Dead Rising 2

[Kardiophylax]

So, Dead Rising 2 is set to release for PC on Steam at the end of the month. Anyone planning to pick it up? I'm seriously considering it after hearing how fun the first one was from a coworker a few years back. I don't own an XBOX 360, so I never got the chance to experience it. Now that DR2 is going to be coming out for the PC, I'm actually pretty excited. I just hope that it is optimized to run on the PC and doesn't play poorly like some other games that made their way over.

I've watched quite a few of the gameplay videos and it looks like it'll be a lot of fun in both single and multi-player. Hopefully there are some fun missions to do as well so that will offer a break from the endless zombie killing.

I thought Two Worlds II was one of the only games that I personally wanted to keep my eye on this year, but this one just hopped onto my list. I need something to do while waiting for GD and for Elemental to get its act together.

[ASYLUM101]

IT'S COMING OUT ON PC?

*preorders*

[Kardiophylax]

IT'S COMING OUT ON PC?

*preorders*

Haha, yeah, check the bottom of the "Coming Soon" section on Steam. Only $39.99 as well.

[myrmidon]

not enough dollars!

this is awsome 2 player co-op!

[shawnmck]

Having played the first Dead Rising, here are my opinions of it...

For starters, the game is very open ended. You got missions to perform (such as save some people from a section of the mall, or track down a person who might know what is going on, & etc.). In theory it was good, but in practice it kinda fails because during the entire game you have only a set amount of time, so it is near impossiple to complete every mission in the game. At least not at first.

You go through the game leveling up your character by killing zombies or performing other tasks. This is kinda a slow process, and the very beginning is pretty tough, as you don't have much health, and can't carry many items. As you level up your health bar increases & so does your inventory. Because of this, you will never experience the full game on your first play-through. You are forced to play through it at least once just to level up, so you can handle the more tough situations. This may sound good, but in practice it kinda sucks, as you are just going through the game to level up, & can't do all the missions, nor can you survive the various boss battles easily. The save system can be a major pain as well, as you can only save in a rest-room, or in the place where you first entered on a cot. This makes the game a bit frustrating at first because some sections are pretty tough, and the bosses brutal. Since saves are rare (bathrooms), it is common to go through an entire section of the mall, perform a mission, encounter a boss, and then die and have to repeat all that over again. This is further annoying since all zombies re-spawn constantly.
It can just make the first playthrough of the game extremely dull & monotonous.

However, if you manage to complete the game, you will then be able to play through it again with all of your level ups (increased health, moves, & inventory), which makes the game much easier, and you are then able to complete more missions on time (since you don't have to go out of the way to find a restroom to save). This is where the game becomes much more enjoyable, as anything can be used as a weapon, and there are many ways to kill the zombies. Hit em with a sledge, 2x4, axe, guitar, or run them over with a lawn-mower, or stick em with a shower head to experience a shower of blood. Or many, many other methods of dismemberment & slaughter.
It can be very wild. And the story can be very campy at times.

The game's open-endedness & many ways to kill zombies make it very fun. But the save-points being few & far in between, stiff learning curve, and constantly re-spawning zombies (sometimes right before your eyes) and not being able to do many of the side missions at the start can make this game feel a bit boring.
But if you have a lot of patience, then you should be fine.

I have read that the sequel (DR2) makes things more managable so I don't think it will be as restrictive as the original.
Overall this appears to be an improvement over the original in every way.
I can't wait.
And I am glad to hear that it will be coming out on PC. I will pick it up if it comes out on a disc, but until then I will play it on the XB 360.
:D

[shawnmck]

Also...I wonder if the "Case Zero" DLC will be made available..?

Basically it is a short demo/ prequel of the game that takes place before the events of the full retail game.
It isn't very long, but I've heard varying times (between 2 & 4 hours) of game-play.
Not only do you experience a part of the story that won't be in the retail version, but all level ups are carried over to the main game.

As far as I know, it will only be available over X-Box Live, but then again I never heard of the PC version until now, so I'm curious.

