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A fun alternate story in the Dead Rising universe.

It's not what I would call standard practice to re-release games on disc within one generation, but it's certainly not unheard of. However, it's usually reserved for Game of the Year editions, like Fallout 3, Elder Scrolls IV, and Borderlands. Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, doesn't really fit that category. Instead, this is more of a What If scenario, kind of like the old Marvel Comics series. Much of the content here is identical to Dead Rising 2, except this time you've got Frank West running through the disaster at Fortune City instead of Chuck Greene. This isn't meant to be the "real" story and even the instruction booklet lists this as a parallel world type scenario. But it's not all about copying and pasting Frank West into Chuck Greene's role.

For one, you've got the much requested Sandbox Mode. This is actually selectable from the onset of the game. You can have both a Sandbox Mode save and Story Mode save on one save file. The leveling and cash earned in both modes carry over into the other, so you can get a lot of bucks in Sandbox and then use that cash for buying Zombrex in the Story, which is certainly different than the vanilla Dead Rising 2. Sandbox Mode is actually a lot of fun as well. It starts off with a funny cutscene of Frank getting airlifted onto a rooftop in Fortune City, and from there you don't have to worry about plot ever again. Instead, you'll come across various objectives in the world, which are handled as timed quests within the Sandbox mode. Most of these require you to kill so many zombies to unlock, so it can take a while before you're able to tackle all of these objectives.

Another thing about Sandbox mode is that it handles survivors differently, in that they are all out to kill you. You're not saving anyone here, and while you will occasionally run into psychopaths featured in the story mode (usually in the same area but without the cutscene to accompany their intro), you'll also run into a number of just run of the mill survivors out to kill you. Killing these guys will also net you bonus cash, and while they put up more of a challenge than typical zombies, you can generally take them down without much effort. The psychopaths, on the other hand, are pretty much just as tough as their story counterparts. The only trouble with this is that you can occasionally encounter them early, as pretty much everything in Sandbox mode is open for access at the start. And since there's no cutscene to signal their presence, you really need to listen for audio cues so they don't end up surprising you.

Another addition to the game, and this applies for both Story and Sandbox, are locker keys and special suitcases scattered about. This mechanic reminds me a whole lot of the Yakuza titles from SEGA, which usually feature a similar system with locker keys. These hidden items give you more excuses to explore the surroundings, and even if you're super familiar with Fortune City after playing through standard Dead Rising 2, you'll now have new stuff to find. Also, a lot of items are not in their usual spots, like some of the Zombrex you could just find in different areas. So while it's not a major change by any stretch, don't expect the exact same game as before.

I'm on the fence about suggesting that you pick this up. I enjoyed Dead Rising 2, and I find myself enjoying Frank West's trek through that area too. In part, because I really like Frank West as a character, which is a bigger selling point to me. Also, Sandbox Mode is great, and I love that it connects to Story Mode. But overall, a lot of the changes here seem mostly minor. If you played the hell out of Dead Rising 2, I'd suggest you evaluate how much you enjoyed it before picking this up. You'll be repeating a lot of the same locations, enemies, bosses, and story as before. The dialogue has changed due to Frank West's involvement, but there are also plenty of moments that are nearly identical to the original, just with his name swapped out for Chuck's.

Another bummer is the online mode, which I've had a hell of time getting to work properly. Trying to join someone's game is a chore, since you can't get a listing of available people to pair up with, and more often than not it'll take 2 to 3 minutes to find someone. And then 75 percent of the time the person it tries to connect me with rejects my request to connect, and this dumps me back to the online menu screen to start all over. Also, running my game open for others to connect has led to absolutely zero requests, so maybe a lot folks haven't picked this up yet. Also, like Dead Rising 2, if you join a game you can't carry over levels, experience, or cash. Which certainly makes the desire to jump into someone else's world lessen a bit.

Visually the game hasn't changed from what I can tell, and it's funny to note that while the core game is less than a year old it's already starting to show its age a bit. The framerate does seem improved, but still has the occasional hiccup. I didn't notice the same amount of tearing as before though, which is certainly an improvement. Another disappointment is the complete removal of the Terror is Reality online game. I actually had a bit of fun with that, and it was a great way to make money, so its absence here is baffling.

So I'd suggest checking this out primarily if you skipped over Dead Rising 2. The only drawback to that is that if you want to experience the real story, you'd still have to pick up the original Dead Rising 2 release since you can only play through Frank's quest here. But I do think this is a stronger experience overall than the original. For those of you that played through and enjoyed DR2, I'd definitely base my decision on how much you enjoy Sandbox Mode, since it's the biggest addition to the game. And if you Dead Rising 2 left your cold or unimpressed to begin with, you might as well skip this because it would do little to change your mind.