Dead Rising 2/Headscratchers


 * If Zombrex overdoses are deadly, why does the ~60 lb., adolescent Katey take the same dosage as a full-grown, 200 lb. man?
 * Perhaps the dosages are different, but the medicine itself is one-time only anyway? As in, if exposed to light it deteriorates or something. Or perhaps since Frank already took that experimental medicine from the first game, he only needs small dosages.
 * Zombie infection in the Dead Rising series means you're infected with one of the larvae. Zombrex prevents that larvae from developing, and presumably it's the same size and requires the same dosage regardless of the age and size of the person hosting it.
 * There's a weird continuity error in Case West. Isabella gets knocked out in a cutscene before you fight Singh. At 02:45 A guard picks up Isabella and hoists her over his shoulder. Her legs/butt are facing forward and her arms/head are behind. At 9:39, after the boss battle, she's still over his shoulder, but her upper body is in front, as if she inverted. Then at 10:31 Then﻿ she re-inverts when the guy turns around and carries her off. Why would that be?
 * He keeps turning her around to check the T&A.
 * How do you use tape to make a bat with nails in it, a Molotov, or a propane tank with nails in it?
 * The Duct tape is used for a grip on the bat and to secure the nails on the tank. As for the Molotov...
 * Ripping up the Newspaper?
 * Complete speculation and YMMV, but perhaps:
 * Driving the nails through the bat would make it splinter in a few hits, but a more durable sleeve of layered duct tape with nails punched through to slip over the end of the bat would be almost as effective and much more durable.
 * The newspaper isn't a wick but a taped on torch, as the whiskey bottle's neck is too slim and the newspaper would degrade rapidly if soaked anyway, but you still mechanically get a Molotov that works by the incendiary landing in the broken bottle of fuel.
 * The nails of the IED are taped to the outside of the propane tank, similar to the nail bat but presumably with less tape so that any part of the explosion is enough to tear them away.
 * (WARNING, SPOILERS BE HERE!) Ending S in Dead rising 2 just bugs me. How the hell does  free himself from the handcuffs and kidnap Stacey and Katey without any other survivor noticing it? Did he just teleport them to the arena?
 * Presumably removed the restraints/handcuffs in preparation for his escape from the bunker (as he was increasingly unsettled by Chucks findings) - either because they were both contractors for the company behind the outbreak, or to cause a distraction for Chuck as he attempted to escape. As for the survivors (lacking a leader, as Chuck was absent) - if you were told that you had five minutes to reach the helicopter or be left behind to be firebombed, would doing a headcount be a top priority before hauling ass to the heli? I don't think so.
 * That's probably about right, since it's likely what happened when  a few hours before.
 * still doesn't make sense because even after leaves he is still there and only leaves after you come back.
 * How come one small bite on her forearm causes the main heroe's daughter to need anti zombie injections yet the sheer amount of times you're bitten in the neck and crotch don't do anything?
 * Gameplay and story segregation. It was in the first one too if you got ending B.
 * It's also been said that certain people are immune to the virus, or at least able to resist. But that could be considered an Ass Pull. However, I do think it's silly to always worry over this kind of thing in every game where a character survives otherwise fatal damage unless the plot suddenly demands it's attention.
 * There's a justified Hand Wave in a Dead rising alternate reality site called "Tape it or die". One of the (fictional) founders, a pharmacist, explains that a bite has be deep enough to infect someone. I'm guessing the zombies are just gumming Chuck to death.
 * All that blood when Chuck gets bit is them gumming him to death?
 * Perhaps it's the zombie's own blood coming out of it's throat? Besides, who says Chuck won't need zombrex after all this? Remember, Frank needs zombrex, but it still took to the end of the first game for him to even notice he was infected. That was three days, too.
 * Chuck can take half a clip from a heavy machine gun and get back up. The zombies are lucky their teeth didn't shatter on his mantastic collarbone. (The fact that Chuck looks a lot like Commander Badass is not a coincidence, people.)
 * Pretty sure it's because the canon is that Chuck is a badass who never let any of the zombies bite him.


 * It seems funny that so many of the psychopaths and survivors seem to know about Chuck Greene, even though some of them probably didn't have access to (or care to listen to) any news sources, since they were stranded or barricaded in somewhere.
