Dead Rising 2 Tips & Weapons

Flight Over Fight

Just about everything in Dead Rising 2 can be used as a weapon. That said, fighting is not always your best option. At any time you can be surrounded literally by thousands of zombies. And as cool as that chainsaw paddle on the front cover may be, chances are it's going to break before you can even put a dent in those kinds of numbers. Generally speaking you should try and flee from most zombies and save your weapons for thinning out the herd or breaking through a horde that's surrounding you.

Jump!

Jumping isn't just for Mario. If you find yourself surrounded and are trying to push through a zombie horde, try jumping. The zombies will have a harder time grabbing you and you'll make more progress as you hop across the floor.

Avoid Guns

Shoot them in the head. If ever there was a cardinal zombie rule, that's it. Unfortunately, that doesn't really carry in Dead Rising 2. Don't get us wrong; a head shot will put a zombie down for good, but when you're constantly surrounded on all sides you don't really have time to aim for those wily noggins do you? The truth is guns are fairly useless against the undead in Dead Rising 2. The space you waste on a handgun or sniper rifle would be much better spent on a nice machete or battle axe. Comparatively these are going to give you much more bang for your buck.

Use Combo Weapons

Throughout the game you'll find dozens of combo cards which show you recipes for new and more powerful weapons. In addition to improved firepower, combo weapons award extra experience points per zombie killed.

Time is a Harsh Mistress

Dead Rising 2 can be a great sandbox game. That said, it can also be a strict linear game that punishes you severely for heading of the trodden path. Make up your mind early on whether or not you're going to make a go at beating the game's story campaign before you start playing and remember to save often if you do. Also, don't be afraid to restart the story game if you find yourself having trouble. Doing so will allow you to begin the game with all your earned experience points still intact and can make things much easier. Above all else, just keep your eye on the clock. There is enough time to do everything in the game, but if you mess around and waste time you can easily find yourself having to rush around for the rest of the game.

Form a Posse

During Dead Rising 2 you'll find a number of survivors that will rely on you to lead them back to the safety of the bunker that serves as your base of operations. This said, you should rarely ever rescue any of these people one at a time. You'll save an inordinate amount of time if you complete multiple missions and rescue multiple survivors before heading home. The AI of your survivor companions is good enough that they'll be able to take care of themselves and if you take the time to arm them they can actually be a nice distraction for the hungry undead. The one thing to remember is to make sure they've caught up to you before you leave an area. If you leave them behind their health will begin to drain until you return to get them or they die.

You Can Go Your Own Way

It's not just a Fleetwood Mac song. Please remember that the path we took and described during the single player game is not necessarily the one you need to take. It works most certainly, and the mission descriptions will hold true no matter what you do but there is no reason you can't shuffle the order of things to your liking.