Zombie Video Games: Dead Rising 2 – Case Zero Review

Publisher: Capcom
Console: Xbox 360
Release Date: 8.31.2010

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero follows the series’ new protagonist, motocross star/badass Chuck Greene, in a prologue to the September release of Dead Rising 2. Chuck adds protective father to his list of titles as the game opens with he and his daughter Katey escaping the Las Vegas outbreak in Chuck’s blood stained pickup. The shit falls down from here as he pulls into a gas station in a dusty little burgh outside Vegas by the name of Still Creek. In a moment of distraction, Chuck’s truck gets stolen, leaving he and his daughter stranded in the zombie flooded village. As if that weren’t enough to make a bad day, the truck also happened to have all of the injections to prevent Katey’s “condition.” This gives Chuck twelve hours to somehow get his hands on a syringe of Zombrex and find a way to get the Hell out of Dodge or else lose his daughter.

Oh yeah, and did I mention the town is swarming with zombies?

I had mentioned in the last post that for a scant 400 MS points, Case Zero couldn’t be much more than a demo. This is right and wrong. The game is incredibly short, even by Xbox Live Arcade standards. I was able to go from intro movie to ending in a few short hours and while I was being relatively goal-oriented, I have all confidence that I could have beaten it even quicker. However, this makes sense with the concept of the game. As in the original Dead Rising, the game progresses through a series of Cases. As you complete these Cases, more and more of the story is revealed. Like the title suggests, this game is the prologue Case for the game. It is, in essence, an extra level of the game and Dead Rising fans know how quickly a single level can be completed.
Where Case Zero earns its 400 MS point price tag is in its replayability. While I did get an ending, the game, like its predecessor, has the possibilty for multiple endings. For instance, I beat the game without saving all the survivors, so I’m assuming I’d get another ending if I had done that. Additionally, as mentioned in the previous post, progress made in Case Zero transfers into the full retail game. Like in the original, Chuck gains PP (Dead Rising’s unfortunately named version of experience points) and levels up as he completes objectives, saves survivors and slaughters copious amounts of zombies. Case Zero has a cap at level 5, but that will be quite a headstart when starting Dead Rising 2. Money gained in Case Zero is also transferred over. Last, but certainly not least, combo cards earned in this title are retained in DR2.

Combo Cards are easily the biggest improvement in this sequel. As one of my XBL friends commented, Chuck Greene “uses both sides of his brain,” allowing him not only the ability to use a litany of commonplace items as weapons of mass undead destruction, but the ingenuity to combine these items in ways that would make MacGuyver proud. Combo cards are the recipes for these combination weapons. Some are gained by simply combining two items and creating a new weapon. Sometimes, however, simple experimentation nets you only a “Scratch Card,” which is a slightly weaker version of the weapon. I found that leveling up upgrades these Scratch Cards into Combo Cards. In addition to adding a staggering amount of variety to the available zombie killing apparati, these combo weapons also net the player additional PP per kill, thereby making them a must. Besides, most of these weapons are so damn cool/hilarious that you won’t need much incentive to make them once you’re able.

My biggest complaint about Case Zero is actually a carryover gripe from the original Dead Rising. The time limit that was so infuriating in the first game returns in this game, which means that it is likely to make it into the sequel. Now, I have no problem, conceptually, with the time limit. It makes a lot more sense than other games where the player plays darts or collects flowers in the the middle of Mexico for hours at a time while their objective just sits there, waiting for the story continue. However, the twelve hour deadline in the game is nowhere near real time. My best estimate is that twelve hours in Chuck Greene’s world is about 2 hours of playing time and that’s probably an overestimate. That’s not much time to complete all the mandatory objectives, nevermind the sidequests. This is a problem largely because the game is built on the sandbox model. There are several places the player can go and things the player can do that have absolutely nothing to do with the game’s story. Want to climb the rooftops and snipe zombies? You can do that. Want to go bowling for zombies? Make like the Dude and roll ‘em down. Ever wonder what a shower head would look like planted in a zombie’s skull? You best get down to the salon to find out. There are easily hours and hours of entertainment and exploration that could be poured into just this small sample of the game, but good luck fitting that in with the story. Sorry Katey, Daddy wanted to give you your Zombrex injection but he was too busy running down Main Street, mowing down zombies with a cactus. You understand, right?

The other big problem that frustrated Dead Rising players was the save system. For some reason, they didn’t like having to find a pissoir in the middle of a mall to save their progress. Well, unfortunately, the John is still the best place to save in between completing objectives. I don’t remember disliking the first save system, so I’m not sure how far my opinion will go, but it seems like I can always access a save point when I need to. There are at least three bathrooms in the game and they all are fairly easy to get to.

All in all, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is an excellent taste of what’s to come. Will it tide most players over until September 28? Probably not. However, it definitely has me more hyped for the full retail release than I was before, which I didn’t even think was possible.
On a closing note, I’d like to offer a few hints for those of you who may just be starting Case Zero:
- Check the area around the safe house’s workbench. You’ll find many of your first combo weapons within a few feet.
- Power drill and a bucket. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
- Before turning over too much of your hard scavenged cash on hints from the Pawn Shop owner, take a look to the rooftops. There’s someone there that might give you better info for the low, low price of free.
- Speaking of roofs, don’t underestimate Chuck’s ability to make like Spidey and leap from ledge to ledge. At least two quest items will require this jumping ability.

That’s all for now. Happy Hunting!