PS3 owners have been positively salivating at the prospect of Dead Rising 2 – the first time Capcom’s multi-million selling zombie series has made an appearance on Sony’s machine. And not only is the exclusive nature of the game a distant memory (it's now available for the 360, PC and PS3) but Frank West and his camera are long gone too, replaced by former Motocross champ Chuck Greene – a tough guy type on a mission to clear his name and protect his sickly daughter, Katey.

Chuck finds himself in Fortune City – effectively Las Vegas in all but name – to appear in Terror Is Reality, the latest craze to hit our television screens and an homage to the popular real-life Gladiators TV show. His daughter’s been infected by the same virus that hit the Willamette mall that 360 and Wii gamers know only too well – and he needs the prize money to afford the costly Zombrex antidote.

But it’s not all plain sailing; someone’s gone and framed poor old Chuck and now the authorities want to track him down following a new outbreak. It’s a race against time to clear his name, cure his daughter and fight off thousands of onscreen carnivores. Fail and he’s dead meat.

First impressions suggest that Capcom and Canadian developer Blue Castle have paid a lot of attention to making the game look and play beautifully. Aesthetically, it’s far better looking than its predecessor. Chuck is less angular and more chiselled than Frank ever was and certainly looks the part. The environment is bright and brash - just as you’d expect of a gambler’s paradise, and it’s sharper and more colourful than the previous game, with the animations looking far more realistic. What’s more, there are now thousands of zombies onscreen at once, all baying for your blood. As you meander around the shopping malls, casinos, food courts and the huge TIR arena itself, the groans of zombies are punctuated by the sounds of fruit machines and ambient music. It’s fantastically atmospheric.

But has much else changed from the game of four years ago? Clearly, there’s a degree of familiarity as you roam about the place and undertake the various missions. But that’s no bad thing. The format of the game and missions is barely changed from the last game.... accept a mission via your radio transmitter and run from one end of the map to the other before the time runs out, constantly checking your wristwatch. Along the way you’ll encounter stranded civilians who need to be helped back to the safe confines of the security room, and there are plenty of confrontations with the psychopath bosses too.
So it’s a case of business as usual for Dead Rising 2. The basic premise of grabbing objects to dispose of the undead is just as fun as it always was too. Strewn about the place are countless weapons and everyday objects that can be grabbed and used to stab and skewer the unsuspecting undead. This time round, however, you quickly realise that Chuck’s a bit nifty with gaffertape and tools. Gain access to one of a the many maintenance rooms dotted about the game world, combine two objects on the workbench and in a matter of moments our protagonist will conjure up a devastating weapon to cut those zombies down to size. It’s enough to make the A-Team proud. There are hundreds of variations, which are revealed by collecting combo cards.

Each of your victims provides you with prestige points – or PP – which, as mentioned earlier, replaces the photography element of the first game. Keep raising your PP and you’ll level up, improving your attributes and inventory.

Whereas the save system of the first game was deemed a major flaw, this is much improved with three slots now available. Not only can you pop into a rest room to save your progress but you’re also given the option to save fairly regularly after completing missions.

Fancy sharing the experience with a friend? Then why not invite someone to play the new co-op mode and within seconds you’ll both be slaying the undead.

The whole thing is laced with plenty of dark humour, which makes it stand out from the likes of the Left4Dead and Resident Evil games. It certainly makes you feel less guilty about massacring thousands of the undead for fun. And fear not, there’s still the opportunity to play dressy-uppy with Chuck if you so wish; watching some of the more dramatic cutscenes with chuck wearing a superhero outfit and a giant purple dinosaur head is good for a laugh. Despite the comedy aspect, however, the tension is heightened thanks to the constant clock-watching necessary to complete missions and stave off your daughter’s infection.

There are still issues, however. Weapons still run out a little too early for my liking – especially grating after you’ve spent ages trying to find the required components to make something. Some of the psychopaths are insanely difficult and will probably require numerous attempts to defeat them. And not only that but with so many zombies onscreen, getting from one end of an area to another will either see you bitten several times or wasting your treasured weaponry. The lack of spoken dialogue when talking with NPCs is also a bit of a letdown - relying instead on written text at the bottom of the screen. But these are pretty minor gripes.

When you fancy a change, you can now also pit your wits against up to three other players online as you actually compete in the Terror Is Reality gameshow. Presented like a television broadcast with an exuberant host and excitable commentators, this new mode works particularly well and provides a nice respite from the single player game. Take part in a series of events and earn cash depending on your final position on the leaderboard; what’s particularly good about this is that your winnings can be transferred to one of your single player save slots – meaning you can buy awesome weaponry or much-needed Zombrex from the in-game pawnshops.

There are plenty of mini games to keep you going – from “Bounty Hunter”, where you have to shoot as many zombies as possible before the time runs out to “Headache”, which sees contestants place explosive headgear on the undead before pushing a detonator. A personal favourite is "Ramsterball" – where you control a giant steel hamsterball to ram both your opponents and those hapless zombies.

Overall, it’s a worthy update and a great addition to your collection. It builds on the groundwork of the first game and improves it. It’s fun and far better value for money than Dead Rising – thanks largely to the new multiplayer additions.

If you’ve got an insatiable appetite for zombie games, this is highly recommended! Even if you haven't, it's still definitely worth a try.