Dead Rising 2: Off the Record – review

Off the Record is a garish zombie adventure that takes the plot of last year's Dead Rising 2 – an outbreak of the undead in the Vegas-like Fortune City – and rewrites it with Frank West, the photographer star of the original Dead Rising, in place of motorcycle lug Chuck Greene.

This isn't all bad. Chuck was stiff and boring, and had awful peroxide highlights. Plus the game itself is improved by Frank's camera mechanic, with points awarded for snapping particularly dramatic, horrific or (a sign of the game's grim humour) erotic scenes.

Tellingly, though, the highlight of the game remains the improvisational weapons system, which makes everything from cranium-powdering cinder blocks to giant foam fingers part of your anti-zombie arsenal, offering sadistically inventive ways to combine them (the bucket-plus-drill murder helmet remains a favourite). Even with new mission threads, areas and the ability to explore the city free from time constraints, Off the Record never feels entirely new.