Belly Not Full

Revealed at Capcom's recent Captivate event was this retail recalibration of Dead Rising 2, designed to cater for a perceived consumer want. Like a modern-day version of SNES curiosity Final Fight Guy, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record monkeys around with Blue Castle's six month old title, junking family-man player character Chuck Greene in favour of everyone's favourite slob, Frank West.

Dead Rising 2 was a decent enough approximation of the original title's lawless glee, even if it did lack the mumbled, lost-in-translation narrative qualities that drive most Capcom action games. The original Dead Rising chugged along to a pleasing survival horror conclusion, before transforming itself into a fraught, sci-fi scavenger hunt for the post-game bonus mission. Dead Rising 2 accounted for this nifty secret story-telling, but whiffed it by attempting to keep things organic. Dead Rising's joy came in its tangents, mistakes, and wild tonal shifts. It presented itself as a game made specifically for American tastes, whilst taking endless pot-shots at the consumer culture that drives that country. Dead Rising 2 played it straight, and came up short. With Frank West back in the avatar seat - and sporting an impressively slouchy beef gut - perhaps Blue Castle and Capcom can recapture some of the futureshock madness that made Dead Rising so special?