A lot has changed since Dead Rising’s first outing on the 360 way back in 2006. The locale is new, our protagonist is a little more rugged and the exclusivity that Microsoft once lauded has disappeared. Dead Rising 2 is soon to hit our screens and Capcom and Canadian developer Blue Castle Games are promising something special. But how do the two games compare?


Sadly the game save frustrations from the original have apparently not completely been addressed, and exploration still appears restricted by missions and strict time limits like those in the first game but on the plus side, the photography element has gone and in its place is the ability to cobble together some awesome new weapons that the A-Team would be proud of.

Using these creations gains Prestige Points, which help our hero level up his skills and become even more of a badass. With the all-new co-op option and multiplayer “reality TV” mode, the much-anticipated sequel is sure to get you salivating.

The original was reason enough to buy the Xbox a few years back but with so many triple-A titles scheduled for the months ahead, will Dead Rising 2 prove to be just as much of a must-have game? Here, Megabits takes a look at how the games match up:

Protagonist
Gone is Frank West, the chunky looking photojournalist stuck in a zombie-infested Willamette shopping mall. Enter former Motocross champ and all round athletic type Chuck Greene, who looks altogether more capable of fending off the zombie horde than his predecessor.

He also has to deal with the undead, defeat the psychotic bosses and rescue the hapless civilians cowering in the shadows. This time round, however, Chuck’s daughter Katey is thrown into the mix and he faces a race against time to deliver vital supplies of Zombrex antidote to her to stave her untimely transformation into a flesh-eating beasty. Some say there’s more to Chuck than meets the eye, and even go so far as to suggest he’s behind the latest outbreak...

Looks-wise, it’s clear that more attention has been paid to creating Chuck’s chiseled looks and he appears far more current gen than Frank ever was. More detail, more shadows and colour – it's less Max Payne, more Heavy Rain if you get my meaning... all in all, far more lifelike!

Setting
Blatantly taking its inspiration from George A Romero’s 1978 classic movie Dawn of the Dead, the original Dead Rising took place in the familiar surroundings of a US shopping mall. Running through the various atria, ducking in and out of shops and negotiating the maze of tunnels and the underground car park has now been replaced by the glitz and glamour of Fortune City – loosely based on gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas. Be sure to expect equally claustrophobic halls and hordes of zombies filling every square inch of the prime real estate!
There appears far more detail among the brightly lit arcade machines than there was in the stores in the original. Less dull, more colourful but equally as dangerous. The new environs provide just as much, if not more, variety.

Weaponry
The original was renowned for the multitude of everyday objects that could be grabbed and used to decimate the ravenous crowd... from lawnmowers to benches, frying pans to baseball bats – there was plenty of havoc to wreak. However, the sequel goes one better. Yeah, you can still pick up whatever comes to hand but this time round you can also customise and combine your weaponry. Chainsaws attached to a paddle, anyone? Or what about combining a garden rake and car battery to create an electrified zombie prod?
Increased variety and inventiveness will surely see Dead Rising 2 trump its previous iteration. Sure it was fun battering the undead with a golf club or wielding an axe but being able to combine weapons sounds fantastic. Couple this with more zombies onscreen than ever before and this could be the key improvement over the original.

Costumes
Mr West sure liked to dress up in the first game – and luckily had access to a huge array of clothing left strewn about at the various stores in the mall. Little has changed this time round and our hero can choose to be a beach bum or superhero, croupier or glamour model...
In the weird and wonderful setting of Fortune City, there should be a vast array of costumes on offer – far more than could be plundered from the outlets in the first game. Graphically, the new clothes look fantastic, and it’s good to see the Servbot heads make another appearance!

Overall
There's no two ways about it, Dead Rising 2 looks exceptional. The basic premise may be the same - slaughter and survive - but the graphical overhaul, ambitious setting and the inclusion of customisable weaponry adds up to a very attractive package. We at Megabits will be counting down the days until its much-anticipated launch. It's due late September in the US and early October in Europe. There's certainly plenty to get your teeth into...