Dead Rising has been a franchise that I've loved since it's inception on the Xbox 360 during the "first wave" of third party titles. While I liked it back then, I also acknowledge that now it's really grown quite a bit. We've now got five Dead Rising titles, two of which are digital, on the market over the course of five years. And we're about to make that six with Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, a rather questionable sequel that many will furrow their brows at.

For those not in the know, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is a "director's cut" of Dead Rising 2, essentially replacing the original protagonist, Chuck Greene, with the protagonist of the first game, Frank West. Basically, the story now is that Frank has returned to Fortune City to uncover what's going on in the city, which has just been infected with an odd virus that turns everyone into a zombie. The story is pretty much exactly the same as Dead Rising 2, although Capcom Vancouver felt the need to throw in a few non-sensical twists to keep veteran Dead Rising 2 fans guessing – despite the fact that some of these twists really don't make sense at all. Still, the story is the least of your worries with a game like Dead Rising, it's really not the main attraction at all.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record essentially looks the same as Dead Rising 2, although there are times where I swear that the textures have been retouched or that there are more zombies on screen. The engine itself has been tweaked quite a bit here and there to get a smoother performance out of the game, but generally speaking nothing has changed much here. This is essentially Dead Rising 2 with minor upgrades. Of course, being a Dead Rising game, it really is amazing to see how many zombies can populate any given area, and combining this with the neon cityscape of Fortune City creates a rather delicious visual feast. Be warned though – there is a little slowdown here and there but generally speaking Off The Record performs a little bit more better than Dead Rising 2. But only marginally.

If you've never played a Dead Rising game then you are probably in for a treat with Off The Record. Players are essentially given free roam of a large area, this one being Fortune City, a very thinly veiled analogue for Las Vegas. Players can grab whatever items they want from any stores to fight their way through the zombie horde. The crux of the gameplay comes from following "cases" which much be attended to within a certain time before they expire, as well as saving survivors who are littered throughout the complex. It's a lot to take in for the first time player but thankfully most of the challenge is gradually drip fed to the player so the difficulty does not ramp up – and the AI of the escorted survivors is quite passable and even better when you equip them with weapons. Should players die, they can also choose to either resume from a checkpoint (more on that later) or restart the game, but with their experience intact, encouraging multiple playthroughs.

Dead Rising 2 also introduces combo weapons – weapons that are created by combining two items at once. Chuck could do this as he was a handyman in Dead Rising 2, and thankfully (even though it makes less sense), Frank can too. Some of these weapons are quite practical (like attaching dynamite to a bow and arrow set) while some are downright ridiculous (combining a battery with a lawnmower to make an electrified battering ram). The combination system is great and works really well, though some of the weapons are really only good for one use to see what they do – you will find yourself relying on just a few of the 50 or so weapons more than others.

Fans of the original Dead Rising game will be happy to hear that Frank's photography skills are not being ignored, with the photography system from the original game returning for Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. Photos can be taken at any time in the game to earn PP, experience points of sorts that unlock inventory space, more health, and melee moves to take zombies down with. The photography system works great in Off the Record, where a photo is judged based on key factors that may or may not be present in the frame. This encourages players to really try to capture moments during more intense periods in order to earn maximum points, which really does capture the spirit of being a journalist / photographer quite well.

There are other changes to the game that makes it a little different from its predecessor – one that will both annoy and really please some people depending on who you are is the checkpoint system, which is now in full effect and allows players to resume from a point very close to where they died. While this does dumb down the difficulty very much, it also makes the game a helluva lot more accessible which is something I just can't fault, especially since I want this franchise to do well. Most of the boss fights in Dead Rising 2 also felt a little bit unfair at times, but by no means difficult – however Off The Record does feel much easier in this regard which is a bit disappointing for me. There's also a new space themed URANUS ZONE to play around in, although this feels like restored cut content rather than something overly new and substantial. Finally, players won't have to run back and forth between the safe house to administer Chuck's daughter Zombrex (a preventative drug) but instead just press a button to give it to Frank himself, which is much more manageable.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record also features a co-operative mode where players can jump on Xbox Live and tackle the campaign together, or participate in the new Sandbox Mode. Sandbox Mode essentially lets the player have free roam of Fortune City, while also allowing the player to undertake unique challenges to earn medals, such as "Decapitate XX Zombies" or "Light fire to XX zombies". It's an interesting and fun mode to mess around in but the appeal is only there if your character is already well levelled. The game itself will take around twelve hours to complete, but anyone looking to complete the game 100% could easily spend up to twenty hours doing so, so there's a lot on offer here. But for those who played through Dead Rising 2 to completion, playing Off the Record to completion could seem more like a chore than a pleasure – as not a whole lot has changed.

The soundtrack of Dead Rising 2: Off the Record also doesn't differ much from Dead Rising 2, but the tracks featured here are pretty well suited to the game's style. Most of the tracks are metal / rock sounding power trips that will really get you in the mood to smash some skulls (I'm not psychotic, really). The voice work is the same, but it's a nice touch to see Capcom get the same voice actor in for Frank West as well, it makes the whole experience feel a little bit more authentic. The sound effects for the weapons and the sounds they make when they connect with enemies are something to be commended, with some of them just being so over the top that they're almost comedic.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is a great game, but that's probably because most of it has literally been done before. It's hard to properly recommend this to someone who's totally experienced Dead Rising 2, as there's really nothing new or worthwhile. But if you want an excuse to visit Fortune City again, this is definitely suited for you.