be used as weapons if you really get yourself into a mess. Chuck also combines even odder combinations than teddy bears + guns.

He's the only man, by far, that would look at two perfectly lovely chainsaws and say to himself "those would be immensely more useful if they were attached to a kayak paddle". If you saw two perfectly lovely chainsaws in a zombie apocalypse, would you attach them to the nearest water transportation device? I mean, any other way isn't nearly as hilarious, but it just seems so impractical.

Connect with a friend, and you can explore the world together. Two people can get twice as much done at once, right? And all the insane hilarity and oddness only doubles with a second person running around. Additionally, if you don't like your friend very much, you could always chuck a garbage bag at him to show your appreciation.

While Chuck doesn't have the charm Frank had (mainly because all we ever see Chuck do is craft things and be angry), he's certainly just as much fun. The AI is much improved, meaning rescue missions aren't equivalent to handing the zombies a delicious meat sandwich, like in the last game. It doesn't change the game around much, which is sad since there's four years in the difference. Dead Rising 2 isn't a game that takes itself seriously, or realistically, which is a nice change from today's titles. It's simple fun, as its predecessor was, but which little improvement.