Just in time for Halloween comes the sequel to Dead Rising. This time, instead of taking over a shopping mall, the undead have overrun the fictional Fortune City, a Vegas lookalike. Just as in the first game, you can pick up nearly anything and use it as a weapon against the droves of zombies. And now you can play online and play games on a pretend zombie reality TV show! Definitely more campy than scary. My brother Jeff is such a Dead Rising fan, I thought I’d have him take a stab at reviewing it. So here’s high school senior Jeff Orth’s review of Dead Rising 2! (Xbox 360 version reviewed here)

All true zombie lovers know that if you want a game with the stereotypical hordes of slow, lumbering zombies, you want Dead Rising.

Dead Rising 2 improves on many of the aspects of its predecessor. Survivors you save can maneuver around zombies in much the same fashion as you do and they are less likely to accidently shoot you in the head or bludgeon you with a battleaxe. There is an even wider array of weapons to choose from and, when that is not enough, you can make your own weapons by combining the items found throughout Fortune City. Combine a bat and nails, which are boring and do little damage by themselves, and you get a spiked bat which kills most zombies with one hit. There are quite a number of these combinations and it is always a fun pastime to try to find a new one. The biggest thing I noticed was that the area was greatly expanded. Instead of one big mall there are several small ones along with many casinos and other things you would expect to see in a replacement Las Vegas: wedding chapels, theaters, and *ahem* gentleman’s clubs.

There are a few things that could have been refined a bit. The graphics, while improved from the first game, are still a little pixellated (but I can understand that because there can be about 100 zombies on the screen at one time). Many of the weapons have a wide radius of attack which would normally be a good thing to attack a lot of zombies, but it can be a hindrance when you accidently hit your buddy with a machete attached to a broom.

Overall, if you liked the first Dead Rising you will definitely want to pick up the sequel. It greatly improves on the first and almost all of its detractions are the same as the original.

Kid Factor:

Dead Rising 2 is rated M for Mature with ESRB descriptors of Blood and Gore, Use of Alcohol, Intense Violence, Language, and Sexual Themes. But aside from some horrible ways you kill zombies and other bad guys, I thought this game was more campy and hokey than anything. If you’re OK with your teen watching zombie flicks, they’ll be fine here. Parental supervision may be a good idea. (Kid Factor by Cary Woodham)

Cary’s Notes: Most of the time, Jeff’s M rated games like Halo and Call of Duty bore me to tears. But sometimes he plays a game I enjoy watching with him, such as Red Dead Redemption and the Dead Rising titles. Last summer we took a trip to Vegas, so it was pretty neat seeing similar locations in the game. And as big Capcom fans, we had fun spotting the classic Capcom game references. Like the Servebot heads and the Mega Man slot machines and the Ghosts N Goblins costume and the Proto Man standups. You can even combine a Blanka (Street Fighter) mask with a car battery to electrocute zombies! Like the first game, I think Jeff will be playing the sequel for a long time.

Tags: Reader Reviews!