Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is a what-if scenario in which Dead Rising 2 is retold with Frank West as the main protagonist instead of Chuck Greene. Frank arrives in Fortune City, trying to reclaim some of the renown he gained after breaking the story of the Willamette zombie problem in Dead Rising. Frank enters Terror is Reality to wrestle zombies rather than ride slice-cycles through them. When the zombies are released, and the town is engulfed in another outbreak, Frank prepares his camera, determined to break the news.
The game isn’t considered canon because most of the primary cast has been dramatically altered to keep the game entertaining. Chuck Greene emerges as one of the psychopaths, his daughter Katey does not appear, and Stacey and Sullivan, for example, have new allegiances. The game mechanics and objectives are identical to those of Dead Rising 2: Frank must track and solve cases within a limited time constraint, or the truth will be lost; he can accompany survivors back to safety; and requires Zombrex to avoid becoming a zombie. This time, Frank requires Zombrex but does not need to return to the Safe House to receive it. Off the Record brings photography back to Dead Rising and introduces Uranus Zone, a new sector of Fortune City. Additional combination weapons can be created, Frank’s hand-to-hand fighting technique differs from Chuck’s, and Chuck Greene is the second player in co-op games.
Another new element in Dead Rising 2 is the sandbox mode, which allows players to traverse Fortune City without time constraints or the need for Zombrex. Levels, skills, and money earned in the sandbox mode are carried over to the story mode, and the money gained in the TIR games in Dead Rising 2 is saved to the story mode. In sandbox mode, there are extra challenges scattered over the map.
