DISCLAIMERS:
- the reviewer has not finished the game with 100% completion
- the game was played on the Xbox One S using the version of the game intended for United States audiences
Six years after its original version, Dead Rising 2 was rereleased on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows. This release is more of a port than anything else. In this review Dead Rising 2 will be judged on its own merits.
The gameplay is essentially the same as just about every other Dead Rising game. The whole game has a timer and there are many mostly optional timed objectives to complete before you run out of time. There are a variety of weapons and weapon combinations, though they aren’t particularly deep in terms of gameplay because there is hardly any variety and the variety of effects the weapons produce is underwhelming. The enemies are also obviously not particularly interesting to battle as they are either zombies that just walk/run at you, people with guns that almost never move, or bosses that run around and occasionally attack you with a gun or up-close. There are also vehicles which have some of the worst vehicle physics for a game of this caliber. Dead Rising 2 also seems to completely miss the idea of recourse scarcity that the genre it spawned from benefits from greatly.
Essentially the only exceptional part of the game’s gameplay is the exploration of various environments that are somewhat interestingly designed despite the games technical shortcomings. The idea of time-limited events is interesting, but the developers don’t make the player work particularly hard to do a significant amount of them in the time allowed. The simplicity of the game might seem like a positive to some, but the game never capitalizes on the level or enemy design that a simple gameplay system could allow for. Overall Dead Rising 2 is almost completely devoid of risks and essentially doesn’t develop its mechanics to any extent.
The sound in Dead Rising 2 is about average. There are a few standout songs, but overall the soundtrack isn’t particularly memorable. The voice acting is also about average, with none of the acting standing out as being particularly bad. Sound effects are about what one would expect, though some sounds can be repeated too often. Overall the sound is definitely not a highlight of the game, but still serviceable.
Technically Dead Rising 2 is easily below average. Animations and the environments are hardly above PS2 fidelity. The controls feel the same way, too. Art direction doesn’t impress much either. Pretty much the only redeeming factor is that the game runs at 60 FPS. Overall Dead Rising 2‘s technical aspects are just about the last reason to consider buying it.
The story in Dead Rising 2 is also far from impressive. Essentially the only interesting aspect is how the course of the story can be changed slightly based on some decisions. Overall the story isn’t particularly intrusive though so its hard to fault the game for this. Some players might enjoy the included Capcom references, though.
In terms of value this rerelease is perfectly acceptable. There are a few other modes this review doesn’t talk about that add value, but they essentially don’t justify any amount of the game’s price. There are many better games that are similarly priced, but if you for some reason want to play this one its far from a rip-off.
Overall the reviewer would give the game a 7.5 out of 10.
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