Dead Rising 2

Ok, so I've had this game for a couple weeks now and I haven't posted a review in a while, so why not? Anyway, if you're not familiar with the series, they're pretty good zombie games and one of the major selling points is that you can use almost anything as a weapon. I haven't actually played the first one yet, but the second is pretty sweet. The protagonist, Chuck Greene, is like Chuck Norris ... but Greene. He is pretty tough though. Plus instead of just being after a story, his motives are much more relatable than those of Frank West. Chuck was framed for causing the zombie outbreak and his daughter was bitten by a zombie, so he has three days to clear his name and keep his daughter alive by giving her a drug called Zombrex every 24 hours. Time plays a big part in this game, which is both a strength and a weakness. Everything is very structured and certain things have to be done at certain times. Each mission opens and closes at a set time, whether you've done it or not. Most are optional, but you still have to go through the story in the prescribed times. Because of this, it's possible to forget to do a mission and screw yourself over, sometimes so badly that you have to restart the game. Luckily all your abilities and stuff carry over to the next play through so you can start with everything you had before. The sense of time is a cool concept and makes it feel more real, but it sometimes feels like there's not enough time to just do random things and kill zombies, which in itself is pretty fun with all the different ways to do it. A few of my favorite weapons are the shower head, the toy helicopter, the electric guitar, and also the more standard weapons like a sword, a sledgehammer, and various guns. I think the best weapons of all though are the combo weapons. In Dead Rising 2, maintenance rooms are your best friend. In and around them are always the components for at least one combo weapon, which can be created using the workbench in the maintenance room. Some of them are fairly realistic, like a machete duct taped to a broom handle, but some others are just so ridiculous it's awesome. For example, if you combine gems and a flashlight you get a lightsaber. That,s right. A lightsaber. You can also make a freeze gun, a powered up guitar that makes shockwaves, and lots if other fun weapons. I haven't tried them all yet, but so far my personal favorite is a pair if boxing gloves with knives duct taped to them. Maintenance rooms are your best friend, but I'd say your second best friend is anything with wheels. If you find a wheelchair, a utility cart, or anything like that, you can push it and just plow through hordes of zombies. One zombie is pretty easy to kill, but there are always tons of them on the screen, so it's never too easy. Plus the environment is pretty big, so that's nice. My only complaint from a traversal standpoint is that the player often relies on the guide arrow on the HUD for navigation, but there's no way to set a custom waypoint. The story is meant to be played through several times, but that's only fun for so long. It has a multiplayer mode and I don't know how it is on other platforms, but on the 360 it's really not even worth playing. Finding a game takes a long time, and once you start playing, if just one person leaves the game the whole thing ends. Plus it's based on the show Terror is Reality from the game, but the host (spoiler alert) is responsible for framing Chuck, so you really start to hate him after a little bit. There is online co-op though, so if you want, you can join someone else's game and give them a hand. Unfortunately though, there's no splitscreen, which I really would've liked. Overall though, I love the game. The concept is original ad the story is good, plus the gameplay is fun and unlike most other zombie games. If you like zombie games, this one is a must. It's hampered by some minor issues I have with it, but it easily makes up for them. Final Verdict: This game gets 4.2 homemade lightsabers!