[Kardiophylax]

From what I've heard/read, the Case Zero DLC is going to be exclusive to XBOX 360. Now post launch, I can foresee them possibly releasing it on PC (and possibly PS3) to make a little more $$$.

Here are the bullet points I've heard regarding your negatives:

Dead Rising 2 is going to have three save slots per character.
The game length will still be timed/restricted in order to encourage the player to move the plot forward. You can still ignore this and just do whatever you want as well, but you won't be able to advance the plot if you miss a deadline time.
The game will feature 300 weapons and 50 combo weapons. Combo weapons are two items attached together, like a oar/staff with two chainsaws attached to it or a pitchfork with a car battery attached to electrocute zombies.
You'll be able to play slot machines and hit monsters with gigantic fuzzy dice (not one of your negatives, but an interesting bit of info nonetheless. :D)


I don't know if they will still expect people to do a "level up" playthrough as you described the first time in order to be able to complete the game or not. Overall though, it sounds like you enjoyed it and I think the new features and co-op will greatly enhance the gameplay.

I'm also glad to know I'm not the last to hear about its PC release. I remember checking out DR2 awhile back and seeing it was console only. It looks like it's only been at some point in the path month that they confirmed a PC release, and only within the last week or two that Steam starting taking pre-orders for it.

[shawnmck]

^ Again, my negatives were aimed at the original, and not the sequel.
I have heard that DR2 is better than 1 in all aspects, which is a good sign.
I was just giving you my opinions on the first game, and I didn't intend to make anyone think that I was referring to Dead Rising 2.

[Kardiophylax]

^ Again, my negatives were aimed at the original, and not the sequel.
I have heard that DR2 is better than 1 in all aspects, which is a good sign.
I was just giving you my opinions on the first game, and I didn't intend to make anyone think that I was referring to Dead Rising 2.

Sorry if I gave that impression, I knew you were talking about the first. I just wanted to make sure you knew about all the enhancements that were coming which should make the second a much better experience.

[Sile]

moving on..

I never got to play the first one either so this looks interesting.

I've always questioned Dead Rising though.. how much fun can you have killing only Zombies.. over and over and over X infinity?

I dunno... Will try a demo first if one is released.

[ASYLUM101]

I've always questioned Dead Rising though.. how much fun can you have killing only Zombies.. over and over and over X infinity?

Are you questioning the validity of ... i dunno, every rpg and arpg?

[Sile]

Let's see...

No.

[shawnmck]

Speaking for myself only, killing zombies over & over agin never gets old.
Just messy ;)

While the majority of the enemies are zombies, there are also non-zombie bosses. They are generally called "psychos", that are basically humans that lost it during the zombie outbreak & went crazy.
The first game had a clown with dual wielding chainsaws, a fat female cop, a crazy store clerk, escaped criminals (with orange jumpsuits), and many, many others.
Some were extremely difficult.

I haven't heard , read or seen what this games bosses will be like, but I imagine they will be pretty much the same.

I really, REALLY can't wait for this game to come out. Zombies are my absolute favorite enemies.

BTW
I wish Resident Evil would go back to using zombies.

I also am curious as to what kind of DLC Read Dead Redemption will get with zombies? I've read that one of them will contain a zombie-esque mission of sorts, but that's all I know.

I also got Call of Duty: World at War, specifically for the Nazi Zombies mayhem.

Mmmm, zombies.....tastes just like chicken.
:p

[Sile]

Speaking for myself only, killing zombies over & over agin never gets old.
Just messy ;)

While the majority of the enemies are zombies, there are also non-zombie bosses. They are generally called "psychos", that are basically humans that lost it during the zombie outbreak & went crazy.
The first game had a clown with dual wielding chainsaws, a fat female cop, a crazy store clerk, escaped criminals (with orange jumpsuits), and many, many others.
Some were extremely difficult.

I haven't heard , read or seen what this games bosses will be like, but I imagine they will be pretty much the same.

I really, REALLY can't wait for this game to come out. Zombies are my absolute favorite enemies.

