Dead Rising 2

Written by Nicole Kline  on May 03, 2010

First Impressions: Killing zombies with a vibrator, that's putting the "sin" in Sin City.

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Dead Rising 2, the follow-up to 2006's survival horror game Dead Rising, has created quite a stir since it was announced last February. Originally slated for early 2010, it's set to be released on August 31st for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The original developers at Capcom have teamed up with Blue Castle Games, a Canadian company whose resume previously only included sports games. Keiji Inafune, the original producer, and several other members of the team from the first game are helping with the development. What exactly do we know so far about this zombie sequel?

At GDC 2009, a month after the game was announced, Blue Castle revealed that the sequel would be employing a new software systemcalled Mental Mill, which would allow them to up the number of on-screen zombies from 800 to 6,000. A month later, Captivate featured the debut trailer for the game, introducing us to a brand-new main character, Chuck Greene. This initial trailer didn't explain much, but it did let fans know that weapon customization would be ramped up, teasing us with several excellent examples, including two chainsaws attached to a motorcycle. Could it get any better than that?



The answer, of course, is Уabsolutely.Ф Capcom has been very tight-lipped about the game, but a veritable flood of information has come out at this year's Captivate, which happened earlier this month. First and foremost, we now have a better grasp on the plot. We know that Chuck, our main character, was once a motocross champion, and that he has a daughter who has been infected with the zombie virus. We know that he goes on a game show called Terror is Reality in order to try to get money to pay for Zombrex, a medicine that staves off said virus and the only thing keeping his daughter from becoming a slavering flesh-eater. All of this takes place in the recently rebuilt Las Vegas, now called Fortune City. Of course, while he's there, a zombie outbreak occurs, turning his opportunity to get rich and get medicine into a chance for us to kill a metric ton of the walking dead.

Even more exciting is the item combination system. The original game featured all manner of items littering the ground, each one a new and imaginative way to kill zombies. But now, your creativity is about to be rewarded in ways you always hoped it would. You can combine obvious things, like nails in baseball bats, and gun turrets in teddy bears. But then there are the more subtle combinations Ц things like drills in buckets (pop that right on top of a zombie and presto! Brain blender), dynamite on meat, and, of course, many variations involving multiple chainsaws. There are even handy cards you can find that hold different combos on them. You can make them on your own, of course, but you'll get bonuses if you have the card for the item you've made.

There's a special bonus in store for Xbox 360 owners. Case Zero, a mid-quel designed to explain what happened between the first game and the second, will be available as DLC on the XBLA. It's being referred to as the prologue to the sequel, and is said to be three hours long. It will be an introduction to Chuck and his daughter as well as to the new game mechanics. However, it won't include what fans are perhaps most excited about Ц and that's online co-op.

That's right, I said it Ц Dead Rising 2 will have online co-op. Both characters will play as Chuck Greene, meaning twice the zombie killing Ц and twice the fun. This is not to be confused with the online multiplayer mode revealed at TGS last year Ц that will be part of the Terror is Reality show, and will be four players online against each other in a ludicrous showdown. No, two player co-op will be entirely to help players in situations in which two players are better than one Ц when you have a particularly difficult boss to fight, you want to do some gambling, or you just want to have even more creative ways to kill zombies. The points accrued by the second player will remain in that game Ц all save points and credits will stay with the host player. Regardless of who gets the points, it sounds like everyone still wins.