Dead Rising 2 Critique - A Worthy Sequel? 

0:55:25 nice spelling error, Dork.

Fun fact. Carl, the mail carrier Psychopath, is voiced by the same voice actor as Edd from Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

40:48 This one-liner is actually brilliant because not only he uses “saw” as a pun, the context he uses it in is really great. Seymour says “I’m twice the man you are.” right before getting sawed into two pieces. Chuck saying “I saw what you did there.” acts both as a pun for the saw but also implies what Seymour did, albeit accidentally, is also a pun.

The primary reason why I like Chuck as a protagonist is because his stalwart appearance opposes the dorky one liners. He looks more like a traditional handsome protagonist unlike Frank West. It's not a competition to me, I love both characters. The power fantasy fades when he acts cool when he is by himself when dispatching Psychopaths. I am certain the Kenji Infune provided the design for Chuck's outfit while Blue Castle designed the face. Yellow is a color meant to represent courage while in the US yellow is used as treachery or cowardice. That juxtaposition is how Chuck was the fall guy and is willing to stop at nothing to be a fair man and treated as honorable. The color theory still is in effect because Brad in DR1 had a yellow button up and served as the "traditional" hero archetype, and in his death cutscene with Frank passes the desire for justice to Frank. (The scene which Brad passes his gun to Frank). Frank West was meant to look like a everyday guy while Chuck Greene has a vibrant color which makes him stand out. Both have their appeal toward different crowds. Something I feel like the critique missed was Chuck's development from the Case Zero prequel. Where his personal conviction to protect his daughter is his greatest character trait and primary flaw. Chuck emotionally damages as much as he protects. On a side note, I like how Chuck finds his yellow leather jacket as he dawns it like a suit of armor. Chuck's mighty steed is replaced with a motorcycle. Also, how Arthur's armor is further to emphasize how Chuck is a gallant knight as his the Lady he serves is to his daughter Katey. The prominent use of the number 4 intrigued me. It is because 4 is considered an unlucky number in Japan. With it being similar to usage of the word death. So this would mean that Chuck Greene is a man marked for death, or that he is a bringer of death. I am more inclined to believe he is marked for Death because most of the endings for Chuck are a result of him being killed off in the narrative. The canonical ending is A instead of S, which is where Chuck is attacked by TK in the elevator. With the number 4, it adds to the fatalism to his character in Off The Record and his apperance in Dead Rising 3. The bringer of Death interpretation is based on his Psychopath monologue, where he is morbidly acknowledging the fun to kill zombies. Bringing death to the undead. It is not supposed to be calling out the player, but a wink to how Dead Rising itself has fun with the concept. For me, Chuck is amazing in his apperance because he fulfills Capcom's intrigue to appeal to the Western market, by which a flawed but courageous knight.

Dead Rising 2 was my favorite one I liked Chuck and everyone's obsession with saying his name. But this is a very good review.

1:05:36 Yes, this would absolutely rip you in half. You'd got a parachute cord getting pulled by a helicopter with Sulivan's top half directly attached to it, and then his lower half in held down to the ground by another tether with his body holding them together in the middle. It's basically the whole thing about a chain being only strong as it's weakest link. But instead of rolled cast iron, that weakest link is soft squishy human flesh.

This is one of the worst reviews I’ve ever seen. Complains about people saying the main characters name and complains about bad guys killing then selves in cutscenes. Nitpick at its finest

I wouldn’t have the boss music any other way. This was the game that introduced me to Celldweller. Such an underrated artist.

“Can a grandpa do this?”

