Ripten Review: Dead Rising 2: Case Zero (Xbox 360)

It’s not very often in today’s tight market that companies release sizable portions of their AAA titles as bite sized Arcade titles. Well Capcom has done that for their upcoming Zombie horde slash fest: Dead Rising 2, with a cheap and effective Xbox LIVE Arcade title caled “Dead Rising 2: Case Zero”. Case Zero tells the story of Chuck Greene and his daughter three years before the setting of the second game in the Dead Rising series.

The zombie parasite that originally started off in Santa Cabeza thus causing the Willamette outbreak, has now spread all of the United States and Chuck Greene’s daughter is infected. The gameplay within Case Zero is fairly shallow, as you only have very little tasks to complete. The main task is keeping Chuck’s daughter Katey medicated with Zombrex, a drug that stops her zombie infection spreading. Katey was infected during an attack that saw her mother killed, and now requires twice a day shots of Zombrex to make sure she stays normal and doesn’t end up with a baseball bat in her head.

The town itself is fairly small, although it is absolutely packed full of zombies just waiting to be killed with a variety of weapons. On show during the game is the new and improved weapon creation system that allows players to make new weapons on the go out of everyday objects. For example, by taking a bucket and a power drill, you can make a device that is placed on the heads of zombies, promptly turning their brains and face into a red mist. Combine nails with a baseball bat and make possibly the most effective weapon in the game. By killing more and more zombies with these weapons you get more PP (No, not peepee. Tehehhe). PP is judged by a meter at the top of the screen, which when completely full allows Chuck to level up, accessing new abilities and new combo cards (kind of like recipes for killing). It’s only possible to reach Level 5 in Case Zero, however your character progress carries over to the full game at the end of September.

Along with levelling up from killing zombies, Case Zero also allows you to save a number of other stranded survivors and sample a bunch of different weapons. My favorite would have to be the Broadsword as it allows you to hold X and literally cut the walking dead in half right down the middle. Think of a loaf of bread, but in zombie form! When it comes down to it, even though the game is quite small, for only 400MSP it is a real steal. The best part is that you can play through it time and time again, allowing you to kill more zombies and unlock more achievements. On the topic of killing zombies, sometimes it doesn’t feel that great. Some weapons feel too weak, whilst others feel too strong. For example, the electric rake will send zombies flying 20 feet back, but a hit from a baseball bat embedded with nails will only knock them to the ground, and then they will get up again!

Although the playing environment is quite tiny you still have access to a fair bit of gameplay. I’ve clocked up about 4 hours of gameplay in the 400MSP title, and I still haven’t finished and I’m still enjoying it. Although graphically it doesn’t look impressive (something I hope doesn’t carry across to the full release), Case Zero is a brilliant little title and for only 400MSP I couldn’t think of anything better to spend it on. As well as giving players access to an increased level upon full retail launch, Case Zero also lets fans old and new alike see how good the next title is going to be.

The Rundown:

+ Brilliant gameplay value
+ Cheapest and BEST Arcade title out
- Graphics seem a bit lackluster
- Zombie health and damage tolerance seems a bit fluctuant