History VideoGame / DeadRising2

[[caption-width-right:350:[[MacGyvering When all you have is a paddle, chainsaws, and duct tape...]]]]

Cut to the present day ([[TimeSkip five years after the first game]]), Chuck is now a contestant in the game show ''Terror Is Reality'', set in Fortune City, NV, whose crew [[EvilIsNotAToy keeps caged zombies]] who are released in an arena just so the competitors may mow them down with [[RuleOfCool motorbike-mounted chainsaws]].

** "Paddle Party Massacre", seemingly a {{Fanservice}}-laden horror-action movie that's a parody of ''Film/TheEvilDead'' (the plot) and ''Film/TexasChainsawMassacre'' (the title). Looking at the poster gives the Paddlesaw Combo Card. Amusingly, this movie actually gets a scared reaction out of [[TheStoic Chuck]].

''Dead Rising 2: Case West'' came out in December 2010 on the Xbox Live Arcade. Set after the main game in [[spoiler:Phenotrans's facility in]] Fortune City, Chuck is joined by Frank West (an AI buddy in single-player, and the second player's character in co-op) as they work to clear Chuck's name once and for all.

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: How [[spoiler:Sullivan]] dies. [[Administrivia/DoWeHaveThisOne Do we have a trope for Best Bad Guy Death]]?

Chuck can use to headbutt zombies with. There's the Moose Head, which uses the moose's antlers to ram into zombies, the Burning Skull which is similar but with bull horns and burns any zombies he runs into and the Super Slicer which combines this trope with HelicopterBlender; slicing zombies with its propeller.

** The Drinking magazine allows you to consume alcohol without risk of vomiting. Pretty nifty considering you're in a strip mall that's about 40% casino and thus has lots of liquor strewn all over the place.

** Magazines compared to books in the original. Only six can now be triple-stacked with only the baseball bat and electric guitar being usable against normal zombies but are still ineffective against psychopaths or gas zombies. The weapons that can be double-stacked are similarly nerfed with only the broadsword, battleaxe, and katana still being effective when the gas zombies arrive. The rest are either too large to be stored, too fragile, or too weak.

* OneHitWonder: InUniverse example: Bibi Love is an aging musician who refuses to let go of her former glory and trying to accomplish her comeback tour even during a zombie outbreak.

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Unlike the disadvantages of other weapons [[note]] the pistol has weak damage, the fast fire rate of assault rifles chews through their ammo quickly, the sniper is ill-suited for close-range use, and the machine gun and six shooter have a one item restriction that is only bypassed by having survivors in the party[[/note]], shotguns are easily found all over Fortune City and can reliably clear out gas zombies and psychopaths.

** Chuck gives a subtle hint regarding Rebecca. He tells her to "not loose her head", and later, [[spoiler:she is shot in the head by Sullivan.]]

** Magazines compared to books in the original. Only six can now be triple-stacked with only the baseball bat and electric guitar being usable against normal zombies but are still ineffective against psychopaths or gas zombies. The weapons that can be double-stacked are similarly nerfed with only the broadsword and battleaxe still being effective when the gas zombies arrive. The rest are either too large to be stored, too fragile, or too weak.

* ArmorIsUseless: In the High Noon Shooting range, Chuck can pick up and wear a S.W.A.T. Vest. It doesn't do anything, but it does look damn cool. Averted with Arthur's suit of armor. Subverted by the Psycho outfit, which isn't armor, but reduces damage taken.

** Magazines compared to books in the original. Only six can now be triple-stacked with only the baseball bat and electric guitar being usable against normal zombies but are ineffective against psychopaths or gas zombies. The weapons that can be double-stacked are similarly nerfed with only the broadsword and battleaxe still being effective when the gas zombies arrive. The rest are either too large to be stored, too fragile, or too weak.

* DiabolusExMachina: Remember the catharsis of using the Humvee to plow through endless hordes of zombies in the maintenance tunnels back in Dead Rising 1? Well if you've shelled out ''[[LevelGrinding two million bucks]]'' for a key prior to the military's arrival, [[HopeSpot you can then take a red one underground]] - only to find the gate to the tunnels proper is '''[[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence two god-damned inches too low to let it in.]]''' ''There is no way this is an accident.'' Well, at least there's no similar cockblocking for the Slicecycle... Except you have to carry a chainsaw from the stage to the trailer past dozens of [[spoiler:"[[DemonicSpiders Gas Zombies]]"]] to make it.
*** There's a zorb and several security buggies lying around, but they're nowhere near as fun as a slicecycle.
** Given that Capcom's perfectly fine with {{Ascended Meme}}s and a selling point of the game is combining items to make new weapons, it's surprising that you can't stick blades in a shopping cart. Then you too could run around screaming, '''''[[MemeticMutation THIS IS MY STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!!]]'''''

* ItemAmplifier: Weapon durability can be extended from obtaining a certain book or magazine.

