Apocalypse new. As well as being bold, unique and interestingly divisive, Dead Rising was one of the most baffling games of its generation. It constantly teetered on the edge of parody. Was it intentionally making fun of America and its zombie films, with its obese lesbian police officers and chainsaw-juggling clowns? Or was it an honest but strange homage, a Western horror staple viewed through a Japanese cultural filter? Assuming the latter to be true, Dead Rising 2 (developed by Canadian studio Blue Castle Games) is a Western interpretation of a Japanese interpretation of Western zombie horror – which gives it the potential to be even stranger. Alternatively, a Western worldview might temper the bizarreness that made Dead Rising so interesting in the first place. Hmm. Conundrum. The opening scene certainly marks a change of pace. Instead of running amok in a mall full of the undead you're a contestant on a zombie gameshow called Terror Is Reality, carving through zombie hordes in an arena on a motorcycle with chainsaws attached. We got a good look at these black-humour minigames at Dead Rising 2's unveiling back at TGS last year, but it left us with a lot of questions about the single-player – such as, how on earth do you fit a zombie gameshow into the story? Read more... hands      on      dead      rising           All