Before I address that questions, it is worth stating that Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is, indefensibly, the fourth game in the last year or so to contain the words 'Dead Rising 2'. Admittedly, two of those titles – Case West and Case Zero – were decent downloadable expansions, which took the game to new locales. The original Dead Rising protagonist, Frank West, is back. But is enough to warrant playing Off The Record?

What would happen if Frank West - the photojournalist star from the original - replaced motorcycle star Chuck Greene in? You can find out firsthand in DEAD RISING 2: OFF THE RECORD, a 'director's cut' of 2006's campy action game that swaps the new protagonist with the old, and adds new story elements, enemies, and weapons to the gory gameplay. This remix once again drops you into the Las Vegas-like Fortune City, currently plagued by a zombie outbreak, and leaves you to fend for yourself.

With Frank's return comes his trusty camera to earn prestige points for taking gruesome images of the carnage. There are also combo items used to create insane weapons of mass dismemberment, such as fusing a vacuum cleaner and saw blades that sucks zombies in and chops them to bloody bits.

New psychopath bosses are even harder to take down this time around. Capcom rereleased this game in 2016 for new platforms – PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PCs – with updated graphics (now sporting 1080p HD resolution), 60 frames per second gameplay for faster and smoother motion (even during scenes with many zombies onscreen at the same time), all previously-released downloadable content (DLC) costumes, the option to digitally download the game, and a reduced price of $19.99.

This adventure is a violent title that's solely for mature players, but it's really best only if you haven't purchased the original game, whether that's the 2006 original or 2016 “remastered” version. Unless you're a huge Frank West fan there's not much earth-shakingly new to justify the purchase, aside from a new Sandbox Mode that lets you tackle a seemingly never-ending horde of the undead with no storyline or time limit to distract you.

At least it supports online play, including a co-op option for two players to work together over the Internet.This third-person adventure's over-the-top gory gameplay is still fun in a guilty pleasure sort of way - now with fewer and faster load times, improved online performance, checkpoints, and other technical upgrades - but Fortune City hasn't changed much since, despite some new missions, environments (including 'Uranus Zone'), weapons, and vehicles (such as a clown car). And funny, too, but the lower price may tempt fans of the franchise.

The high price of the initial game wasn't worth the expense for the gameplay. Now, it's a more desirable purchase given the sub-$20 price tag, updated graphics, and extra content.

It feels like I have been here before I said to myself as I played through the first bits of Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. The protagonist certainly isn’t the same, but I’ve definitely been here before. That’s because last year at this time, Capcom released Dead Rising 2. In the sequel they introduced fans to Chuck Greene, and his struggle to save his daughter from the zombie infestation of Fortune City. While clearly “Off the Record” takes place after the events of Dead Rising 2, there’s a weird overlap of the plot points, with the game calling back to specific points and characters in the original.

Salt and Sanctuary. As far as I know, any guide from any creed can take you to any sanctuary that you've claimed with any creed. I myself was hopping around all the creeds throughout my first playthrough but I've always been able to use the guides to go to other sanctuaries regardless of what creed they and I were. Creeds in Salt and Sanctuary are factions that the player can align with to bestow certain benefits and different NPC merchants in their Sanctuaries through the use of Offerings. NPCs will sell different gear depending on the Creed. In Salt and Sanctuary, as soon as you get off the boat, you're able to talk with a man who lets you choose one of 3 starting Creeds. Most Sanctuaries are empty, and you are able to claim them for your Creed. R/saltandsanctuary: Subreddit for Salt and Sanctuary, the 2D action RPG from Ska Studios. Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Compared to other creeds which require drops from common fodder foes. The Stone Roots is a Creed in Salt and Sanctuary. Poison is the name of the game for this creed, so it offers many poison-themed items that can augment your weapon damage or poison enemies. It also specializes in dexterity builds that focus on using daggers and bows, as the blacksmith will offer more of them the higher devotion you have. Salt and sanctuary creeds.

It’s a little disappointing, the glorified downloadable content that is Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. Capcom throws fans a bone with the return of Frank West, his trusty camera, a new mode, area, and a handful of character models, but this “discount title” is definitely lacking some much needed original content.

Unfortunately, it’s only a discount if you think they would’ve charged more for it delivering it digitally as a DLC for Dead Rising 2. Now the reason I say this right up front is so that there are no misconceptions about what Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is. It’s Dead Rising 2 with a new character. Capcom reuses a significant portion of the content from the original, and at times it feels like the only thing that has changed is Frank West in the cutscenes instead of Chuck Greene.

Fans will love some of the additions outside the redundant single player campaign.

For fans of the original Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2, you’ll love some of the additions outside the redundant single player campaign. In addition to West’s return, Capcom delivers some of the backstory of what Frank has been doing since the events of the original. They also include a sandbox mode, where you have a much narrower focus on what to accomplish, and that’s killing zombies in the most humiliating ways possible. There’s one new zone incorporated into Fortune City, called Uranus Zone, and it’s pretty fitting to say the least. Especially when you consider what Capcom is now passing off as disc based releases these days.

I wasn’t a fan of Dead Rising 2, but I did enjoy Dead Rising. Perhaps it was a better connection with the protagonist, maybe it was a much less ridiculous narrative. Whatever it may have been, I looked forward to getting another shot with Frank West. It’s sad to see old Frank having his best days behind him, but he’s a more colorful character than ever before.

I have to agree with our original review of the game. The deliberately slow pace of the game and sluggish controls never really puts the pressure on the player, and even with a timer counting down in your face ever so often, there never really feels like there is any urgency in the game. This leads to an experience which begins to drag at around the midway point, new characters or not.

It’s bittersweet that Capcom couldn’t have included these things in the game that they released a year ago.

There’s really not that much more to see in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record unless you are a true blue fan. Sure the games can play out in any number of ways, you can call players into your game in cooperative zombie slaying madness, and of course the sandbox mode and new area, but it’s bittersweet that Capcom couldn’t have included these things in the game that they released a year ago. Though I’m pretty sure these complaints fall on deaf ears, when you take into consideration that this is apparently their new business model. Ship portions of the games, with features left out to ship a year later.

The Verdict

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record isn’t a bad game by any means. It can have its moments of fun, and their are times when it will give you a chuckle that’s for sure. It’s that overwhelming feeling that I’m beeing duped that really gets me with Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. The near carbon copy story does little to deviate itself from the original, while not making a very clear stance of when and why Frank is going through a near identical quest to Chuck.

- This article was updated on:December 4th, 2017

• Available On: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
• Published By: Capcom
• Developed By: Capcom
• Genre: Survival Horror
• US Release Date: October 11, 2011
• Reviewed On: Xbox 360
• Quote: 'Dead Rising 2: Off The Record isn't a bad game by any means. It can have its moments of fun, and their are times when it will give you a chuckle that's for sure.'