 * A lot of them might be motocross racing fans, but more importantly, Chuck was one of the star competitors on the local taping of "Terror Is Reality." The show is clearly big business, if the large audience and Leon Bell's giant trailer are any indication.
 * Why wouldn't they care to listen to the news in that situation? If you were barricaded in during a disaster, I can think of little I'd want to do more than to listen for rescue efforts.


 * In Dead Rising 2 why on earth do you need to wait until the right times until giving It seems perfectly fine to tell Forsythe to administer it at the right times, or Chuck could at least trust her to take it on time. It just seems odd that Chuck would be like "Gee, I have five doses of Zombrex on me, but it's not safe to just drop it off at the saferoom now, so I'll just carry it with me while fighting thousands of murderous eating machines and crazed survivors!" If the player wants to find three doses and just hide in the saferoom until the military arrives, so be it. Make it an ending.
 * While your first complaint about not being able to just give the zombrex to Stacey is legit, your second complaint about the ending is not. There is actually an ending for that. It´s called ending C.
 * Ending C isn't really an ending so much as a fade-to-black screen stating "The military are bastards; The End."
 * After getting ending C on my first playthrough, it really made me put the game down for a while. Even ending F was engaging, but C felt like Capcom just ran out of time and slapped in a clip on ending.
 * It didn't really bother me. It seems abrupt out of context, but when the rest of the cases are completed, it would seem that ending C was sudden due to Chuck's lack of knowledge on just how tied up in conspiracy everything was. Although I do think it would have been more appropriate if it just ended in Chuck getting hauled off to Gitmo or something, rather than
 * Saving Katey has been Chuck's sole motivation for years by this point. While it would have been possibly been prudent for him to stash some Zombrex in the shelter in the event he can't make it back, I can't blame him for insisting on giving the shot himself. He just met Stacey, after all. Ordinarily, he probably wouldn't have left Katey with her at all considering he's being framed by someone and doesn't know who to trust, but it's the least of the bad options on his plate.


 * Hello, this is a question about one of the final bosses and his motivations.
 * 1. 2.  3.  4.  5.
 * 1.  2.   3.   4.   5.
 * It's really not a bad plan overall.
 * It's really not a bad plan overall.
 * It's really not a bad plan overall.


 * Okay, the "security footage" that supposedly proves Chuck was behind it is a low-quality video of someone in his full-coverage game suit, including helmet, seen only from behind. It could be three penguins standing on each other's shoulders for all we can tell. Yet everyone seems to take it as proof positive. Yes, she did mention a reliable source claimed it was him... but seriously, a video like that, and seemingly no-one even considered it could be someone else in the video?
 * Are you suggesting the The Penguins of Madagascar are behind this nefarity?
 * Kowalski being involved would certainly explain why there are already combined itens scatared throughout the cassinos.
 * The fact it's low quality makes matters worse. I mean, if Rebecca said it was Leon Bell there'd be no difference, because you can't really tell out the color.
 * Actually, on a black and white security camera, the color yellow probably would show up as a lighter shade than, say, green or blue, which further suggests that it's Chuck. It still doesn't conclusively prove anything, but it is possible to sort of guess what the color is.
 * The frame has multiple steps. Chuck's a friendless drifter, his young daughter has an extremely expensive habit, he's a public figure, he's been to a CURE meeting, he's right there at the show, and he's trapped in Fortune City with no way to defend himself against the media allegations. It's not just that the guy planting the charge is wearing his TiR uniform; it's that plus everything else about Chuck that makes it sound plausible enough for the media to run with. Rebecca's also got a wide and obvious sensationalist streak that's made obvious within seconds of her introduction, so she immediately runs with a juicy anonymous tip.
 * 20 points for EVERY achievement?! Even the damn-near impossible ones? Really, Capcom, REALLY?
 * You make it sound like the only reason to play games is to get gamerpoints.
 * When I spend the time murdering 50,000+ enemies I think a little compensation is in order.
 * It's really kind of brilliant. It puts all the Achievements on equal footing.
