So after playing "Dead Rising 2" for a few days, I have to say that your opinion of the game will depend largely on how much you liked the first game.
The first "Dead Rising" did a few things well, namely: zombie carnage. To date, I have yet to play a more fun game for sheer zombie death. Pitting you against hundreds of zombies with quite literally any weapon at your disposal fulfilled the zombie hunter fantasy within me on many, many levels. There are few things more satisfying than beating to death a walking dead monstrosity with a golf club, or even better, the samurai sword.
Another thing they did well was a time limit. As anyone who knows me knows, I am nothing if not anal retentive when it comes to games. I explore every nook and cranny and open every box (it could be filled with chocolate, okay?) in attempt to get 100% completion/exploration bonuses. However, on the other hand, I also hate a false sense of urgency. "Mass Effect 2" comes to mind most readily as the "omg, we have to get out here, we're going to die!!! ... as soon as you trigger the quick time event. You know, whenever." If it's going to be urgent, make it friggin' urgent. Give me a challenge, people!
"Dead Rising" did just that. Giving everything a time limit, along with a time limit for the entire game (x-hours before the gov't comes to bust you out of hock), really tested your RPG seek-and-loot skills to the max.
Things "Dead Rising" did not do so well were story, plot, dialog and voice acting. The entire game wreaked of a Japanese game trying to cater to Western players. And let's face it, Japanese players and Western players have very different standards (aka "The MGS Raiden Phenomenon") . When not massacring zombies en masse, the game felt, at best, like a dull movie you're watching because nothing else is on, and at worst, like nails on a blackboard.
"Dead Rising 2" is back and suffers from the same drawbacks: kickass game play hampered by awful dialog, characters, acting and story. In fact, it's not only similar to "Dead Rising," it's practically the same game. There are some improvements, such as the save system and the awesome new "combo" feature that allows you to combine two weapons into a new killing machine, but really, it plays like it should have been a DLC rather than a whole new game.
Having said that, the combo system really is awesome. Combine a bucket with drills to make a zombie-eating, well, bucket, and the tired and true "nails + baseball bat." The only problem with combos is that you break to a blessedly-short (but quickly annoying) cut scene of Chuck intensely working to combine two items. Now this works for, say, the lawnmower, or fire extinguisher, but nails and a baseball bat? No, I don't think so.
Overall, I recommend the game for die-hard fans of the first who want to relive the joy of killing your way through throngs of zombies, but personally, I'd wait to buy it used. In fact, I plan on selling back my copy as soon as I finish it; and I never sell back games.
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