Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Hands-On

Chuck Green is about to have a very zombie-filled day in the upcoming Dead Rising 2, but as the events in the Xbox 360 downloadable title Dead Rising 2: Case Zero show, that won't be his first brush with the living dead. Case Zero is a prequel to Dead Rising 2 and is set two years after the original game and three years before the events in the sequel. We scored some hands-on time with the 360 exclusive at E3 2010 this year and found that Chuck certainly has a soft side to his harder zombie-chopping exterior.

At the beginning of Case Zero, Chuck and his daughter Katie are fleeing a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. Chuck's wife has been killed in the outbreak, and his daughter Katie has been bitten by one of the undead. To keep her from turning into one of them, Chuck must inject the drug Zombrex into Katie every 12 hours, preventing her from being overcome by the virus. But as they stop for gas in the small town of Still Creek, someone steals Chuck's truck, stranding the father and daughter in the zombie-filled community. Worse still is the fact the Chuck's entire supply of Zombrex was in the truck when it was stolen, meaning he now also has to desperately find more of the drug before his own daughter turns.

Chuck and Katie's refuge in Still Creek is the shop attached to the gas station, which will serve as your safe house and save point. Because one of Case Zero's main functions--according to developer Blue Castle--is to familiarize players with the weapon creation mechanic found in Dead Rising 2, you'll quickly find a work bench in the back of the shop, as well as the ingredients for your first combined weapon--a baseball bat with some nails sticking out the top.

Once armed, we made our way outside and found ourselves in the zombie-infested main street of Still Creek. Literally hundreds of zombies were out in force, and we had to fight our way to our first mission destination--an overturned ambulance at the end of a long street. After some minutes of pleasurable zombie bashing with the baseball bat-nails combo, we found the ambulance but had to scramble over an overturned bus to get at it. Forcing open the ambulance's back door, we found some spare Zombrex, which means we were ready for Katie's next dose.

Blue Castle reps say there should be a few hours of play in Case Zero, with the DLC able to transfer all the currency you earn (plus all levels gained up to level five) into the full Dead Rising 2 game. There's no firm release date for Case Zero, but you can expect to see it hit Live four to six weeks before the launch of Dead Rising 2 in August 2010.