 * "Thanks for saving me from certain death at the hands of Zombies, Mr. Green. I own the town pawnshop. I can sell you things. You need to get some Zombrex? Sure, that'll be an exorbitant amount. Folks gotta make a living, after all, even though I'm gonna be picked up by the military in a few hours and my stock of it will be confiscated for government treatment. You're rebuilding a broken bike? Well, since you saved me, I'll tell you where you can find some parts...if you'll pay me for the hints!" Fuck you Dick. Fuck you.
 * It always bothered me: what caused the Still Creek outbreak in Case Zero?
 * He's too lazy to clean all that stuff up.
 * If you're leveled enough Chuck can beat him with just his fists anyway. Though it's not easy.
 * So according to Case West, ending  is canon? But that doesn't explain
 * Well for one that "reporter guy" is Frank West, who is important enough to have a plot based on him. As for Katey and Stacey, presumably they're with the rest of the survivors being detained by the military or some sort.
 * Who exactly said "What's this? We have a treatment for a 100% lethal, very infectious, and very mobile disease? Let's sell it for as much as we can!" Granted, the U.S. health care system is screwed up, but it's not that screwed up- there's no way that a universally lethal disease would be treated that way- nearly everything possible would be done to eradicate it, and that includes helping the victims for the rest of their lives if need be so that they don't resort to desperate measures or hide and become another vector. Even AIDS has a hell of a lot of options available to get the more expensive treatments, the better to retard its spread and reduce the infectiousness of the victims. Some pharmaceutical company going "oh goody, profits!" is not going to trump decades of practice and procedures and all the other steps specifically geared towards not letting diseases spread.
 * Well, the outbreaks themselves aren't that big, so presumably the military takes out the zombies quickly. Also they do put out a "cure" of sorts in the form of Zombrex. If the outbreaks were larger and more often then the cure might be used more, but since they're smaller they can get more profit from the Zombrex.
 * (Different troper) Not that big? They took out Las Vegas, NV (which has well over a million people, plus thousands of tourists), as well as Fortune City (72000+ people), to the point where both cities had to be firebombed. That's a pretty big outbreak.
 * Okay. has set it up pretty good. They sell  at outrageous prices to people who can´t do much else then pay. I understand that. But then, why in the mother of hell would they unveil a  that lasts twice as long? (Remember, in Case Zero  That doesn´t make any sense! And if you argue "It´s to keep up their credibility" I counter argue that they don´t need credibility. I mean, what are people gonna do? Stop using it?
 * They have to balance profitability against the loss of customers and, of course, the threat of apocalypse. Making the dosage more easily to take keeps your customers alive and coming back for more. If they turn, they may infect more people but they may also kill off thousands more or overrun cities. Also, we don't know how they price the 12/24 hour doses, because we only ever buy it from profiteers in the middle of an outbreak. If they double the effectiveness but also double the cost, then they maintain the same revenue while halving their shipping costs . Also,  tells you that powerful people are infected and using Zombrex, so they may have been under behind the scenes pressure too.
 * I kind of get it now. But the point about "Balancing profitability against the loss of customers and threat of an apocalypse" doesn´t. More outbreaks means more people get scared into buying more Zombrex "Just in case" which in turn negates the loss of customers. And remember, more outbreaks = more people infected = $$$! And an apocalypse is ridiculous. The military in this game is so ruthless that the zombies wouldn´t stand a chance. But that about double the cost and powerful people makes sense.
 * That was the entire point of the Fortune City outbreak, get more queens and drive up sales. Besides, they'd run out of country real fast if they cause an outbreak every other weekend. No country, no citizens, no customers, no profit.
 * Also zombrex isn't a pill that people can take and deal with their disease it is a shot that apparently burns like hell. You tell somebody that they will have to take a shot every twelve hours and will have to pay through the nose for every dose there will be patients who will tell you exactly where you can shove your "cure" and leave their family with their life savings. However you tell those people that you only need to take the shot once every day suddenly the cure isn't such a curse and you get more patients who are willing to give you their life savings.