I can agree with most of your opinions, but you're pretty heavy-handed in claiming that Dead Rising is sexist. Because female characters are conventionally attractive and, in the case of the sisters, are flirtatious, they're objects? Never mind the fact that you can dress Chuck in whatever your heart desires. Let's just acknowledge that something can be considered gross, overused, and/or distasteful without having to resort to implying that there's some sort of trend of disrespect towards women or that a mostly male writing team somehow has any impact on this perspective (Referencing the point you made in the Dead Rising 1 review).

slappy can be stunlocked by jump kicking him. once you learn that, he becomes easily the worst boss in the game. also, your firework launcher was to the left by the cleroux collection

52:34 Wouldn't be supprised if Stacy was the orginal bad guy twist as that always felt more natural but they changed it to Sullivan because initially he was more antagonistic to the making him a red herring but they walked back on it to create that family dynamic for Chuck Stacy and Katey. 57:11 *Laughs in Metal Gear*

I legit stayed up for three days straught punching zombies in the game, because if you kill a certain amount of zombies with only punches you get a shawn of the dead costume and i love that movie

In terms of DR2 reusing artistic elements from DR1, I actually appreciate it more than simply creating new things (with reason of course). For example, similar posters on the wall and same stuff in the music store really sells that the Dead Rising universe exists, and is consistent. I think it's actually more immersive than if none of the fictional culture elements of DR1 carried over, because it just feels like I'm in a real alternate world.

Two women help you at every turn in the story, and two women are side antagonists who fight you to the death, but because they are portrayed sexually they are now objects? I really dont think you understand what objectification really is man...

Probably one of my favorite games featuring zombies and my favorite DR game, Idk what exactly it is (given that I don't like timers in games and I missed it a lot in DR4) but I keep replaying this game over and over, I love it, the characters, the location, the cheesiness, the graphics, the audio, the gameplay, everything. I know there are way better games out there, but this one is very special for me.

A lot of nit picking going on, pointless things to complain about.

With the combo cards, it's worth mentioning that most rooms have spare items for at least 1 combo weapon. At least on a first playthrough it would be surprising and teach you new combos. The room you pass returning to the safe house gives you nails and a bat, but at that point it's so consistent I don't know why the nail bat itself isn't just sitting there. Sometimes I swing by rooms out of the way because I know it has a specific item I need for a better combo, or sometimes if it's not a room I know and I'm desperate I still swing by to check what it might give me. Items could definitely have more combos instead of just 1 or 2, and lot of the combo items that are there are a novelty. The drill bucket, air horn, and the electric guitar come to mind, even if I would force myself to use the guitar cause I liked it so much. You also can't give combo weapons to survivors. The system needed more work and I'm curious what 3 added or changed. I know you can craft on the fly which changes the room dynamic, but I feel like it would bring about its own issues.

Hope you are joking

14:50 This was by far the most bitter pill to swallow when I returned to these games years after initially playing them. Thankfully though if you play these games "as intended" you are never really forced to come to this realization until the game is already almost over since rescuing survivors, killing psychopaths and doing the story keep you occupied for a majority of the time you spend playing.

About the levelling system, I found it mostly fine. Chuck moved at a manageable speed and at one end of the royal flush plaza (and I think the other) you can get a wheelchair pretty easily and there's a store with skateboards right next to the safehouse which was definitely appreciated with Chuck's early game walking speed. I agree with the combo card complaint with levelling up. It got a bit frustrating that the game seemed to give you them more frequently than giving you better stats. But, it didn't really hinder my overall experience of my first run. I pretty easily got the true ending on my first run, missing one psychopath, failing to beat two others and saving 40 of the 50 survivors. It was difficult but more than possible. And I think it would've been possible to save everyone. Maybe I got lucky. I do think a faster running speed would've still helped the early game feel nicer and helped me keep up with the deadlines for side missions I missed. Edit: Love your idea for calling for non-marked survivors to let you know where they are. Even and "I'm up here" would be nice for Jasper 😂

I love your dead rising series I watched these back when they came out and I still rewatch them from time to time

I very much enjoyed this review and I'm so glad to see people talk about this game to this day. I loved playing Dead Rising 2 when I was little and I always seem to look back on how I would always rage at the game when I'd die to a psychopath, every time I load up the game. And as a matter of fact, I even just recently achieved S rank, and I was so elated when I finally beat it, knowing that I finally got to enjoy my favorite game to the fullest. This game really stands out to me in the series and really hits home because of how it was just a part of my childhood. I get how people would prefer Frank over Chuck, but I absolutely loved Chuck as a character. I feel like the addition of Katey and going back to the safe house to give her zombrex adds even more to the already jam-packed amount of things you can do. I also love the different endings and outcomes you could take, like choosing to give TK zombrex or not, or saving different survivors or not. I love the different amount of tasks you can do as well, with the choice to do them or not. Overall, 10/10 review, subscribed.

