Test your survival skills and creativity against a zombie outbreak in a Casino.
In spite of the dark tone of the main plot, DR2 doesn't take itself all too seriously. For starters, part of the society treat zombies as infected humans, meaning they're not killed if they're not an immediate threat and that a medicine to revert the zombie status is being researched. For now, all they have is a very expensive drug that halts the infection but has to be taken every 24 hours. The other part of society thinks zombies are no longer humans and use them as bait, fuel and targets in Terror is Reality (TIR), a gruesome TV series not unlikely to the one in The Running Man.
One of the episodes of TIR is sabotaged and zombies are let loose on Fortune City Casino, wreaking havoc and killing most of the guests. You're framed for the devilish act and have 72 hours to prove yourself innocent, find the medicine for your daughter every 24 hours and deal with the human survivors.
DR2 is all about exploring the malls, casinos and stores of fortune city and search for survivors and to kill zombies in every possible way.
The game has a main quest and several side quests. They can both be ignored if you just want to walk through Fortune City killing zombies left and right but that means that you're still framed for the outbreak and that your daughter will become a zombie. It's a possible outcome, even though not a very happy one. Should you decide to follow the story and uncover the truth behind the outbreak, prepare for the ever present mixture of a dark and a satirical tone.
One thing that does stand out is the variety of ways to dispatch the undead. Everything is a weapon in Fortune City. From vases to drink carts, computer keyboards to battle axes, almost everything is a weapon in Chuck's hands. Whats more, the game allows you to combine items and create deadly / funny weapons that can devastate hordes of the undead.
Survivors come in two very distinct types: victims and psychopaths. Victims are just hapless guests that managed to survive the first wave of the undead and need your help to stay alive. Psychopaths are usually people that did not handle the outbreak all too well or that doesn't believe in Chuck's claims of innocence and have decided to take justice into their own hands. They're usually formidable opponents, much harder to dispatch than any undead.
You should not fear the psychopaths for long because killing zombies wield you experience points and killing zombies in spectacular ways wield spectacular experience, which will improve Chuck's speed, damage, health and unlock an impressive array of hand to hand moves.
There's a lot to do and uncover in Dead Rising 2. The RPG and open world nature are an incentive to exploration and killing zombies in inventive ways. The action is gruesome, violent and bloody and the main plot is interesting and provide a reason to take a break from random zombie killing.
The main story and plot can also be experience in cooperative mode, which is smooth and easy to set up. Online also offer you a chance to cash some money and experience a TIR episode against 3 other online opponents.
It's an amazing game with lots to do, just make sure to expect some comedy into your zombie killing fun.