 * Is it just me, or does the military's response in the second game seem rather...lackluster? In the first game, they send easily a couple dozen soldiers to clear out a backwater mall that will have maybe a couple of thousand zombies in it. In the second game, they send... what, three Humvees full? Can't be more than a dozen or so soldiers, to clear out a known tourist hot spot easily populated by upwards of...what, 77,000? (I don't recall if 77,000 was the population of Fortune City itself or just the number of tourists in the area for TIR). Either way, they send far fewer soldiers to clear out an area much more densely populated. Additionally, upon losing contact with the first rescue team, why would the military commanders not assume the worst and respond in full force (i.e., Humvees with .50 machine guns, APCs, possibly attack choppers or light tanks as well)? Based on the wrecked vehicles on the Strip, after zombies wiped out the first rescue team, the military sent in another force of basically the same size. I just don't get the logic behind those tactical decisions. (and yes, I'm aware the response teams had Humvees, but neither the initial team nor the second team seemed to have any with .50 cals.)
 * They were planning to firebomb the place if they lost contact with the response team. But yeah, a dozen soldiers would run out of bullets long before they even set up a fallback point.
 * Not quite. The plan (according to Sullivan) is that if the first rescue attempt failed, another would be sent in 24 hours later. And indeed, paying attention to the news reports indicates another rescue attempt was made and failed as well. Then if that one failed as well, the city would be firebombed with the survivors left to die in the blast. My point is, after losing contact with that first rescue team, the military doesn't seem to react accordingly; the second team doesn't seem to be equipped any better than the first one.
 * Just double checked, and your right. If I had to guess an in-story reason, the military only wants to send in small, trained strike teams to keep casualties to a minimum. Meta reason? Capcom will never win an award in writing.
 * Keep in mind that the soldiers were dealing with zombies, as in, slow, shambling, dumb creatures. They weren't heavily armed or armored or anything, most of them were infected civilians, and even those that were officers are just as weak as the rest. Some heavily armed soldiers could be able to deal with hordes easily. Of course,
 * I realize that. I can accept that they'd only send soldiers for the first rescue attempt (although I still say that they should have sent more, given that 77,000 zombies in an area that small could easily overwhelm the small strike team they initially sent). I can even accept the explanation that the military wants to use small strike teams to keep casualties to a minimum (though I maintain that those Humvees should have had .50 cals on them given the huge number of zombies they would be facing). What I can't accept is that, after losing the first team, the military would simply send in another strike team of roughly the same size and armaments. I would expect, given that the zombies had, to quote Stacey, "wipe[d] out an entire military column," that the military would send in a force much better equipped than the last one (which was clearly insufficient considering they all died). Or at the very least, they should have sent a few scout helicopters to check the area to determine what might have taken out the first response team and plan accordingly. That's what Just Bugs Me about this.
 * The US Government is dumber than a box of bricks in the Dead Rising-verse
 * (Original troper here) I noticed. :) It actually has occurred to me that maybe the general in charge of the rescue operation was in league with Phenotrans and deliberately sent the rescue team in to get killed so the city would be firebombed. There's no in-game evidence to support it, though, and overall it sounds a bit too fanwankish for my taste.
 * Maybe, just maybe, there were thousands of other soldiers working all over fortune city. However, we're in a mall/arena/casino area. I'm doubting this makes up a majority of the area.
 * A mall/arena/casino area that would have been packed to the gills with people, even more so than usual due to TIR being in town. Even if that's not the majority of the area (and according to the Dead Rising wiki, it is indeed the majority of the area), that area is still likely going to contain the highest density of zombies. Even taking your point into consideration, it still makes no sense that the military would send the dozen soldiers and no recon or heavy equipment after the first team is wiped out.
 * For the first team, it could be that they were sending in a small group with the sole intent of clearing a path to the safehouse and holding off zombies while protecting/escorting the survivors out of town, and then sending in a clean-up crew afterwards with heavier gear and the knowledge that any survivors are already long gone and likely won't need to exercise caution that they might shoot anyone still alive. As for the lack of recon and/or heavier response, how well could an aerial surveillance have worked when the entire area is flooded with the gas? Would they have had the means to get clear looks at the new Gas zombies through the haze from the air? Even at ground level too, you'd still have a hell of a time seeing anything at a safe distance. Sure, they could have seen the cloud of gas hanging over the city and thought it weird, but without seeing what was going on inside it, they couldn't have really been prepared too well for it. Likely the first failed excursion was chalked up to being due to the weird 'fog' and misfortune and sent in a back up team with gas masks or some kind of goggles or something equally useless against the rampaging hordes.