Great review! I was going to watch your review of this game first since it's what I grew up playing and never got to play the first one, but I took your recommendation and watched your review of the first Dead Rising before this one. It made everything you said make a lot more sense. I had no idea they had to make this game from the ground-up. Very interesting stuff! 😊

I only noticed for the 1st time through watching this, if you fail the Bibi mission it will briefly display the “defected” status before she detonates the explosive.

Did you know the overtime ending isn't the canon ending? The elevator ending is the canon ending.

38:09 I'm willing to look past that problem because it's an absolutely amazing song

I played Dead Rising 2 back when it came out and liked it, even if I struggled with the difficulty at the time. Lots of years later, I tried playing the PC port of the original Dead Rising, but couldn't get into it for some reason, even though I liked a lot of it. Your video on the original is what got me to play and complete the game, and now I came back to check out the sequel as well. Overall, I enjoyed my time with these games and I appreciate these videos both for your overview, as well as the entertainment and comments on everything. My point is: good videos, thanks for making them and convincing me to try the original Dead Rising again :)

I like Chuck and Fortune City, and found the story fun to play than listen to. Great review.

Dude I loved this and the first video. I’m shocked you don’t have thousands of views if not hundred thousand. Great work and professional critique. Keep it up man. There will always be people who watch and some like me who will acknowledge the effort put into videos. Thanks for the entertainment today!

1. Pick and use skateboard before entering safe place 2. Zombrex in the game is more than enough. You must find it and finish some side missions 3. Use jump kick to stun slappy 4. You must use leadership magazine when saving injured survivors. 5. Instead of walking use pushcarts, wheel chair, skate board or drink quick step before traveling.

Bro loved the video you explained everything perfectly and it’s just nice to revisit the game appreciate your work man and keep it up just subbed!

39:37 you can see the FireWork Launcher blending into the baseboard of the shops window. Great critique overall!!!

Great channel man thanks for all this content

Chuck is my favourite character in DR. Love his sort of seriousness and deadpan reactions.

Great review! DR2 vanilla is my personal favorite entry of the series but I can understand why many fans prefer the original. Still, I'd like to defend certain aspects that I think don't deserve the level of criticism they receive. "Chuck Greene is a bad protagonist/Frank was better" - I can understand this complaint. Chuck is a very stoic character and he doesn't have the camera mechanic that Frank has. That said, I'd argue that outside of memes, Frank doesn't have much of a personality wither and Chuck's desire to keep his daughter from turning into a zombie is a more endearing and engaging goal than Frank trying to get a scope, especially when the first DR didn't handle the mysterious aspect all that well imo. I also think having a character as deadpan as Chuck being in such absurd situations is very amusing. "The combo weapons stop you from experimenting with normal weapons" - Two words: Mini Chainsaws. Well, those and The Real Megabuster. Sure, DR1 didn't have has many different kinds of OP weapons, but they still existed and any player trying to be as efficient as possible would just beat Adam one day one, get the three magazines for the chainsaws, and be set for the rest of the game. I'd argue that the combo weapons requiring a weapon bench, and needing two specific weapons, adds to the time management heart of DR since it still requires you to plan out your routes. Overall, I may like DR1's atmosphere more, but DR2 is just more consistently enjoyable. The AI isn't a nightmare to deal with, the controls for your barehanded moves are more sensible, and DR2 has better pacing, imo. DR1 has too much downtime, especially on days three and four.