BTW
I wish Resident Evil would go back to using zombies.

I also am curious as to what kind of DLC Read Dead Redemption will get with zombies? I've read that one of them will contain a zombie-esque mission of sorts, but that's all I know.

I also got Call of Duty: World at War, specifically for the Nazi Zombies mayhem.

Mmmm, zombies.....tastes just like chicken.
:p

Thanks for your constructive comment Shawn. ;)

[ASYLUM101]

Let's see...

No.

Heh, I'm just sayin, cause most games these days is "kill all these dudes, don't worry about where they come from".

Look at l4d and it's popularity, yet the story is shallower than a puddle. (is there a story?) People just LIKE killing stuff. No need to get all defensive.

[Sile]

Don't flatter yourself mate lol

[Kardiophylax]

If anyone is interested, I just heard that Steam had the manual posted for the game already. It will give you an idea of the controls and gameplay if you'd like to know before making a decision on it. The first page is blank, so scroll down when loading it.

http://cdn.steampowered.com/Manuals/45740/DR2_G4W_MNL_BDY_082410.pdf?t=1283385710

Some bullet points I took out of it:

Support for XBOX 360 controller is in.
Five mini-games and video poker are mentioned in the controls, though I suspect there are far more than five.
Co-op will employ a mechanic where one player can revive another with a food item. If both players die then the game is over.
9 Terror is Reality multiplayer mini-games for 2-4 people.
7 of the 30ish combo weapons are shown, 2 of which I hadn't previously seen.
A large map of Fortune City is shown.

[ASYLUM101]

OMG it looks bigger than the original!! (that's saying alot...)

Also, some of the new weapons are REALLY crazy...

Blitzkrieg? Wheelchair with mounted guns? HAHAHA

[Kardiophylax]

So, apparently there is quite a bit of streaming video out there now. I'd heard the game leaked a few days ago (as is typical for all game releases these days), but at that time it wasn't playable. I've been looking around on the DR2 forums and have found out that some people, I suspect mostly in Europe, have gotten the game early legitimately, primarily from smaller retail outfits.

I'm not going to watch any video, but I will be keeping an eye out for PC gameplay comments. I want to make sure it's going to play well on the PC before shelling out any cash for it. I don't want to buy a terrible port.

[myrmidon]

mmmmmmm i can already picture my self getting lost in there

[shawnmck]

I just picked this game up. Haven't had a chance to install it & play it yet though.
But it is available, even on dvd, for anyone who is interested.
:)

[ASYLUM101]

Been playing it the past few days, it's just as good as the first (if not better.)

Boss fights are still ridiculously hard. lol

[Harlequin]

Boss fights are still ridiculously hard. lol

That's how it's supposed to be. Noone wants a boss who is a pushover.^^
Ever played Vagrant Story?^^
Bosses are tough as hell, you always do like 1 dmg per hit. T_T

[ASYLUM101]

No lol, you don't understand lol. Like, the boss kills you when you have full health in like 3 hits. I don't mind hard bosses, really I don't - I love fighting hard bosses but Dead rising has another level for bosses... Granted I'm not level FIFTY or anything yet, but DR has retarded hard bosses.

Example, this dude killed me in the bathroom with a broken glass. He hit me twice, his tactics include, running around flailing and flipping like a lunatic. Me? I can only jog moderately fast, turn around slow, but I had a machete attached to a broom! It chops zombies in half! It didn't even bring him down by 1/10th!

[Harlequin]

hihi that is funny.
I heard that the clown from DR1 was ridicolously hard as well. :P
Anyway as I said. Bosses should be friggin hard. They are bosses after all.

Demon's Crest had really hard bosses as well and the secret final boss was just outrageous (I didn't try him more like 3 times).

