SPOOK’S PROS: Frank West returns! Sandbox Mode is awesome. The little things add up to make the game feel like a mostly new experience.
SPOOK’S CONS: Sticks too closely to the Dead Rising 2 story. Frustrating gameplay elements in the series still exist. Lack of local co-op feels like the series isn’t taking any steps forward.

The return of Frank West is one that should be celebrated tenfold in the gaming community. Gone is the lackluster protagonist of Dead Rising 2, and in his place is the charismatic and hilariously corny Frank West, the photojournalist that has everything from wars to zombie outbreaks at a small-town mall in Colorado. Off the Record asks the question, “What if?” What if Frank West was a part of the bloody game show Terror is Reality? What if Frank West was the hero of the Fortune City outbreak instead of Chuck Greene? What if Capcom did Dead Rising 2 the right way?

Off the Record certainly feels like Capcom has realized their mistakes with the original version of Dead Rising 2. Instead of capitalizing on the massive popularity of Frank West, Capcom scrapped him from the sequel and replaced him with Chuck Greene, the motorist that, while definitely a badass, lacked the charm that Frank West brought to the table. With Frank West camera-ready and prepared to kick zombie ass, did Capcom succeed with their reimagining of the Dead Rising 2 plot?

Anyone that’s familiar with the first iteration of Dead Rising 2 will already know, virtually step-by-step, how the story will unfold in Off the Record. Now, Capcom has gone out of their way to make Off the Record as tongue-in-cheek and hilarious as possible, with plenty of inside jokes, fourth-wall breaking, and an overall “meta” feeling that would seem commonplace in a Wes Craven horror film. Unfortunately, the fact that the story mode is basically an example of Capcom copying and pasting content means that those that spent an extensive amount of time with Dead Rising 2 may not find all that much new content to justify the $40 price tag.

Of course, there is indeed changes in Off the Record. One of the most widely advertised is the fact that not only does Frank West return in Off the Record, but the camera mechanics that defined the original Dead Rising experience also make their triumphant return. Not only that, but there has been plenty of new dialogue added, giving the game a much more “polished” feel, with Stacey’s radio messages now being spoken out loud instead of simply read. This is a godsend for those with standard definition television sets, to which Capcom has effectively given the finger to in previous releases of the Dead Rising franchise.

Dead Rising 2 saw multiplayer being integrated into the Dead Rising formula for the first time. Unfortunately, the execution was a little sloppy, to say the least. The online experience was laggy and generally not much fun. Because of this, Capcom has scrapped the online multiplayer component all together in favor of Sandbox Mode. Sandbox Mode has always been the obvious next step for the franchise, and it turns out to be the selling point for Off the Record, even for those that dumped their lives into Dead Rising 2.

If Capcom were to remove the time mechanic in Dead Rising, it would severely damage the experience. I don’t understand why people complain about it all the time when it is really one of the best parts of the game, but Sandbox Mode gives the complainers nothing to complain about anymore. It’s separate from the Story Mode, but your character is a part of both modes, with XP and money transferring seamlessly between the two game modes. Sandbox Mode eliminates the time limit and lets players explore Fortune City for an infinite amount of time, fighting off psychotic survivors and completing challenges dotted around the city.

Sandbox Mode also works to alleviate some of the issues that have plagued the series. While I personally love the idea of dying and starting the story back over more powerful, it can become annoying, especially with the cheap boss fights that Capcom loves to put in these games. To alleviate these issues, Sandbox Mode allows players to level up and earn cash outside of the story, then return to it to make things a bit easier.

That being said, Off the Record still has problems. Capcom still hasn’t included an offline co-op function (which is completely possible–don’t give me that bull) to complement its online capabilities, and the relatively quiet community results in it being damn near impossible to get involved in a quality co-op game. The recycled story elements means that there’s not much reason in the main game for veterans to come back, aside from exploring the new Uranus Zone, and frustrations like cheap boss fights and annoying animations remain. However, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record does a lot of things great; the core gameplay is still amazing and full of untapped potential, the charm that Frank West adds into the game is unbelievable, and there are actually genuine scares to make the game shift more to the survival-horror spectrum of things.

In the end, whether or not you should buy Off the Record relies on two things. If you haven’t played Dead Rising 2, then Off the Record is a must-have. If you have played through Dead Rising 2, then Off the Record is still worth it, but perhaps you should wait for a lower price. Capcom is taking steps in the right direction when it comes to this franchise, and while storyline elements in the downloadable Case West game make it seem hopeless that Off the Record will be made genuine canon, I wish that Capcom would have done it this way–the right way–the first time around.

FINAL SCORE: 8.0/10