DR2: Off the Record cynicism quashed

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 13 June, 2011

"There's a ton of added value here."

Developer Capcom Vancouver believes it has now quashed the cynicism surrounding Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, the Dead Rising 2 spin-off that re-imagines the game from Frank West's perspective.

When Off the Record was announced in April many fans complained that it was a cynical cash-in, with some even suggesting it should have been downloadable content for Dead Rising 2.

Two months later, Capcom Vancouver believes those complaints have been addressed with key announcements made at E3.

"We always knew with E3 after Captivate we had to show more," executive producer Jason Leigh told Eurogamer.

"And the two things I guess could be perceived as negative that came out of Captivate were, how different is it, and what's the price? Those two things didn't really get answered at that show.

"Here, what we've done in showing the Theme Park and this giant new environment and this new gameplay we've added, that answers the first question.

"And now we can finally reveal the price, which is $39.99 for North America."

Off the Record's Theme Park area is bigger than any in Dead Rising 2. The game features new weapons, new combo weapons and new bosses, yet to be revealed.

Then there's the new playable character – photojournalist Frank West.

"There's a ton of added value here," Leigh continued. "We have the new environment, weapons, combo weapons, new clothing, food items, vehicles, new bosses and the new story.

"It's a much bigger game than Dead Rising 2 was.

"Either for return players coming back, they'll get a very different experience, or for people who have never played a Dead Rising game, or perhaps have only played the first one, they're getting a full-fledged product for a budget price. That's awesome."

Eurogamer caught a glimpse of Off the Record at Capcom's Captivate event in April.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (15) Latest comment 12 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • J0rdan_KZ #1 12 months ago

    Did they get rid of the INSANE difficulty? ¬_¬

  • darkmorgado #2 12 months ago

    I really, really hope they include a no-time-limit free roam mode this time round. A game like Dead Rising is begging for full on sandbox play.

  • PixelPirate #3 12 months ago

    And now we can finally reveal the price, which is $39.99 for North America

    hahahaaa.

    He is taking the piss surely?

    Adding one area is not "quashing cynicism" at all. Its the same game, with a re-skinned main character and one extra area.

    I would have preferred they spent their time and effort on a new PSN/Live title with less risk, it doesnt even have to be a full blown release, but this whole effort is utterly pointless. The game is already out there, if people want to buy it they will.

    Its almost as if someone at Capcom saw that the SF team are getting away with releasing the same game with a few "tweaks" and new chars and thought. "ill have some of that".

    re-releases and yearly re-hashes of the same games are destroying gaming. I understand these companies want to make money, but do smaller projects, takes smaller risks on unique ideas then if they take off you can blow them up to full scale affairs etc.

    Instead of this tired fast food mentality bullcrap.

    //end rant.

  • CamberGreber #4 12 months ago

    Still sounds like a Cash In.

    For people who havent played 2 its a good thing.

  • darkmorgado #5 12 months ago

    @PixelPirate

    Erm, it's not the same game. The story mode is completely different and redone from scratch, the character has totally different abilities, photography is back (replacing card combos), and the new area is bigger than anything in the original. Or were you not paying attention?

  • GamesConnoisseur #6 12 months ago

    Would hope for no more than £20 at the most, but the US price point serm to suggest in UK, shops ll sell it at £29.99?

    I ll hold off until reviews and prices.

  • Mr_Brown #7 12 months ago

    I don't mind, I'll still buy this. Any reason to replay DR2 again, I really like this serie and has definitely replaced Resident Evil in my opinion. It would be nice if they could make this 4 player co op though. That would be worth the repurchase alone.

  • Sir_TimAlot #8 12 months ago

    Want it now! When's it out?

  • Eraysor #9 12 months ago

    Capcom shot themselves in the foot slightly because I was just about to buy DR2 when they announced this; now I may as well wait for this version to arrive.

  • TheEnforcer000 #10 12 months ago

    Looking forward to the better save system with this release.

  • RobotRocker #11 12 months ago

    Or were you not paying attention?

    Gamers like to complain. DAMN THE FACTS. DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL.

    Also it's Capcom, clearly its already on the original disc, going to the store is just unlocking it on your DR2 disc y'know.

    Would hope for no more than £20 at the most, but the US price point serm to suggest in UK, shops ll sell it at £29.99?

    Asda and Tesco were selling Super Street Fighter 4 for as little as £17 on launch day so you should be able to grab it for super cheap when it arrives.

  • Uncle_Fishboy #12 12 months ago

    Cool. New food items.

  • Rack #13 12 months ago

    Wow, Capcom say it's not a cheap cash in? That's me convinced!

  • carrotcake #14 12 months ago

    They shouldn't have called it Dead Rising 2. That makes people think it is Dead Rising 2 with a few changes. Just call it Dead Rising: Off the Record and sell more copies and avoid confusion.

  • Rack #15 12 months ago

    ^ Don't you mean cause confusion? People would think it's a new game not Dead Rising 2: Championship edition.