Frank West returns to zombie-slaying action in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. This Dead Rising 2 reimagining sees the gruff photojournalist facing off against a wider array of monsters, building new weapons, snapping photos, and best of all, mixing it up in a new open-world sandbox mode. Stomping the undead is fun—for a while—but bugs and repetitive gameplay keep Dead Rising 2 from achieving true greatness. The $39.99 Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360; I reviewed the PC game.

A Mix of the Old, a Dash of the New

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record wears its intent on its sleeve—the game is all about giving gamers the opportunity to absolutely destroy zombies in myriad ways while rescuing any survivors that they stumble across. Frank West's return as lead character—explained in rather boring cutscenes in Story mode—means that photo opps have also returned as a gameplay element. Snapping pictures of the zombie invasion earns Prestige Points (the game's version of experience points) that let players level up Frank and his weapons.

New to the franchise is Sandbox mode—one of series' fans most requested features, according to Capcom. In the Sandbox, gamers are free to run about and kill zombies without missions, timers, or other pressures.  Some would say that the lack of urgency dulls the zombie-killing experience; I say that sometimes you want to lop a head off without worrying about other matters. Of course, the option still exists to partake in timed challenges so that you can quickly earn cash and add some structure if you'd so choose.

Creative Combat

The Dead Rising franchise is known for its creative combat, and that tradition continues in Off The Record. Virtually anything in the environment that isn't a zombie can be used as a weapon, be it a baseball bat, 2 by 4, or wrench. For example, a bucket can be hurled from a distance, or plopped over a monster's head to confuse it and put you in the position to score big damage. Fire extinguishers are particularly sweet weapons, as you can use then to freeze and then shatter zombies. Plus, any coolant or frozen parts cause zombies to slip and fall when they step on the icy areas. Objects can be combined to form new, hilarious weapons; meld a sledgehammer and battery and let the electrified zombie-bashing begin. You can even use hacked-off zombie parts as weapons themselves—there's few things in video games as funny as stuffing a severed hand into a zombie's own dripping maw.

Repetition and Bugs

The combat, however, gets old after a while. The first few hours of massacring monsters are quite thrilling—especially with the creative weapon combos and usages—but soon after you realize that it's a shallow experience. You kill zombies, kill more zombies, and then kill even more zombies. That isn't a huge negative, but the bugs that appear amid all the killing do prove quite irksome. There were times when I would pick up a weapon, only to have Frank either freeze in place or get stuck in an animation frame until I dropped the weapon. The bugs aren't as extensive as those of the original Dead Island, but they're still very annoying when they pop up in the heat of battle.

Audio and Video

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record won't win and end-of-year awards for its visuals—they're solid, but not spectacular. What the game lacks in mind-blowing graphics design, it makes up in scale. The zombie horde is deep—really deep—and you'll marvel at the sheer number of walking stiffs that are onscreen at once. I would've liked more blood-soaked walls and weapons, but when zombie-juice splatters on Frank West's suit as he regulates zombies, it turns from gray to a dark crimson—a nice touch. I also appreciated the camera that shifts to dynamic angles when you land one-hit kills (such as decapitating a zombie with a crowbar).

Audio is what you'd expect from a zombie game; lots of moaning and semi-eerie B-movie tunes that serve as the action's soundtrack. What really stuck with me were the squishy sounds made by hard objects as they penetrated soft issue; it made impaling and smashing the dead that much more satisfying.

Should You Buy Dead Rising 2: Off The Record?

Dead Rising fans will find much to like in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. The humor, weapon combos, kill variety, and Sandbox mode makes it one that warrants a look. The bugs and repetitive gameplay dull the experience a bit, but hopefully downloadable content will expand the gameplay, and a patch will fix the bugs.

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