Dead Rising was one of the first hits on the Xbox 360, released in the summer of 2006 and offered a new take on the zombie slaying genre, with hundreds of zombies to kill in a mall, in an endless variety. The long awaited sequel will serve Dead Rising fans well, so well that if you didn’t like the original, you most likely won’t like the sequel either.

In Dead Rising 2, you play as motocross star Chuck Greene, whose wife was killed by zombies, and worse, whose daughter is infected with the zombie virus, which drives the main plot of the game. In order for your daughter to live (i.e. not turn into a zombie), you have to get her medication, Zombrex, which means that all missions in the game are time based — you only have a certain amount of time to get her the medication. You also have to rescue other survivors in the large casino/hotel complex that you’re stuck in. And to get you moving, you only got three days before the military comes and razes the place to the ground.

The gameplay is even more over the top than its predecessor. You can customize your wardrobe to crazy heights, and can pretty much dress like anything from a bride to a biker. But the really cool stuff is all the weapons, or rather, the weapons you can make. For instance, you can spike nails to a baseball bat, or strap a pair of chainsaws to a pole. During your play, you’ll level up, gain access to more weapons, get more inventory slots and get combo cards, which allow you to combine different weapons and create new ones — that’s where the most interesting part of the gameplay is. Aside from slaying zombies, of course. This time, Dead Rising 2 also has multiplayer, where there’s online co-op and competitive multiplayer as well. While it won’t offer you hours of fun, it’s great to have, and especially the co-op is welcomed.

Technically, the game manages to look marginally better than Dead Rising 1, which was out over 4 years ago, which is a bit disappointing. To some extent, that understandable, considering the sheer amount of zombies that are on-screen at the same time, not to mention the fast paced action. Which, by the way, can make the game stutter at times.

The Good:
Fun and addictive gameplay
Lots of content
Lots of weapons and customization

The Bad:
Visuals haven’t improved much
Some screen tearing and frame rate issues

Overall score: 8/10