You can expect much of the same look as you got in Dead Rising 2, but with some slightly improved textures and faces here and there. You spend much of your time in a shopping mall environment, with casinos and an amusement park thrown in for variety. The look is realistic, with lots of little details on things like vending machines and posters, and tons and tons of zombies filling every space. Well, it's as realistic as it can be, when much of the game is spent duct-taping chainsaws to paddles and putting knives in boxing gloves, but you get the idea.

The mellow elevator music is back for the mall environments, as well as lots of casino sounds like jackpot chimes and bells. Again, it's realistic for the environments you're in. There's more voice work now; when Stacey chimes in with a call on your headset (to let you know about a new quest or a side-quest you might be interested in), they're actually voiced now. That's good, since you are going to be quite busy with the endless zombies most of the time and those messages don't always come in at a convenient time to read them.

In Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, you replay an alternate re-imagining of the events of Dead Rising 2. This time, you don't play as dedicated father Chuck Greene. He is replaced by Frank West, the photographer journalist from the first Dead Rising. Chuck Greene does make an appearance, but in this reality he takes a sad, sad turn.

At first, I didn't really dig this alternate universe thing. I would much rather play as a Frank West that somehow found himself in Fortune City alongside (but not interacting with) Chuck as they both uncovered the secrets of the city and its zombie outbreak. The thing is, a lot stays the same here. Frank meets the same main characters, goes to the same safehouse, and rescues a lot of the same survivors that Chuck did, and especially in the beginning of the game, things seem like they're going to be almost identical. He even starts the game off in the Terror is Reality gameshow where you kill zombies for big cash prizes. Yes, there is some new stuff, but it's really hard to get over that initial mental hurdle that you're playing the same game.

Things are a bit different though. There are new weapon combinations you can make, such as the bouncing beauty, a propane tank with fireworks for a delayed blast. Yep, the ridiculous, and hilarious zombie killing fun is still here, with some new twists. Frank also uses some of the conventional (a.k.a., not combined with any other weapon) weapons in a slightly different way than Chuck did, making the gameplay a bit different in that aspect too. And there is an entirely new area called the Uranus Zone. Yeah, they keep that childish humor up in the entire game. That hasn't changed, don't worry.

Another new gameplay mode is the Sandbox Mode. This isn't really as sandbox-y as it sounds. It's just pretty much the same world, but with no time limit imposed, and no story quests to worry about. You've got challenges scattered around the city in this mode that will let you test your zombie-killing creative skills. You can also use this mode to make money that you can take back to the Story Mode.

Multiplayer is back, but things are pretty much all Co-op this time. No "Terror is Reality" gameshow here, except in the very beginning of the story, and that's all single-player with Frank only. Still, with the Sandbox Mode, you'll find more to do. It's especially good for people who want to complete the story, but are frustrated with random Co-op players who'd rather run around doing ridiculous things to zombies. Sandbox Mode is a good place where you can kind of agree to bring things over the top and go nuts killing zombies.

There is no selectable difficulty level in Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. That being said, it seems a bit easier than Dead Rising 2. There are little tweaks here and there that accomplish this, like a more useful map system, and a dodge roll available right off the bat (in the original game, you needed to level up to gain this skill). It could be that I've just played the original so much that I've gotten pretty good at it, but it seems like the boss (Psychopath) fights have been adjusted to be a bit more fair. It feels like there were a lot more annoying cornering moves in the original game, and it now feels like you have more opportunity to breathe and actually fight back.

Overall, the feel of the game is slightly easier, but that doesn't mean you don't have to plan ahead, save up supplies, and build weapons if you want to survive. It's still a good, challenging game. It just seems like some of the frustration factor was cut out. You can also still go back and restart your game at a higher level, making it that much easier to get through the game and get all those satisfying secret items and weapons.

There are some improvements over Dead Rising 2 here in Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. Very notable is the waypoint marking options you have on the map. I spent a pretty obnoxious amount of time looking at the map, looking again, checking direction, and looking again, etc. on the original game. Now you can mark a point on a map, even if it's not a part of the quest you're on, and the helpful arrow will guide you while you're playing in-game. This is an enormous help when you're trying to get back to the safe house, or find some obscure item or shop without wasting time or getting turned around. I mean, this little arrow is a lifesaver, it really is. Besides, most of us don't really want to spend all our time on the map screen. This is a zombie game, after all.

The improvements are there, but they're not really enough to make this a totally new game. It's more like Dead Rising 2.5. Still, if you're a fan of the original, it's just different enough to make it a fun ride. New weapons, a twist to the story, and Frank's slightly more silly demeanor do make it a different adventure, and will kick off your obsessive streak to find all the secrets and unlock all the achievements once again. It's kind of amazing how Capcom can keep releasing games in this manner, but hey, somehow it keeps working.