Dead Rising 2

This game is great cause right at the start two evil sword lesbians are mean to you which is really nice already but then they tell you some of the ladies are disappointed in your performance. So like aside from that being hot as hell it also means there are some women who aren't disappointed in me which might be the best thing anyone's ever said to me. I feel like someone just called me a good dog. My tail is wagging.
I like to keep a save just before their boss fight so they can beat me up as thanks. Probably unrelated though. But I'm pretty sure I'm normal. I mean I have a job and stuff I'm probably normal.

This would benefit from a proper remaster! Still a fantastic game and even better with a friend to enjoy. I remember playing this back in the day with my cousin countless times. From combining different weapons to trying out different clothes, the fun was endless. They should also finally add the two standalone DLC's Case Zero and Case West.

Overall: 8.5/10
Story:
I remember playing this game back on PS3 and while I wouldn't consider the narrative to be all that thought provoking or groundbreaking, I still found it surprisingly enjoyable all these years later. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for with a strong sense of personality and a story that's very easy to get invested in.
Chuck is a cool protagonist because, besides being a badass former motocross champion, his motivations of keeping his daughter safe and clearing his name after being framed for the outbreak are simple but believable, and it gives the story an emotional grounding that keeps the gameplay from feeling like it's just moving between zombie-filled set pieces. It's a good story if you accept the narrative's campy presentation and cliche plot points for what they are, but it's not particularly profound.
And that kind of leads to my gripes with the story. It has enough characterization to make the major characters memorable, but it rarely goes much further than establishing a general personality, broad motivation, or archetype for any of them. Hell, even with Chuck, you don't really get much exploration of who he was before the outbreak, how losing his wife affected him beyond the basic premise, or how the increasingly horrible circumstances are psychologically changing him. He's kinda just defined by being a protective father, a capable survivor, and a guy trying to do the right thing. Yeah, it works perfectly fine for an action-game protagonist, but it means there's relatively little ambiguity/nuance to Chuck, so you don't spend much time wondering why he behaves the way he does since there's no depth in the first place.
Furthermore, the Katey/Zombrex aspect of the plot gives this game an extremely strong emotional premise, but it never evokes nearly as much emotion from it as it could. Katey is effectively placed in the role of "Chuck's reason to keep going," but she doesn't have much of a personality beyond that. You periodically return to give her Zombrex, have a few very short chats with her, and then go back out into Fortune City, and because you spend the vast majority of the game away from her, you don't get much opportunity to see their relationship develop or to feel the accumulating pressure of Chuck trying to keep his daughter alive.
But, all that said, I do think the story is good. Yeah, it's campy, but it's also self-aware enough that I personally was able to get down with how it prioritizes simply keeping the plot moving and maintaining the B-movie tone.
Gameplay:
First things first, I couldn't get ANY wireless controller to function 100% correctly, no matter what I tried. However, I can confirm that using a wired Xbox 360 controller works perfectly and displays correct button prompts, so I'd recommend using it if you have one.
Anyway, I have a lot of nostalgia for both this game and OTR, but I've honestly never played the OG, and thus can't really comment on how the 'new' mechanic of crafting weapons changes the core gameplay from DR1. However, what I can say is that the combo-weapon, zombie-killing gameplay still holds up very well in regards to the fun factor. Killing zombies itself isn't particularly deep, but the amount of weapons available makes it entertaining throughout the whole experience by constantly giving you new tools and environments to mess around with. You can pick up basically anything around the map and use it as a weapon, and using the Combo Weapons system makes experimenting even more rewarding if you've never played before or are returning after several years (like myself) because you can stumble across combinations that are comical but surprisingly effective.
Additionally, I think a big part of the fun also comes from having to make decisions under pressure. The timer feature means you're rarely just wandering around aimlessly; you're constantly deciding whether it's worth it to stop to rescue/escort a survivor, go fight a psychopath, search for a particular item, or pursue some other objective when you know doing so might cost you valuable time elsewhere. Since you're always supposed to be thinking about what you should be doing/preparing for next, even relatively mundane trips around the map can stay engaging during the parts of the narrative where you have more downtime.
I also like it because it makes learning DR2 inside and out very rewarding. The first time you play, Things can feel chaotic and overwhelming, but you're already incentivized to play through the story more than once given that there's a NG+ feature. It's cool how once you know where items are, which weapons are worth crafting, etc. you can start planning more efficient playthroughs and actually feel yourself getting better at managing the chaos.
However, given that this game is 16 years old, it definitely has 'issues'. The biggest of which being the general jankiness. Compared with more modern games, the movement, combat, camera, AI, and general responsiveness can feel a little rough around the edges. It's one of those games where you have to meet it where it's at and learn to work around the jank, but once you do, it's very easy to appreciate what it's trying to accomplish.
World:
I think the world/map is classic at this point, and mainly because Fortune City feels less like a traditional game world and more like a giant, Vegas-themed playground built around the various previously mentioned mechanics. Each area has its own distinct visual identity, from the casinos and shopping malls to the outdoor streets and smaller interior spaces, but they're also packed with useful resources, weapons, food, vehicles, shortcuts, and other things to interact with.
The only real 'problem' I personally have with the map is the amount of loading screens between areas, but it's really not even that much of an issue because the various zones are so dense anyway, especially by the standards of DR2's era.
Visuals:
Visually, this game is hands down a product of it's time. I'm not saying that the graphics are outright bad though; the art direction has a strong sense of style and the environments are colorful, varied, and packed with detail. But the core game engine is clearly very dated.
The sheer number of zombies on screen is still impressive today, and the colorful casino settings give DR2 enough personality to keep it visually appealing, but playing it on modern hardware and higher resolutions ultimately makes the dated textures more apparent rather than hiding them.
Furthermore, it's nice how you can get 120fps during gameplay, however, every single cutscene is hardcoded to 30fps, and the sudden lower framerate has a tendency to make character movement/camera pans look noticeably jittery since the contrast makes animations jump slightly between positions rather than moving smoothly. On top of that, the settings let you choose ultrawide resolutions, but doesn't really support anything beyond 16:9, so you're either going to have to deal with a stretched image or use Flawless Widescreen and deal with some UI prompts being cut off your screen.
Music/Sound Design:
This is probably the weakest aspect in the entire game, in my opinion. I say that because of how the audio shows its age in how inconsistent the overall sound quality can be. During gameplay, the mix sounds surprisingly clear, but in cutscenes it has a tendency to randomly become flat, compressed, or noticeably muffled for seemingly no reason within a scene/line of dialogue. It gives the presentation a distinctly dated feel, especially when compared to modern games with cleaner and more consistent audio. Other than that, I think the sound design is solid despite it's age. The music, too. There are a lot of rock/metal tracks that fit the over-the-top atmosphere really well, even if there’s nothing about the OST that I’d consider particularly noteworthy.

