Let me begin by saying I love that XBLA is being used like this. Dead Rising Case Zero is a demo and a prologue all at the same time. To my knowledge only one game has used the XBLA like this in the past, that game would be Fable 2 and its pub games XBLA game that you got for free for pre-ordering the game; I hope this trend continues in the future. For me the price at 5 dollars or 400 MS points is perfect, everybody who has even a remote interest in Dead Rising should buy this game.
Dead Rising Case Zero is a prequel to Dead Rising 2 due out September 28th. Case Zero follows Chuck Greene and his daughter as they arrive in the town of Still Creek, which is outside Las Vegas. The game plays out over 12 hours where Chuck has to find a medicine called Zombrex for his daughter as well as find a way out of Still Water before the military arrives. Along the way Chuck can save survivors, collect money to buy from the local pawn shop, create a myriad of weapons from ordinary items, and of course fight off a legion of the undead.
As in the first game the time limit becomes a burden on the player, the in game time of 12 hours plays out in a real time of about a little over 2 hours, and you definitely feel the pressure to complete everything within the limit. Part of the fun of this game is creating deadly implements of destruction through a system of item combination at workbenches, then turning those weapons against the horde of zombies. The time limit kills this fun; if you veer off the path getting lost in the destruction of the undead you will not complete the game, simple as that.
The most fun I had was when I veered off to just create a ton of mayhem. The game does this well. What the game does not do well is create an atmosphere of the “Zombie apocalypse”. This really comes down to sound design. There is no background music to speak of; every once in a while you hear zombie moans, but it just doesn’t get my blood pumping. My level of anticipation for Dead Rising 2 did not increase with this game, I’m still indifferent on whether I should get it or not.
In Case Zero everything you do will carry over into Dead Rising 2 proper. Chuck is capped at a max level of 5, so it will give you a 5 level head start on DR2. So my final determination is that if you are already going to buy Dead Rising 2 this purchase is a no brainer, however, if you’re on the fence don’t expect this to sway you one way or the other. The price is right for a impulse buy and for what you get, you won’t be disappointed.
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