Will Katey Greene Ruin Dead Rising 2?

Capcom have been responsible for some great games in the past: Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Killer7 and Lost Planet for example. Why is it then that they insist on ruining some part of a game experience by inserting an annoying and often needy, plot-driving little girl character?

The reason I bring this issue up now is mainly because I have recently played the prologue to their next big title, Dead Rising 2. Others who have played the DLC Arcade title, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero may have already guessed the direction this article is heading. Before delving into Capcom’s latest release though, I would like to take a moment to refresh your memories of their previous ‘innocent’ little girls.

First up is Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2. Looks innocent enough of course, but this also means helpless and as game players we all know what that means. Yes, that’s right, you need to help her, and you won’t have a choice if you want to actually complete the game. Don’t get me wrong this is quite a conventional game mechanic, but Capcom really pushed this to the limit with Sherry. Unfortunately as you play through the game as Claire Redfield, you encounter Sherry and help her escape Raccoon City Police Department. Due to her feebleness, Sherry gets separated from you and ends up being pursued by her mutated father who implants a G-virus embryo inside her. This is when she becomes a real pain. The rest of the game then consists of trying to find an antidote for Sherry whilst she is in an even more weak state. During this pursuit, Sherry even has the nerve to look at you as a parent…give me a break. It’s bad enough worrying about your own survival, though looking after an infected, annoying brat, especially when a bullet to the head would make life a whole lot easier.

But Capcom didn’t stop there. They decided to fully integrate the ‘innocent little girl’ character into the Resident Evil 4 plot. In fact the whole game was based around her rescue and extraction. It doesn’t help that after trudging through countless enemies, risking life and limb to save her, that Ashley turns out ungrateful and spoilt. Why bother doing this then? Well, Ashley is the US president’s daughter and he wants her back home. Why he doesn’t send an army to get her I don’t know, but this is the questionable plot of the game. What really rubs the salt in the wound with Ashley though, is when she climbs a ladder, if you look up, she accuses you of being a pervert! If anything, after what we are doing for her we are entitled to have a quick peek. And as usual with these little girl characters, who not only look and act naïve to convince players they need their help, they have a tendency to get kidnapped…over and over again. Ashley is probably the pinnacle of this stereotype however. With several of the games sequences either being to get to a location to save her again, or to fight off enemies whilst she screams and gets taken off if you don’t stay near her for half a second. The motive for the cult that kidnapped Ashley in the first place is to infect her with a parasite and ship her back to the US so it spreads. So once again, there is a simple solution to the problem, shoot her on sight and head home. But for some reason these girls always end up surviving the whole game much to my disappointment.


What does this have to do with the upcoming Dead Rising 2 then? Well in the prologue we are introduced to the main characters, you play as a motocross champion called Chuck Greene. He has a daughter, but this is no ordinary daughter, she is the blond haired, green-eyed cutesy Capcom daughter. Her name is Katey, and at this point in the story of Dead Rising 2 she has survived an attack from her zombified mother. Consequently she is destined to join her mother amongst the zombie hordes but her father has other plans. I guess at least with Katey she is a relative to the game’s protagonist this time around, but this doesn’t prevent her from acting annoying. Players may remember from the original Dead Rising that it’s protagonist, Frank West fought off the zombie state by injecting a drug called Zombrex. This is what Chuck seeks in the sequel to keep his daughter craving brains for lunch. As you play Chuck, you are forced every 12 hours in game time to stop everything you are doing to return to your daughter and inject her with Zombrex. If you are late, it’s game over. There is also the fact that Zombrex doesn’t exactly grow on trees so you either have to search high and low for the tampon-resembling injection, or you have to spend your hard earned cash on it. Added on to this annoying, blond-haired package is the constant moaning because she is ill with the zombie disease. Most of her dialogue consists of “But Daddy, I don’t even like Zombrex” or “Daddy, I feel ill, can I have some more Zombrex”. Yes you read that right, she changes her mind constantly, when she is feeling ill she begs of you to inject her, but when it comes to the twelve hour mark, do you think she is co-operative…don’t be silly. Unfortunately, I think Katey also has to be marked up as having the most annoying voice out of the cute Capcom girls, the list goes on. Being younger than Sherry and Ashley, she has a tendency to hum tunes, have a complete ignorance of what’s going on, and also convince her father that he can “fix anything”, cue the cheesiness.

My main problem with Katey is not her persona as such though, although it really doesn’t help. What really grinds me is the way she controls much of the gameplay. When you aren’t looking for her Zombrex or rushing back to give her the injection, she is being chased by a murderous hillbilly named Jed. Jed wants her dead because she has been infected, if you ask me, he is doing you a favour. My fear is that the full game of Dead Rising 2 will be less about having a bit of fun slaughtering zombies, and will more closely resemble a nursing simulation game. If the prologue is a taster of what is to come, then I’m afraid things aren’t looking good. Katey will inevitably ruin some part of the game with her constant needs, which once again could be solved if they didn’t disable the attack button when you are around her. My hope is that she will either eventually turn into a zombie forcing you to kill her, or as the prologue is set three years before the full game making her seven when you reach the big city, that she has learned to fend for herself in that time. Regardless, Katey has already made par with Sherry and Ashley just in the prologue of the game. Maybe I just can’t stand cuteness, but you would think when the world is crawling with the undead, people would pull a Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 and toughen up a little....no one is that innocent. I’m just saying. And do not worry, I don’t plan on becoming a father just yet.