Reviews// Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

Players can wield a vast array of weapons from knives to saw blades, nails to drills, hammers, baseball bats, handguns, shotguns, automatic rifles, swords and even a moose's head that Chuck can wear then use to skewer zombies with its antlers. An interesting addition to Case Zero is the ability to combine weapons to forge new weapons that Chuck can use against the zombie hordes such as a nail bat, a dual-chainsaw paddle, molotov cocktails, a drill bucket, a nail bomb and a boomstick (a combination of a pitchfork and a shotgun). It pangs a little of the A-Team but adds a welcome dimension to the gameplay as players try to forge new weapons they can use to bring misery to the zombie masses.

So far, so rudimentary. As with the original Dead Rising, Chuck can aid civilians he finds who have survived the zombie outbreak by guiding them back to the town's safehouse, as well as provide them with weapons to defend themselves against the zombie threat. Thankfully, in Case Zero the civilians' AI has been vastly improved. They respond to Chuck's calls to keep up and follow him, rather than his shouts falling on deaf ears like they did so regularly in the first game.

Chuck also doesn't need to hold civilians by the hand as he navigates their way to safety, only for them to let go thirty steps later. Thankfully Capcom has taken notice of these irritations from the former game and the improvements are most welcome.

Case Zero looks solid with characters and the town of Little Creek well realised. Although it's not the most graphically detailed game this generation, it can be forgiven due to the sheer number of zombies on screen at any one time. The soundtrack is mostly nu-metal when it pipes up and can be taken or left as it doesn't make such a strong impact. The voice-overs and sound effects are solid, though, with Chuck and NPCs sounding reasonable and the smashes, clashes, gunshots and slices all sounding meaty and weighty.

There are a couple of issues with Case Zero that prevent it from being perfect. Although there are a plethora of items to pick up around Little Creek, Chuck finds it hard to differentiate between these when many are gathered in the same area, leaving the player to grab and drop items until they can obtain the required one. An option to highlight the chosen item may have been useful here.

An autosave feature may have also been nice, as it's no fun to be killed after 30 minutes – an hour of play and having to go back to your last save from way earlier. The boss battle that occurs once you have given Katey her Zombrex injection could have also been signposted better, as there are no hints that this will commence at the point it does, meaning if the player is not well-equipped by happy coincidence this fight will be difficult and perhaps seem unfair to even seasoned players.

Conclusion

Detractions aside Case Zero does a sterling job of introducing new and old players to the world of Dead Rising 2. It acts as a satisfying prequel to the upcoming title and gives players a genuine taste of what they can expect when Dead Rising 2 is released later this month. The low asking price of 400 Microsoft Points definitely provides value, as Case Zero holds high replayability value and will even allow players to take their levels gained here over to the full game. Looks like zombies are back in town once again.

SPOnG Score: 85%