Honestly I prefer dead rising 2 over 1, but I love both

great video man keep it up

1 will always be my favorite since playing it when I was 11 in 2007, but man does this game come close. I remember being so excited for it. It was my first year of high school and pretty sure I got a D in Microsoft office class because of this game. Good review my guy. I didn't agree with all of your points but I appreciate the love, work, and effort you put into these reviews. I mean one could even say these reviews are "FANTASTIC"

12:09 i love how in DR3, you can find slowed down, redone version of the song in a survivors house in Sunset Hills

So far,i'm really liking this. I hope you review OTR and 3 :)

Me again lol. Another great analysis! DR2 was the first I played in the series. I remember buying it brand new when I was in 7th grade. I picked up the original DR1 a year or two later, but DR2 was my favorite for the longest time. It wasn't until I was much older (when the PS4/PC ports for DR1 came out) where I started to respect the first game, and even play it more than DR2. DR2 still holds a special place in my mind due to nostalgia, but there are aspects of the first game that I prefer over the second and vice versa. A few other points: - I think DR2 actually continues the plot in a well-executed way without deviating too far from the first or relying too much on it and playing it safe (like a good sequel should). However, it seems like the studio wanted to make this more "actiony" than the first game by having crazier psychos, metal themes for these psychos, comedic one liners, and pointless sexual innuendos. At times, it felt like playing through a cool, cliche action movie. As a preteen/teen, I liked it lol but looking back the sexual tones feel wayyy unnecessary and distracting. - I still prefer DR1 Frank over Chuck. For one, as I hinted at before, Chuck feels like a standard action hero: brooding tough guy who says one-liners. Frank was just a dude. Another point is that Frank actually had development. At first he just cares about the story, but near the end he cares about exposing the truth and getting others to safety. Chuck stays the same throughout the game. - Lastly, the psychos. For some reason, as a kid, I loved them (probably bc they're more of a challenge unlike DR1 where you could just use a small chainsaw). Looking back, I still stand by my statement that DR1 had the best psychos. Other than a few examples, DR2's psychos are more cartoonish and crazier, taking away some of the realism. Also, with a few exceptions, the psycho themes aren't nearly as good as DR1. Instead, the studio used one performer (Celldweller) for a majority of the psycho themes. I guess crazier psychos= crazier music?

I played this game so much back in the day and somehow never noticed the suicide pattern for every boss

Very well done review as always lots of good points brought up and very fairly done nice job! Now I have wonder if "severing scientist" is a real job....lol I also agree it would be been really cool if they explored the idea of killing zombies as they were once people, maybe that will be explored in later games? lol

You were supposed to jump kick Slappy to knock him down then attack him. It's a really easy fight that way.

The leon fight is best suited by having guns. Having guns ranged weapons is the best way to deal with him since hes always driving and rarely stops

39:00 Okay I didn't know that. Ingenious thinking bro, honestly.

I just found your channel subbed for the dark souls reference. If you ended up doing a critique of the souls series id binge that content

Oh also the Cure Protestor can easily be manipulated with a gun. If you dip in and oit of the bathroom door he will keep turning around to chase you then run away, but never get close to you because when you cross the door's threshold it essentially tells the boss you're leaving or something. Figured that out eariler today.

The similar looking store look the same because they are. They’re the same stores from dead rising 1. They’re not copy and pasted for no reason it’s because it’s a chain location.

Just a mention that for the helicopter fight you can use projectile weapons to kill it like the bow or the arm cannon and it’s super super easy bc every shot counts as a hit

I'm not gonna start with the talk about women being objects, but idk if the people is implying that in the game, I'm not saying its good to make womens just blank slates, but the female characters do got personalities other then just being sexy, plus, its a 2010 game, its 13 years old, imagine if it came out in 2023, yeeeeah, wouldn't go well, I'm not throwing shades at you, it kinda annoyed me a bit because it sounds like what a Twitter user would complain about, again, no shades, you're video is very good and I'm a dead rising fan as well, and I hated how in dead rising 4, they didn't add psychopaths because the butthurt gamers would get offended by their portrayal of mental health, welp, hope they're happy because we got boring maniacs with no personalities, and the 3rd time, no shade, video is fantastic, its just that small comment it bothered me but it didn't hinder me from liking the video, keep up the awesome work! xD

42:52 WOW! I never knew that if you attack Bibi she will commit murder-suicide. I've played and beaten this all the way back in 2012 on the 360. I love when I still discover new things in some of my favorite video games. Nostalgic! Also great video you earned a new sub! :)

45:10 "Pointlessly fast." It's supposed to make the fight more alarming and also you probably haven't played Manhunt, but he moves exactly like the boss Piggsy from that game intentionally as a reference.