* NotCompletelyUseless: Since skill magazines have no effect on combo weapons, this gives the player a reason to use normal weapons, preventing them from being fully OvershadowedByAwesome. For example, this creates a reason to use the machete instead of combo-ing it into a Pole Weapon, since the "Blades" magazine will only boost the durability of the former[[note]]although this doesn't make much sense given that the [[BladeOnAStick Pole Weapon]] also has a blade[[/note]].

* BookEnds: At the beginning of the game Chuck is partacing in game hosted by TK to kill as many zombies as possible in order to provide for Katie. [[spoiler:In the S ending TK kidnaps Katie and Stacy and takes them to the area where he ties them and hangs over a horde of zombies. He Then kidnaps Chuck and After pretending to host another show fights him While he also has to make sure the girls aren’t DevouredByTheHorde.]]

** What's the perfect name for a morbidly obese pervert who tries to force women to marry him so he can have sex with them? ''Randy.'' Randy ''[[ADateWithRosiePalms Tugman]]'' to be precise.

** Subverted. [[spoiler: A certain black character ''does'' die, but he'll only die in Overtime and that's at the end of the game. As an added twist? YOU get to be the one that kills him!]]

* OverprotectiveDad: Darcie Blackrock, daughter of Bob Blackrock, who informs Chuck about the survivors' location, wants Chuck to bring her father to her to ensure him there's no "funny business" between her and Chuck.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In Overtime, the first thing Chuck hears is [[spoiler:TK]] announcing that it's time for the game to go into overtime!

** "Energizer": Makes Chuck invincible.
** "Nectar": Spawns a queen hornet and makes it easier to find more.
** "Pain Killer": Reduces damage Chuck receives by half.

* SuperWheelchair: Mix a battery with a wheelchair, and you get the Electric Chair weapon. Mix the electric chair with a merch. rifle, and you get the Blitzkrieg, a wheel chair that lets you fire off hundreds of round onto crowds of zombies, or squads of rifle-wielding mercenaries, while spouting BondOneLiners with the voice of Creator/StephenHawking. Combine the Blitzkrieg with the four-wheel magazine and it will increase its durability, though not its ammo supply.

* UseYourHead: There are three "helmet" weapons Chuck can use to headbutt zombies with. There's the Moose Head, which uses the moose's antlers to ram into zombies, the Burning Skull which is similar but with bull horns and the Super Slicer which combines this trope with HelicopterBlender; slicing zombies with its propeller.

* ActionFigureJustification: Referenced with one side mission, where Chuck has to convince an old lady in a toy store to follow him to the safe house. When he mentions the zombies, she says that she's looking for toys for her granddaughter, who is too young for zombie toys. Chuck replies, "They're not toys," and [[ComicallyMissingThePoint the lady gives an annoyed, "Fine, action figures."]] Chuck then explains that he's talking about the ''real'' zombies that are infesting the city.

** [[spoiler:Leon Bell: TheRival sets himself on fire from a spark igniting leaked fuel while proclaiming himself "number one".]]

** [[spoiler:Evan [=McIntire=]: Ice cream salesman frozen solid by a liquid nitrogen canister.]]

* GagBoobs: Bibi Love... much to the player's disgust.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the Fortune Whisperer's fortunes is "Not everyone you meet can be trusted. Safety is an illusion," hinting at [[spoiler:Sullivan's betrayal]].

** Similarly, Sgt. Boykin isn’t really a villain; he is rather aggressive and doesn’t hesitate to approach Chuck with the intention of killing him, but he [[spoiler: witnessed the deaths of his men due to unexpected circumstances and after Chuck defeats him, he still thinks he got taken down by a zombie and blows himself up with a grenade.]]

** Honestly, look at how Chuck did with just his bare hands and some duct tape. Assuming the soldiers had enough ammo (let's say the humvees were packed with the stuff), they could have wiped out every zombie in Fortune City. And Boykin's dialogue makes it sound like they have done this a few times before. Just because they didn't have the foresight to realize that [[spoiler:Phenotrans was going to make super-zombies]] doesn't make them dumb.

** How do you get the achievement "Alpha vs. Omega"? [[spoiler:Keep the survivor Denyce Calloway in your party for three days (meaning you have to lock her in a secure room every time you want to enter the safehouse) until she can join you in the battle against Dwight Boykin and inflict damage on him herself.]]

* HeroicBSOD: [[ShellShockedVeteran Sgt. Dwight Boykin]] suffers from this when [[spoiler: his squad is wiped out by the mutated zombies. You find him down in the underground tunnels shooting zombies and believing that his squadmates are still alive. He also thinks Chuck is a zombie.]]

** Subverted by Sgt. Dwight Boykin, a bald, tattooed DrillSergeantNasty who may not ooze as much slime as TK, but at least looks a hell of a lot more evil than [[spoiler:Sullivan]], and he makes sure to always get the first kill on a mission; but he really is there to save the survivors and he at least has enough of a heart to [[spoiler:go insane when he sees his men eaten alive by gas zombies.]] It doesn't help that he comes across as an expy of Brock from the first game when you first see him.

** Unlike all the other psychopaths, Marl Bradson and Pearce Stephens are perfectly sane; they only attack Chuck for trespassing.