 * 1. The explanation for the first team doesn't really hold up, considering that Sgt. Boykin says, upon first arriving, "First we mop up, then we grab the survivors!" Implying, therefore, that they're there to clear the area before getting the survivors, presumably so they don't have to worry about survivors getting bitten (why they can't just send choppers when the safehouse clearly has a helipad is something that I'll leave largely unconsidered). 2. As for your point about the gas, I'll grant you that not much could be seen from the air (the low visibility actually didn't occur to me); however, it would seem that the gas, which aerial surveillance *would* pick up, would be even more reason to send APCs or other heavy equipment (soldiers not being able to see = bigger chance that Rescue Team 2 becomes tasty morsels). Even for the first team, APCs would help clear the huge crowds of zombies from the outdoor areas as well as for escorting survivors out later.
 * Are we even sure the guys we see are the whole team? I always assumed they were a group of, lets say, 50 that spread out to cover more ground, and the others just were never shown on camera.
 * Why does the Phenotrans facility in Case West have very few researchers? There's only a dozen of them, and you don't even see any dead or zombified ones, yet you see several zombified security guards.
 * Because Phenotrans doesn´t really need researchers. They are very happy with zombrex the way it is now. However, if someone where to infiltrate the facility and reveal what was going on, things would go to hell very fast. Therefor, they have more security and less scientists.
 * While I understand that, I'm more bothered by the lack of corpses and/or zombies that were once researchers. It's not like the entirety of the facility science team made it out unscathed.
 * They were just lazy and didn't want to make to much new models. Notice there are also no undead zombie handlers. And those guys are the first ones who would get infected during an outbreak.
 * From what I remember, the zombie handlers were pretty good at fending off zombies, not to mention it being part of their job. It'd make sense if their suits were stab-proof (and also bite-proof), meaning that they wouldn't be infected if they were attacked,Phenotrans would want to protect their employees, otherwise there'd be no point in hiring them. And as I previously said, they seemed to handle the zombies just fine, they only take damage when Chuck and Frank deal it, and if Chuck/Frank did kill the handler, the handler couldn't turn since that's not how the infection works. They don't return from the dead.
 * Overtime Mode is, so there's no continuity error there, It's just a  . But even if Ending   is the canon ending, there is still a continuity error. In  , yet in Case West, he is not.
 * Retcon. Remember the elevator was also filled with zombies but at the start of Case West there is no trace of them.
 * I don't know what you're talking about, but there is nothing to assume that to Case West.
 * The first cutscene in Case West features, and Overtime mode and   cannot co-exist, as for Overtime mode to take place you must  ...
 * Simple answer;  It requires a bit of WMD, but it's not implausable.]]
 * At the opening to Case West, why does Chuck say he needs to find something to clear his name? Doesn't he already have
 * While that is true,
 * Is Chuck a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of David Beckham, perhaps a bit older? The resemblance especially uncanny when he has a Mohawk... and the guy's also an athlete with kids.
 * This is Fridge Logic?
 * In the final boss fight against, who's AC-130 was that? It was either the Phenotrans or the US Governments, but it doesn't make sense in either case. If it was the governments, why was it helping Sullivan? And why does Sullivan say "Mission complete, preparing for evac" as a random combat line when you're not on the platform? And if it is the Phenotrans gunship, then where did a private medicine company get a gunship, and how come the U.S. Airforce didn't mind even though they're firebombing in like twelve hours?
 * Sullivan implies that Phenotrans is supplying some high-level government officials with Zombrex to keep them from turning. Given that, a re-tasked AC-130 doesn't seem like a huge request. OTOH, Phenotrans might actually have an AC-130, in case they needed to bomb one of their own facilities. And the complete and utter failure of the US Military to maintain a no fly zone is a Capcom-wide Running Gag (just like the valve handles). Consider how easily Frank's pilot gets in and out of Willamette and just how many helos easily fly into or out of "quarantined" Raccoon City.