I still don’t know why Chuck is so slow as even in DR1 you had two speed upgrades. At max the game feels like a slog in comparison. Still fun but that decision makes me wonder to this day.

This feels more like a DR2 hit piece than an objective review

Just found this as I've restarted the DR series on steam and this is a very good video. I absolutely love and have alot of nostalgia for both 1+2 but your criticisms in this are on point.

When it comes to the zombie bride, there's one line that would have been better there. "May death do you apart" instead of "You may now kiss the bride".

It’s absolutely fascinating how close DR1 and DR2 came to inventing Souls-like combat independently

I remember playing this game in co op and scrambling to try to complete all of the quests without running out of time. My friend and I would always grab a wheelchairs, since you can run while pushing them

ngl, the "I saw what you did there" one liner was on a level so bad that it circled back around to become funny.

The combo cards like the bowie knife boxing gloves are good for the bosses with the right books they shred health and you can have like 5 of them in your inventory at once

40:50 it's worth noting this boss can also shoot a gun out of your hands if you enter aimed mode

Off the record is the true sequal in my heart

Wait what? I found it sooo much easier than the first one to complete every side mission in a single run.

You did not just diss Celldweller….

39:35 No what actually happened to you there specifically is an unfortunate clip glitch where sometimes items fall through the ground. It can even rarely happen when you drop and item. Sometimes even survivors can clip through the ground, but there's a failsafe implemented where they instantly teleport right next to you if this happens.

This was a much more enjoyable video than the one on the first game, glad I watched.

Late comment but I'm currently replaying the DR games and happened to find this video. To me this is the best game in the series, I like the characters and story and the gameplay is a lot tighter than in the original. The "romance" between Chuck and Stacey is hinted at during a few cutscenes throughout but it's very subtle and sadly not fleshed out enough to warrant the ending, I know it's a random thing to comment about but I tend to like a good romance in my games. For me it's decent, especially because I like the characters, as mentioned, but it could have been made a bit more obvious during the campaign.

I love cheese and the cheesiness of Dead Rising is perfect for me. The one liners absolutely slay me

Am I the only one who calls Reed and Roger Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly?

Good video, but I think that the reason Sullivan didn’t leave them outside was because he wasn’t the one who controlled the doors, I’m pretty sure that it’s just a standard emergency procedure. Since he has the security uniform on he had to keep up his cover and acted like the cop of the safe room. At least I think it is.

The painkiller combination health item was so busted. Beer+Beer=health/damage reduction.

With Slappy you can get a big stun on him if he slips on something. The best way to do this is the wine store nearby. The novelty wine bottles leave a trail and he can split on those. It's not exactly obvious but I did find this out after seeing zombies slip on stuff and tried it for his boss. I believe this to be intended on fighting him. With stopping Antonie I think they want you to use the dishes everywhere to throw at him while he eats. I found that the best way to stop him since he does it to you as range too

Just subscribed 👍

I miss this game, my favorite DR game personally. I played this one a lot, lots of fun hours spent playing this game :) My B I thought this was DR: Off The Record. I played that one a lot.

some things you missed (still watching the video so there may be more to add) the shops prices being overpriced is done on purpose, the shops are ran by looters, they aren't going to be giving fair deals to people are they, but you can bring the prices down by 10/20% if you have the bargaining 1 and 2 magazines, following this, you mentioned katey presumably just dies in the cutscene (off screen) but you missed one of the other cutscenes that plays when the timer for 'find katey zombrex' or 'give katey zombrex' expires, this is a scene where katey again is off screen with stacy turning around to see katey having turned into a zombie (this is again off screen but you can hear some slight zombie noises) stacey then looking shocked followed by side stepping out of the room.