Or try Kingdom Hearts. Defeating Sephiroth is SOOOOO hard. He has a skill that let's him teleport behind you and hit you with his HUGE sword taking away a good chunk of health. The bad thing is when he does this after using that other skill that reduces your HP to 1.^^
KH2 had hard bosses as well. Only played on normal but against some of the Organization XIII Members I almost went brainbomb.^^

[ASYLUM101]

Never heard of Demon's Crest, don't plan on playing Kingdom Hearts anytime soon. (don't play on consoles anymore)

Like I said, I don't mind hard bosses, DR1 I was fine with, I beat it enough times to see all the endings. I was able to kill the clown guy easy. Initially, he was hard, but once you figure out how to beat him (just shoot his giant balls...yes, I am serious - he has these huge balloons that explode) he's a pushover, as most bosses are in that game. I haven't tried that other guy yet today, but I'll figure it out...

[Harlequin]

heeeh you are really missing something if you don't play KH. Awesome story, awesome gameplay and the extra-bosses are friggin hard.^^
For me it's one of the best games ever.

Demon's Crest is a sidescroller rpg for SNES which looks very nice for it's age and is basically all about it's bosses some of them being really hard (if you don't use healingstuff which is boring and nooblike).
Not playing consoles hm, I am actually getting myself a PS3 after not playing console for years. Some games on the console are soooo awesome and I think no PC-only game can stand up to them in the rpg-genre. But that's my opinion and many might disagree.^^

Anyway at topic: So you only have to figure them out and it becomes easy? That sucks bosses should be hard even if you know what to do.

[ASYLUM101]

Anyway at topic: So you only have to figure them out and it becomes easy? That sucks bosses should be hard even if you know what to do.

In DR, you level up, gaining more HP, more damage, more weapons, etc. The more you play (and die/fail) the better you get because you learn the game and adapt to it, and your character stays whatever level he was at when you died. It's kinda annoying because it forces you to die a few times and fail before you can play through the game. But it's fun so it's not a big deal. And most of the times, the bosses are still freaking hard, but not like that bathroom boss I mentioned with the glass... I'll take a video later when I find him (if you guys don't mind watching me fail miserably XD)

EDIT: Ok, I beat the bastard but Xfire didn't feel like working with DR2. *shrug* Just had to run around until he took a swing, then turn around and smack him in the face with my broom. Did that for about 10 minutes. :)

[Kardiophylax]

I found out the game couldn't be resold (due to GFWL registration) and have decided to wait on a price drop. It doesn't seem like there will be enough gameplay to justify holding onto once I've played it for a few weeks. I think I'm going to throw the money at Fallout New Vegas or importing Two Worlds II instead. I'm not entirely sure yet.

[shawnmck]

So far I have mixed feelings about this game.
I definitely like the character of DR2 (chuck greene) much better than the one from DR1 (frank west), but I am finding the story to be very dull. The story in the first one was kinda ridiculous, but it was fun....this one, I don't know; there is just something about it that I don't quite care for.
The controls seem to be a bit better (can now use the trigger to fire weapon instead of one of the face buttons).

I haven't gotten to any bosses yet, but I'm finding the game to be a tad easier, which I am grateful for. The first one was very difficult at times, and not in a good way (i.e. cheap).

I also wish they would have reduced the number of zombies on screen in favor of more detail. There is just way too many in some areas.

[shawnmck]

BTW

Any fans of Red Dead Redemption might be happy to hear that it is getting some new zombie DLC titled, "Undead Nightmare, which looks pretty awesome to me.

There is no release date, but the trailer looks sick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA8sok2tbMU

I know it isn't out for the PC (yet ?), but I thought it is still relevant because it has zombies.
"mmm, zombies. Tastes like chicken." ;)

[ASYLUM101]

I also wish they would have reduced the number of zombies on screen in favor of more detail. There is just way too many in some areas.

Dude, it's dead rising. The first one was the same way,and it's not like they said "LETS OVERLOAD THE SCREEN WITH ZOMBIES SO WE CAN SKIP DETAILS", because there are a TON of details in the game. I'm impressed, and honestly the story is better than DR1 (taking pictures while in a zombie infested area? gimme a break.) although the stupid mosquito-driven zombie infection still exists.

