Developer: Capcom Vancouver
Publisher: Capcom
Rating: Mature
With zombies being the huge craze that they currently are, Capcom tries to capitalize on its Dead Rising franchise with a reimagining of Dead Rising 2 entitled Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. With a few new features and a returning character, is Dead Rising 2: Off The Record a worthy spin-off? Pick up your favorite melee weapons and some duct tape, here’s the review.
When we first heard of this title, we originally thought it would be downloadable content for Dead Rising 2. Upon hearing that it would be sold on its own, we thought it would resemble the Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare expansion. As it turns out, we were wrong. Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is indeed its own separate game and not exactly DLC for the original Dead Rising 2.
The protagonist this time around is the protagonist from the first Dead Rising game, Frank West. West rose to popularity after the events of the first game but has recently fallen on hard times, so he signs up for the zombie-killing reality show competition Terror Is Reality, and this is about all that is added to the story. A few twists have been added here and there to accommodate Frank West being the protagonist, such as Chuck Green as a boss.
There are a few minor updates to gameplay. The inclusion of the Uranus Zone Amusement Park adds nothing other than a few boss battles, a few more combination weapons, and some interactive games dotted around the park itself. The fact that Frank West is the protagonist this time around adds photography to the game, allowing the player to gain more experience points with the pictures they take.
One of the finer points of this game is that it has more mouth movement. You notice this when Frank West says something outside of a cut scene, such as when he’s changing clothes. Dead Rising 2 is a great game. The problem here isn’t the fact that Dead Rising 2: Off the Record isn’t a great game, it’s just that it’s the same game with a different protagonist and only a few other small additions.
While Off The Record isn’t great, it’s not horrible either. If you love the Dead Rising series, you’ll get a kick out of this and will scratch that zombie-killing itch. Dead Rising 2 was a fun game, so Off The Record doesn’t have any reason not to be. We personally just have a problem with the fact that it’s not a whole new experience. We hate to say that it’s a bad thing, but for the full $40 (plus tax), we would have preferred a different story, an auto-save feature, and more areas included other than the Uranus Zone Amusement Park.
If you haven’t played Dead Rising 2 yet then Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is worth the price. However, if you have Dead Rising 2, there’s no real reason to rush out and buy this game at full-price. If you REALLY love the Dead Rising series, it’s a fine retelling of Dead Rising 2. Still, at the end of the day, Off The Record doesn’t advance the story in the universe of Dead Rising, nor does it tell a very different story, which hardly justifies a $40 price.
With that said, it’s not terrible. It’s Dead Rising 2 DLC priced and sold as a separate title, with everything you love about Dead Rising 2 but with Frank West as your guy. Also included is a Sandbox Mode, which allows you to play through the game with no missions active and no time limits, just Frank West, his camera, and hordes of zombies. If nothing else, it’s worth a rent if you already have Dead Rising 2, and is worth at least playing once.
Final Verdict:Dead Rising 2: Off The Record gets 7 Frank West snapshots out of 10.
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This review is based on the retail version of the Playstation 3 copy of Dead Rising 2: Off the Record by Capcom
