The game's critical and commercial popularity made a sequel a foregone conclusion (seriously, how could there not be a follow-up?), so it was nice to see an official confirmation yesterday. Set in Las Vegas (or some gaming equivalent), Dead Rising 2 will toss players into the zombie horde with nothing but their wits and whatever they can get their hands on.
Naturally, this got us thinking about the types of weapons we'll be seeing in the game, a topic that our sadistic minds quickly embraced. So, without further ado, here are some implements of destruction that Capcom is more than welcome to try out.
Sterling: This is Vegas (if it's still coming) proposes to offer up a satirical, irreverent look at Sin City. I think I'm leaning more toward Capcom's version, since Las Vegas is arguably my least-favorite destination in America, and I'd love nothing more than to see the game kick off with a pack of zombies attacking a club full of people sporting orange tans.Dead Rising took one of my favorite scenes from "Shaun of the Dead" (the argument over which Prince records to toss) and ran it so far into the ground that it resurfaced in China. Starting off on that foot, my weapon wish list consists of the following: Technics 1200s, CD-Js, a mixer, a copy of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance," an awkward white-label remix of Lil Wayne's "Mrs. Officer," and most importantly, the ability to set up booby traps. Wouldn't it be great to lure a pack of undead onto a dancefloor, then drop a dozen heavy sound stacks on them?
My sadistic imagination hardly stops there. In the midst of running through the fountains of Capcom's mock-Bellagio, why not wrestle a pack of zombies, mouth-first, onto the myriad fountains outside? It could make for dozens of sanguine YouTube moments. How about picking up statues of Julius Caesar and whacking the walking dead? Shoving them in front of a speeding roller coaster at the fake New York, New York? The mind boggles at the number of gleeful ways to dispose of zombies in Vegas.
I'm also curious as to how the influx of zombies will start. In the last game, it was a dim-witted survivor's love for her annoying poodle. Why not blame the outbreak on Carrot Top this time? He deserves it.
Miguel: Las Vegas, the gaping vortex at the center of the American Nightmare, is designed to inflict harm on your soul. But the fabric of its environment can also injure bodies. The people designing Dead Rising 2 need to take note. Here are some ideas: floor-mounted ashtrays, empty coin buckets, fluorescent light fixtures, and hocked rims from a pawn shop. Someone's mortgage certificate, a plastic wedding altar, someone else's college fund, a stack of fake IDs, a palette of home pregnancy tests. A gambler's neglected child, her Game Boy Color, an In-N-Out fry chopper, the contents of a seafood buffet table (complete with salmonella), the Segway left parked outside. Champagne on ice, complete with the pail. Miles of irrigation pipe. A few thousand douchebags.
Gerald: I happen to love Las Vegas, but I wouldn't want to live there. The city makes me feel like I'm visiting an adult theme park, where the liquor and money flow like the fountains of recycled water, and a life-changing fortune can be yours if lady luck happens to smile upon you. Sure, it's this fantasy land mystique that drives countless visitors to throw away their life savings and their kids' college funds, but that's just natural selection at work.By setting Dead Rising 2 in Las Vegas, Capcom will once again have virtually limitless opportunities for creative expression. Just think of the new outfits alone! Imagine Frank West as part of the Blue Man Group, or doing high kicks in a Rockettes uniform? Unadulterated win. My suggestion would be to include a spoof of Madame Tussaud's wax museum in the fake-Venetian. This way you could provide players access to a bunch of unique weapons, like Indiana Jones' bullwhip, John Wayne's six-shooters, Elvis' guitar, Michael Jackson's detachable nose, and Simon Cowell's biting criticism.