As for difficulty - I don't see it much easier, I think it's the same really. (aside from the prisoners on the jeep in DR1...what a pain that was.)

and RDR, don't care for it til it is released on PC.

[Kardiophylax]

How many hours of entertainment does DR 2 offer? I know the game is time limited (unmodded anyway) and requires a few playthroughs to level up completely, complete the mission, get the different endings and achievements, etc. My concern is how long will the game offer actual entertainment value? I'm thinking this is about a 15 hour game or so for me (approx 1 week of gaming time), which leads me to believe it is not something I'd want to pay full price for.

Am I missing something that extends this game's longevity once the initial fun factor wears off?

[ASYLUM101]

Nope, once you finish the game a few times it's kinda dull. I put about 20-30 hours in DR1, in DR2 I've put about 8 or 9 so far and I'm only on case 3. (i think there's at least 6.) I will play it again afterwards until I hit max level and get some of the cool unlocks.
In DR1 for example, if you killed something like 65k zombies you unlocked the megaman buster, which was pretty bad ass. :)

They stretch out the game by making things kinda tough and time restricted. If you fail those things you have the choice to start over with the same stats/levels (ideal) or continue playing the now broken story line. (eg - you have to bring your daughter medicine every day at 7 am, if you don't, you fail part of the story. if you don't get to X location within X hours, you fail that part of the story...) And then if you die...you start over from your save game.

I think it's worth the 40 bucks honestly, I've been having a blast so far, and the price is decent compared to the price of most new PC games. I suggest getting it for PC over platforms, framerates are far better. I hear PS3 gets 20-25 fps, which is utter crap, whereas I'm getting minimum of 60 FPS on medium settings, and I have a pretty outdated system with the exception of my ATI 5770.

[Kardiophylax]

My reason for waiting is that several epic scale RPGs are coming out within a couple of weeks and I won't have a lot of time for DR2.

Also, if last year is any indication, I expect heavy discounts on capcom PC titles during the holiday sale. Both Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5 (which hit steam in Sept 09, just like DR2 has this year) were part of major daily sales in November of 09. I might be able to pick DR2 up for $20 or so over the holidays. Given that it has no resale value, I'd be much more willing to pick it up for that.

[Void(null)]

DR2 is absolutely worth the $20 to muck around and kill zombies in silly ways but I personally found far too many problems with it to justify a purchase on release day.

First of all, the plot is absolutely gawd awful and it imposes itself on you. You cant just ignore it, you have to meet certain objectives on a timer, also the script and voice acting makes Leisure suit Larry look mature and intelligent.

This would not be such a problem if them game just let you kill zombies and forget about the bad dialogue, crappy voice acting, nonsensical cliched plot that comes off like the worst of Romero's offerings.

Next the boss fights are abysmal. They are not challenging, they are just pattern recognition stupid damage/hit point frustration hard. If the boss fights were fought by interesting AI in unique arenas that would be one thing, but the boss fights are just an exercise in frustration and finding the cheapest way to exploit the AI to scrape by the battle by the skin of your teeth.

Lastly the level up mechanic kind of sucks at beginning. Starting the game is an absolute chore because you have very little health, have almost no moves or ability to do anything with, you do only a little damage and everything you use as a weapon breaks in a few swings, all of which are resolved as you level up.

In a game based around killing massive hordes of zombies, swinging a baseball bat a handful of times and running away to find another one as it breaks almost immediately until you grind out enough kills to have the inventory room to the scavenger hunt for the magazines that will give you melee weapon health increases is a shit game design choice.

At the core of Dead Rising 2 is a very fun and entertaining Zompocolypse simulator with almost limitless ways to kill zombies in hilarious fashions that makes for a great co-op experience, but it tacks on far too much needless bullshit to get to the "I'm killing zombies in hilarious ways and its awesome!' part.

I'm planning on picking it up if it goes on sale for Christmas on Steam, until then... I have my fingers crossed that it selling well to people more willing to deal with console mechanics and grind will encourage Capcom to stop being jackholes and release SSFIV on the PC, which I would pre-order in a heartbeat.