 * Why didn't the government simply send in a Chinook to pick up the survivors at the shelter after the gas zombies attack? Would it really have taken that much effort? It just doesn't make sense that a news company has to come in to solve the problem while the government does absolutely nothing. I mean, you could've fit it into the story just fine without intruding on gameplay. Just say that Sullivan radioed to the government that there were no more survivors, and by defeating him and calling the government again on his cell phone, you prove him wrong, and they send a chopper. Seriously, I know the Dead Rising games are big on depicting the U.S. as evil / stupid, but this is just crossing the line.
 * The military thought that there were no survivors, so they called off any rescue missions. This isn't so much stupidity as lack of information/misinformation. Also for the news station, Rebecca had just tried to call her station before being shot, so the number might have been saved into the phone. And if not maybe getting in contact with a news network is easier then the military. Plus consider that Chuck was assumed to have started the outbreak, who would you want to deal with first? Military likely to kill/imprison you, or the media where you can give your side of the story.
 * I can see why Chuck would call the news company, but if the government was bothering with a rescue operation at all, why didn't they just send a helicopter to the safehouse before anyone tried to contact them? Weren't bunkers like that put into malls for EXACTLY this type of situation after Williamette? There's absolutely no reason they wouldn't check and then say they did. Worst case scenario, no ones there and you wasted a few bucks worth of gas.
 * Military might have more protocols in place then just get in get out. They could also do a scan of the area to see if there are any survivors who weren't in the safe room but still alive (like the Tape it or Die crew) and they try to find them first, Then get the ones who are safe in the bunker. Granted your point about not sending a helicopter while this happens stands.
 * Tammy Blaine, the mermaid survivor. She's never made much sense to me. You find her on the second/third day of the outbreak sitting in the giant clamshell in the mermaid outfit. First of all, if she can't walk anywhere because of the tail, how did she get to the clam? Secondly, why did she choose to go commando? Surely she wouldn't actually be going in the water so she could've just worn underwear. And if she put the tail on when she got to the clam as a way of explaining how she got there, she'd either be wearing underwear as otherwise she'd be going bottomless, or her underwear is somewhere nearby where she could put it on instead of having to be carried. And how the hell did she not see all the zombies/hear about the zombies before going to work on a clam surrounded by zombies? She might be one of my favourite survivors, but it still doesn't mean it makes sense...
 * She's an idiot. Plain and simple.
 * In Off The Record, Really makes you think and wonder when players for whatever reason play the original Dead Rising 2.
 * Two questions: do we know that Case West is canon and not another What-If scenario like Off the Record, and if it is, is there anyway at all to fit it with the S ending?
 * From a practical standpoint, Case West advances the series meta-plot significantly, so it's unlikely they would ignore it outright. Also, the practical difference between ending S and ending A in terms of effect on the overarcing plot is minimum, given that Stacey and Katey get away anyway and Frank saves Chuck from zombie TK.
 * Alternatively, the opening of Case West could follow up from Ending S if you assume that Chuck took Stacey and Katey to be airlifted again, and TK (who, being a super-tough mofo, managed to barely survive being thrown to his death and ended up being turned into a zombie) came back for revenge at the last moment.
 * Seriously, I'm the only one who think that the whole Off the Record is a huge ? I mean, first they decide to give all the credit of an already seen story to Frank which (at least by my point of view) is far less heroic and sympathetic than Chuck. Then they   No, seriously, did Capcom hired Trolls in their rank or something?
 * ...Dude, calm the hell done. This is purely a "What If" scenario, IE noncanon. And since its a What If, of course some plot and character details will be different. And finally, given how Crazy Awesome the series has been since the beginning, was pretty much inevitable.
 * What If scenario or not is still a dickish move nevertheless if you ask me.
 * So, if Stacey is  in Off the Record, then why is it that
 * Maybe she hoped that
 * Some people theorize that the fight with  in Off the Record was all in Frank's head. If that were true though, how did Stacey see   on the monitors and report him to Frank?
 * Maybe she hoped that
 * Some people theorize that the fight with  in Off the Record was all in Frank's head. If that were true though, how did Stacey see   on the monitors and report him to Frank?