Most of the negative reviews comes from the lack of controller support. Which nearly made me pass this game but thankfully tried it out due to loving the first one (OG). Chuck is a great dad.

Dead Rising 2 was fun, but definitely missing that Frank West addition. I found Green to be a fantastic protagonist as well, however. The comedy is still present from the first, the silliness and over the top zombie slaying. I absolutely love the gifting of the daughter, as I am sure Chuck would be the worst father of the year for one of those gifts in particular. I was anxious to see if she was still there in the security room with each visit back. I guess that was a good kitty after all.

In all, fantastic fun. While not Frank West, still a brilliant sequel to the series.

This game is a perfect sequel in every sense it kept everything that made the first game special and made it 10x better than before. also in my personal opinion i prefer Chuck over Frank but both are still goated protaganists. the story isnt anything too special but thats not the point in a dead rising game. The game is hella fun and probably the most fun zombie game you can ever play. the combo weapons alone kept the game fresh and fun for me and makes me prefer this over dead rising 1 although the Katie zombrex feature annoyed some people i really didnt have a issue with it. and another thing this game has over the first game is the introduction of co op which makes this game so much more fun messing around with a another friend. Overall i really dont have any complains about this game as a whole this is one of my all time fav zombie games and still holds up decently for a game thats 15 years old its a must have game for sure absolutely goated game

Fantastic game. My one gripe is that Case Zero and Case West aren't available on PC. Both are canon and necessary to the narrative of the series (particularly Case West).
DR2 is my favorite in the series.