Dead Rising 2 [PS3]

The final round Capcom let us get our hands on was Slicecycles. Here, each player starts on a motorcycle with a chainsaw on each end of the handlebars. In front of the players is a sea of zombies. You just need to ride through the mob killing as you go to rake in the points. Now, the three rounds leading up to this were simply to decide who gets a head start on the killing; whoever wins the final round wins the game.

The shoulder buttons control acceleration and braking, and if you press the gas and brake together, you'll pull off a super-helpful donut. When the zombie horde is thinned out, you'll get tossed into a bonus round. Whereas you've been able to see the other players and what their scores are for the first part of Slicecycles, this bonus round is just you and your score in a room filled with zombies. You shoot around killing them with the bike -- make sure you take out the ones with balloons attached to them for megapoints -- and when the time is up, a winner is declared.

The winner gets some cash, and the game is over. We asked Capcom if the cash you're taking home will play into a leveling system or leaderboards, and a representative said that they were looking into it.

Greg's Take

When I first heard that there was going to be multiplayer in Dead Rising 2, I assumed we'd be going through a cooperative story together. When I got the invited to last night's event and saw the four dudes in colored motorcycle outfits, I thought we'd be getting some kind of Running Man game where players were fighting armies of the undead in hopes of gaining freedom.

At no point did I think we'd get American Gladiators for a post-zombie outbreak world.

It's jarring, but it's definitely interesting. I mean, the original Dead Rising was filled with goofy stuff that was kind of out there (the LEGO head, the Mega Man outfit, etc.), but knocking zombies onto a scale with a pair of antlers is really out there. I want to see more of the games, but I hope these mini-games integrated into the story in a way that makes me care about them. After tonight, I could see me playing a few rounds of TIR, but I don't know if it would keep me signing online.

Obviously, this was just a preview, but I did find it disheartening to see the framerate drop significantly when I got to the bonus round of Slicecycles. This was just me in a roomful of zombies -- granted, a massive roomful of zombies -- and the game did chug a bit.

All that aside, I'm still excited to see where this is going. There was a lot of blood, this is definitely a form of zombie game we haven't seen before, and I do love American Gladiators. I hope they make us swing on the rings over a swarm of zombies next time.

Daemon's Take

I think a multiplayer mode for Dead Rising is a great idea. Is "Terror is Reality" the perfect multiplayer mode for the game? That remains to be seen. While an American Gladiators-style competition involving zombies is cool, I think it would have been more engaging if there were a real threat to the player. In the games we played tonight, the only danger was getting grabbed by a zombie for a few moments and losing time while the other players scored points. Granted, we've only seen four mini-games so far and Capcom says there will be many more in the finished product. But how will it work? Will the host select all games?

The most interesting part for me is that Terror is Reality exists in the single-player campaign and characters will acknowledge it. I expect to hear it referred to in the story, and maybe your victories will earn you something that can be used in the regular game. This feels like an improvement over other titles that include both single- and multiplayer experiences but keep them entirely separate.

Of the four games we've played so far I like Pounds of Flesh the most. Dead Rising is known for having a cracked out sense of humor and that is in full effect as players toss zombies into a giant bucket by ramming them with moose antlers attached to their heads. Slicecycles was fun, but the fact that the game slowed to a crawl during the bonus section dampened the experience for me. Hopefully Capcom can get that ironed out before the game ships. There is an impressive number of zombies on screen, but it doesn't make much difference if the game can't run.

The Terror is Reality game show comes with a lot of theatrics and cut scenes, and I don't know if people want to sit through that when playing a competitive multiplayer experience. Hopefully we'll be able to skip though all that and keep the game streamlined. The banter from the announcer is pretty insipid, anyway. Before starting the first round he says something to the effect of, "If you don't watch yourself you might lose your head. Or a zombie might eat your head. Or your girl will give me head. Again!"

As I type that I guess it does sound kind of funny. But in the context of the game, I was rolling my eyes. Overall, I am excited for Terror is Reality in Dead Rising 2. Tonight was also the first time I got to try the single-player game and I thought it looked great. Really looking forward to this one.

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