A game made in the heart of the seventh generation’s life, Dead Rising 2 takes many notes from the first title in the franchise. In place of a small-town homely mall you’re instead given a much larger and more adult gambling haven to traipse around in. I’ll admit some bias on my part, as I played this game extensively growing up, but I have so many memories playing this over and over, finding hidden secrets or new things to do. Right off the bat you’ll notice it’s full of minigames, taking after its Las Vegas inspirations. Some are luck-based, and others dependent on QTEs. They’re all worth at least one try, and in totality, they mark a lighter direction for the franchise.

The first game had plenty of more silly moments and gags, but Dead Rising 2 takes that to a new level. The story is still as serious as it can be, it’s everything else around it that has a newly donned coat of parody. There’s a lot of silliness in the game, in both slapstick and adult humor. I think it straddles the line in a fun way, but I can understand it’s not for everybody. It's very B-movie in its presentation, replete with some really creative and out-there psychopath boss fights. Maybe this is the nostalgia talking but I really liked this spin, even if it’s as crazy as the franchise gets in terms of visual design and ratio of humor to horror. In all my life I’ve probably played this game around 8 or 9 times. And a big reason for that is another staple that was first introduced in Dead Rising 2, that being combo weapons.

These extra XP yielding weapons allow you to unleash some potential in some items that you would otherwise never pick up or use beyond once out of novelty. Combining two distinct items either marked by combo cards or found through traditional discovery gives you an amped up weapon that is either badass or utterly silly, but all a joy to find and melt zombies with. Add on the unique weapons you’ll find throughout the mall and there’s no shortage of carnage to be sown. You even have a sweet Humvee to go joyriding down the strip in. As I said before, the basic structure of the first game, with timed missions, rescue tasks, and boss fights remains the same. A relief, as this game proves that formula provides a wonderful foundation. While the timed missions do make it very hard to complete every mission in time, it’s such an important piece of adding urgency and giving Dead Rising an edge to it’s sheen. The rescue missions aren’t the most exciting missions in the world, but I had little trouble escorting people back with the generous health and run speed they typically give the other survivors, and that sweet boost of XP made sure I kept it up.

Solidifying its status as the first game on acid, Dead Rising 2 also gives us a Terror is Reality mode on top of the main game. Your main guy Chuck Greene is a contestant on the TIR show, which involves racing against others to kill the most zombies to win cash, both in-universe and in-game. The intro to the game has you compete in such a race. Beyond that there’s another outside of story option that lets you compete against other players to win cash you can use in the main game. Truth be told it’s better than it has any right to be, and can be a good source of distraction if the main entertainment starts to wear on you. On the main game, let's talk about the story briefly before I wrap this up.

The story was …ok. Chuck Greene is stiffer than I remember him being, but his relationship with his daughter partly makes up for that. I’ll never stop snickering like a child when he rattles off the stupidest puns known to man after offing some crazy. Perhaps a bit more playfulness like that or some more distinct traits for Chuck would have been a good idea. I say this liking the guy more than most, as I have a bit of a soft spot for him. The actual chronology and events are pretty cool, if a tad derivative of the first game in the later half. After playing Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, an alternative version of the game with Frank at the helm instead, I kind of wish they took most of the elements from Off the Record’s story, sans comically evil Stacey. But that might just be my fondness for Rebecca shining through.

Overall Dead Rising 2 is a much lighter stepping stone in the franchise’s catalog, and I think it makes the most of that fact. Be it with a friend in the Co-op mode or on your lonesome journeying out on the zombified strip, the game is a real boon for those that want options and a sandbox to thrive in. Not only is it a great action title, it’s an essential for those that love zombie games.