Metal music is actually very fitting for the magicians. between the metal music & their looks & personalities they reference all the most famous Las Vegas magicians. Siegfried & Roy, Penn & Teller, & Criss Angel :)

I know Im late but I was able to kill Randy on my first playthrough at level 23 or something by jumping over the pews and isles to buy myself time to heal. Also because survivor AI is massively improved you can turn any boss fight into a joke regardless of your level by getting 3 or more survivors and giving them all guns which arent hard to find if you know where to look. For example I did Slappy at a low level for my first playthrough in under a minute by picking up the angel lust band and giving them all assault rifles from the mercenaries robbing banks at that time (If youre not doing the main quest you can give there is also the gun shop in palisades plaza and the lmg in yukitan). While I distracted Slappy with my bat they formed a firing line and melted him in seconds. Was extremely satisfying for a boss who always gave me trouble playing this as a kid.

The amount of times he complains about the oversexualization of women is kind of annoying like. Yeah we know it's all there but jesus christ just stop saying it

Dead rising 2 is a solid game, no matter how similar it is to the first. It was the first one I played so obviously, that has a impact on my opinion. But replaying it a decade later. It's still my top 5 favorite game. The main character although wasn't Frank, is good in my opinion. I know a couple people who don't like him and I don't really understand why. The approach Blue castle took with having a kid felt really cool in my opinion. Combo weapons were great, the map (just like the first game) made me really confused when first playing it. Story is good enough. Psychopaths were great. The money system is for sure something I love and made the game better in my opinion. In my opinion OTR is way better. But it isn't that much different than DR2

he actually called a blanka mask a zombie mask, he doesnt know one of Sf most famous characters, the fuck he knows about games?

Need I remind you Chuck is a dad. So the cheesy jokes are totally justified.

wouldn't it be awesome if survivors could come with you after getting some time to chill in the safe zone? like after they get their second wind, you are able to equip them with stuff you find (like the ghost and goblins armor) and you can bring them with you everywhere. it would make it a dilemma for the player on who to save first and who gets good equipment for a big fight towards the end when the zombies are inside the safe zone

Really enjoyed these reviews, are you playing on xboc 360? maybe do case west?

6:37 fun fact if you win the ball mini game in dr2 3 times then you get to drive the ball

The strategy you mentioned for Leon actually is the intended strategy. A “bullfight boss” if you will.

Awesome Sauce!

23:26 bro is scaring the child

Can't wait until you get to DR4. Those reviews never get old.

13:40 "Combining a lead pipe with a rocket launcher gives you firework rockets"

1:03:04 I like how you said to get the final definitive ending you got to give TK zombrex but Dead rising 2 Chase West made it clear that ending A where Chuck goes to get ksteys backpack but then is trap in a elevator with zombies and a zombie TK is the actual cannon ending

“Chuck just seems so carefree about every thing” *cuts to shot of Chuck wearing nothing but heart boxers* 😂

19:25 Looks like an AI is playing lol Puts down spear to pick up spear. Walks into room puts spear on table Picks up spear turns around throws it at zombie What was the point lol?

Maybe he let them in the safe house thinking he could get people to do jobs for him, not realising it would be people who would work against him.

Having an angle in this game about rights for zombies is such a missed opportunity. The rights group could have very easily been shining light on the American health care system, because Zombrex is quite literally a life-saving medication, like an EpiPen or insulin, but the result of someone not getting Zombrex is literally a crisis because they become a zombie and can infect other people and cause an outbreak. Narratively, this should have been a layup. The first Dead Rising didn't have an issue with pointing out America's unhealthy relationship with food and over-consumption of meat, but these guys are afraid to throw some shade at Big Pharma and the general US health care system? HUGE missed opportunity. I mean, I guess the whole plot kind of does that with the whole, "Starting an outbreak to make more Zombrex" thing but it seems like the protestors had a much clearer and more reasonable role they could play.

40:31 no it's Ted bro, but whatever you want to tell yourself. Also weird he's the easiest for you, sometimes I have trouble with him if I forget a healing item because of his quick draw shot that knock guns out of your hand. I have an easier time with Slappy for the before mentioned loop or even Antoine because I know when he knocks me down he immediately magnistises towards food.

There are actually a few climbable secrets in the areas most are guns like lmgs

Sullivan doesn't throw grenade, if you look closely he throw flare and the airship shoot at it

30:46 they fixed that in Case West, also Blitzkrieg can speak!