REVIEW: Dead Rising 2 Case Zero
It’s the eve of a new adventure in zombie gaming. Tomorrow Dead Rising 2 will be unleashed on Fortune City and living rooms across the US. If you are unfamiliar with the series thus far, Dead Rising is the story of an outbreak, international terrorism, and a badass reporter that covered war named Frank West. The sequel, however, follows the story line of Chuck Greene in Fortune City; a small town 40 miles outside of Las Vegas. Good ol’ Chuck was doing as anyone would do in a post apocalyptic: running shit over in his racing truck and escaping the zombie hoard with his daughter.
Dead Rising: Case Zero is mean to fill the gap as to what happened to good ol’ Frank and act as an “origin†story for Chuck Greene. You learn that Chuck is trying to escape a government blockade with his daughter; his infected daughter. With breakthroughs in science, Zombrex is available and inoculates zombification in the infected for 12 hours. Chuck has his supply and is determined not to lose his little girl. At a routine stop to pick up supplies from a gas station, someone steals his truck with all of the Zombrex. Here is where your adventure starts.
Gameplay
DR2:CZ can be seen more as an extend demo as opposed to a full-on arcade game. The gameplay you see is a splitting image of the original Dead Rising, with some enhancements. If you are unfamiliar with the Dead Rising series, there are three things will become very important to you: PP points, a wrist watch, and weapons. The enhancements, at the moment feel sparse, but then again, what you see in the game should only be a fraction as to what is available in the full game.
PP points are the experience points of the games. When you begin the game, Chuck isn’t necessarily weak, but dying is very easy to do. As you go through the game, you gain PP points by killing zombies. As you level up, more abilities begin to unlock, you health bar grows, and your inventory gains extra slots. Because this is a limited demo, Chuck can only power up to level 5, but the good thing is all the PP points you accumulate in DR2:CZ transfers over to the full game. PP points don’t only transfer, but they are more of a legacy system of sorts. Just like in the first DR, whatever PP you gain, you keep. If you decide to start a new game after getting mauled to bits and pieces to try a different strategy for the activities, you can start at whatever level you were at. This little bit actually adds a lot to the replay of the title.
The second point: a wrist watch. DR and DR2:CZ are what I would describe as sandbox-lite game. It is a free roaming world, but the driving force of the game is the goals, or “events†of the game are all running on the same clock. When it was introduced in DR, it was received with mixed feelings. The mechanic certainly succeeds in instilling urgency as there are different timings and consequences for all of the events. Not completing all of the events will also change how much of the story you are revealed. Half of the events will be survivor rescue missions because Chuck is just that nice of a guy. It may all seem like a ploy to make you play the game more than once, which in that sense it does succeed. But when you’re under the gun, you have to make decisions. It’s good stress. I’m not going to lie, if there wasn’t a time limit on the game, I would never play the story. I would kill zombies the same way you could play GTA for hours without making any progress.
The third point, which is the most fun, is the weapons. Just like DR, Chuck is a beast like Frank West. If you’re picking up and throwing benches at people like it’s a football, yeah. Beast. The weapon variety of DR2:CZ in the demo already rivals the first game. Your choices range from the effective, to the ridiculous, to the hilarious. Scissors, shampoo bottles, bags of trash, traffic cones, Viking swords, purses, the list goes on and on. Seeing how some of these weapons perform are half the fun of the game. Some weapons will even have a secondary attack; usually one that is an auto-kill on a zombie. Pick up the butcher knife and you’ll go Norman Bates on a zombie, while a chainsaw will spin you in a circle cutting everything around you. There are guns in the game…but why use a gun when you can throw circular saw blades like shurikens. Secondary attacks do give your more PP points than regular attacks, but for the most part leave you only attacking one enemy. Stocking up weapons is your best bet for survival. Bring some whiskey and a baseball bat. Just be careful, not every weapon can be crammed into Chuck’s magical inventory.
The new bits in the gameplay really revolve around the new combo system for weapons. Got some wiskey? Finished with the newspaper? Bring it to a utility bench. With some rockin’ guitar riffs and duct tape, you’ll have yourself a molitov cocktail. Kayak oar and a chainsaw? Chainsaw oars! The combo items will give you more PP for every attack and generally kill faster. Except the bullhorn. That thing sucks.
Another new addition is the pawn shop. Some of the items you are too lazy to find or are a necessity can be purchased at the pawn shop. Luckily, being in a gambling state, there are slot machines a plenty to play…or break for some extra scratch. At this stage of the game, it’s kind of “meh†but who knows, maybe the full release will have some really fun goodies for a price. RE4, anyone?
Graphics
Capcom is definitely not a crapware factory, so it’s no surprise that the presentation of DR2:CZ is gorgeous. The environment definitely has the small-town outbreak feel with boarded up windows, department stores with hideous clothing, zombies wearing muumuus. Part of what makes the environment rich with zombies so great in DR2:CZ is the fact that the zombies are part of the environment. Walk into a casino, and they’re still playing the slot machines. Go into the bowling alley, they’re still bowling. It’s the small touches like that which make the atmosphere for a zombie apocalypse humorous and enjoyable to be in.
The zombies themselves are well detailed. In general, there are only a few different types roaming the streets, but the fact there are a ton of them roaming the streets makes that fact acceptable. From time to time you will get model clipping, but it’s more weird looking than anything else. One of the best parts about the zombies is the fact they can get destroyed. Shotgun to the face or legs yields explosions a la Resident Evil. Effective, sure, but again, the fun is in the weapons. Grab the Viking sword and swing away, leaving split carcasses in every which fashion; even straight down the middle.
Controls
As far as controls go, it is very basic and intuitive. If you have played any 3rd person game, you will feel right at home. The only complaint I could have is MY GOD CHUCK IS A SLOW BASTARD. You’ll wish he had a sprint move of sorts, but again, because he has an upper limit on his leveling, his will be slow until he gets to higher levels.
Replayability
I know, it’s a demo, but even at this point, you’ll want to play it more than once. There is a decent amount of material to explore and play with. If you do pick up DR2:CZ, I’d suggest playing the game more than once. Check out the sights, kill some zombies, and always pick up the sniper rifle and Viking swords. If anything it’ll tide you over til the release.
Conclusion
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was an effective way to wet your appetite to some massive zombie destruction. In the short time you play, it’s definitely a fun ride. For many of you, this review may just confirm what you already knew: it’s fun to kill zombies with a 2 x 4. And for many of you, picking up the full game will be a no-brainer. But for those of you who haven’t been exposed to the world of Dead Rising and aren’t sure if you want to drop the $60 to figure out if you’d like Capcom’s vision of a playable zombie movie…sequal, drop the $5 and pick up case zero. It’s a full-featured demo that gives an accurate depiction of what the full game will be.
Like killing zombies with a wire rake?: buy it.
Already getting it tomorrow and haven’t bought it: buy it. (You know you want the achievements)
Always wanted to try Dead Rising, but don’t feel like finding the last Blockbuster in existence? Buy it.
I’d buy it again….oh wait….that’s just buying the full release tomorrow.
