If You Had Any Reservations About The First Dead Rising, This 5 Dollar Zombie Killing Romp Is For You.
User Rating: 8 | Dead Rising 2: Case Zero X360
I was disappointed with the the first Dead Rising with its problematic A.I., and poor camera and gun controls, but I though at least I will try Dead Rising 2: Case Zero to see what this series has done to improve itself. Is this better than Dead Rising? Yes. Case Zero is the prequel to Dead Rising 2 and its developers Blue Castle has done much to improve it and making me think about pre ordering its big brother. Case Zero takes place in a small town called Stillwater between Las Vegas and Fortune City. Your mission as motocross star Chuck is to assemble a dirt bike from parts scattered around the town and find your daughter the drug Zombrex since she was infected. You can't help but actually care about finding the bike parts and drug as the game does a great job making you sympathize with Chuck. Being a 5 dollar prequel to the Dead Rising 2, you get a good taste at what to expect later in the game. Long gone is the clunky camera feature from Dead Rising, instead you craft weapons by combing objects like a pitchfork and shotgun, kayak paddle and chainsaws, or even a construction helmet and beer bottle for a party hat. Using custom built weapons gives you prestige points which helps you level up faster and is a wonderful improvement from taking pictures in the original game. You can guess what combos you can make, but you also collect combo cards which grant you the ability to use an alternative attack for more points with these weapons. Another improvement is the gun controls, L trigger is for aiming, R trigger is for shooting. A much needed improvement over the original. The game itself is pretty short and only 12 in game hours long which means you will beat it in no more than 5 hours. The town can be crossed in a couple of minutes, which includes a couple of stores, a pawn shop where you can buy weapons, and a small casino where you can play the slots or just outright smash them. There are also opportunities to rescue survivors and this time around, the AI is much improved with a whole lot less bumbling around which makes escorting feel less like babysitting hellish imps. Psychopaths also make a return and the one in Case Zero is just as messed up as the ones from its predecessor. Overall, Case Zero is a fun game that even those who hated the first Dead Rising will like and those who have their pre-orders for the sequel should get as you can level up to level 5 in Case Zero and your levels, PP, money, and combo cards will carry over when you pop Dead Rising 2 in later this month. My only complaints are the shortness of it, the horrible controls with the dirt bike, and I also encountered glitches where I couldn't get any sound during some cutscenes.
