The folks over at Prima Games have already played Dead Rising 2 (it’s kind of their job) and they’ve been kind enough to provide us with some tips to share here exclusively on Capcom Unity. You can pre-order the Dead Rising 2 strategy guide (in regular, collector’s edition, or digital flavors) by visiting the Prima Games site here . 

All right, now let’s begin with the tips, courtesy of Prima Games’ Steve Stratton!

Hit the jump!

Tip #1: Study the City!

Fortune City may be crawling with voracious undead, but the bold will find many treasures hidden within its gore-soaked rough. From hidden Combo Cards like the Paddlesaw, (found by examining a freestanding directory display at the south end of the Silver Strip) to secret magazines and weapon caches (like the ones secreted atop the Food Court’s awnings), you’ll discover there’s far more to Fortune than meets the eye.

Tip #2: Slay Those Side Missions

Between keeping his daughter from becoming a zombie and unraveling the mystery behind the Fortune City outbreak, Chuck Greene sort of has his hands full. Don’t let all this mandatory hoopla keep you from fulfilling those optional side missions, however. These elective tasks lead to outbreak survivors and twisted psychopaths, and both equate to vital Prestige Points that help Chuck level up. For example, by rescuing survivors as part of the “Happily Ever After Sort Of,”  “Lost…” “Worker’s Compensation” and “Lush-ious Lady” side missions, you can level Chuck up multiple times as you work at completing the very first case. 

Tip #3: Craft Ca-Ca-Combos

New to Dead Rising 2, Combo Weapons are incredibly fun and devious devices of widespread doom. Take the Hail Mary, for example: an innocent football merged with multiple grenades ingeniously forms the ultimate “long bomb”. You can build this nasty Combo Weapon easily at Fortune Park, where you find a football and two grenades in the south grassy ledge that’s close to the park’s south maintenance room. Hurl the Hail Mary into the nearby hoard of zombies for a catastrophic explosion that yields Chuck some major Prestige Points.

Tip #4: Just Duct It

Combo Cards tell you what’s needed to build lethal Combo Weapons and also increase their effectiveness. Some Combo Cards are hidden in Fortune City, such as the Laser Sword Combo Cards, which Chuck finds by examining a special movie poster in the Platinum Strip’s Paradise Platinum Screens movie theater. The items needed to build the Laser Sword are also hidden nearby; climb onto the snack machine that stands just outside of Cash Gordon’s Casino to discover gems and a flashlight atop a high awning. Bring these into the nearby maintenance room to build a Laser Sword, then start severing limbs off those milling undead for loads of Prestige Points.

Tip #5: Turn Loose the Juice

Special blenders are sprinkled throughout Fortune City, and Chuck can use these rare objects to splice foods and drinks, whipping together potent juice blends that bestow special abilities. The Quick Step is one of the best, and it’s easily made at Shots & Awe, located in the Americana Casino.  Simply grab two wine bottles (there’s an unlimited supply of them here) and mix them together in the bar’s blender to make the Quick Step, loading up with as many as you can carry. Because Shots & Awe is so close to the Safe House, you can easily make useful juice drinks like the Quick Step every time you move to and from the bunker—and you’d be wise to do just that.

Tip #6: Seek Out Shortcuts

Time is always against you in Dead Rising 2, so knowing how to navigate Fortune City is vital. A handful of highly advantageous shortcuts exist to aid Chuck’s travels, such as the passage that a survivor named Linette can show you that links Royal Flush Plaza’s first-floor restroom with the Brand New U clothing store on Palisades Mall’s second floor. Because this shortcut takes you clear across the city in the blink of an eye, it’s useful in many different scenarios, helping Chuck complete remote side missions when he otherwise wouldn’t have enough time. Another useful shortcut is the maintenance hall that links the Silver Strip’s Hot Excitorama shop with the Palisades Mall’s south maintenance hall—this one is available from the very beginning, so you don’t have to wait to unlock it like you do with Linette’s passage.

Tip #7: Digest Brain Food

Many special magazines are sprinkled throughout Fortune City, each capable of granting Chuck special advantages. Take the Health 2 mag that sits on the counter in the northwest corner of Yucatan Casino’s Baron Von Brathaus eatery—when carried, this handy magazine doubles the effectiveness of all health-restoring food and drink items. Other magazines’ benefits include tripling the durability of certain types of weapons and increasing the amount of Prestige Points Chuck earns for rescuing survivors and defeating psychopaths. No matter the issue, magazines are sure to help Chuck out—but because they take up room in his inventory, he must be smart about the ones he chooses to carry.

Now that you know a few important facts about Fortune City and the need to plan wisely…you see the importance of the complete strategy guide. It’ll be available to you the day you visit Fortune City. You choose whether you want a digital downloadable guide, print guide, or Collector’s Edition print guide here- www.primagames.com/guides/display.php?is…