Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

When this game was released on Xbox Live most people thought it was just a cheap gimmick that would get people to PAY FOR A DEMO. With this being spread around the community some people did not buy the game thinking it would be just a waste of money and there would be no point buying it. THAT IS A COMPLETE LIE – the game is a prequel to Dead Rising 2, it has it’s own story. I want to make this perfectly clear to people that this game is NOT A DEMO it is a very fun and addictive game and this should not be mistaken as such.

The story takes place at Still Creek where Chuck Greene and his daughter Katey stop to get some gas. They just barely escaped the Las Vegas outbreak where Katey was bitten by a zombie and now lives off a drug called Zombrex which keeps her from becoming one of the walking dead. If you think things couldn’t get worse for Chuck his car is soon stolen which had all of his posessions, including his only way out of Still Creek AND not to mention Still Creek is crawling with zombies from a Military checkpoint that was overrun.

Your goal is to not only fight your way through an endless wave of zombies but to get Katey more Zombrex before she turns, save a bunch of survivors and find a way out of Still Creek before time runs out. The main reason why there is a time limit in Case Zero is because the Military is coming to cleanse the area and you have to escape before they arrive.

The game plays pretty much the same as Dead Rising, however they have now added combo weapons to the game. You can combine tools and items together to create weapons of mass destruction and annihilate the Zombies, not to mention I got a few good laughs out of some of the combos. The game has a level up system just like the last game but you can only get up to level 5. The reason they have done this is because if you could level up any higher you would be too powerful to get any sort of challenge out of the game, plus your level, skills and costumes can all be transferred over to Dead Rising 2. If you were to be say level 20 in Case Zero and then transferred that to Dead Rising 2 that would give you no challenge and therefore not have as much fun as lower level gamer would.

The graphics look much better than they did in Dead Rising, the zombies look more scary and intimidating, the buildings and weapons also don’t look half bad. They are definitely not the best in gaming though, I have seen better. This is forgivable though because there is always SOOOOO much stuff on-screen at one time, its just crazy. There is at least over 1000 Zombies outside waiting to munch on your face. All-in-all though it looks decent and no one should complain about the way it looks.

The sounds were pretty cool, I could clearly hear the zombies screams and groans as I traveled across Still Creek. The weapons have cleverly used sounds that make it seem really gory – I remember squinting at some points when it sounded really painful. I was startled to discover how catchy the music was, so catchy I ended up downloading the music on my phone. It pop’s up at all the right times, when you’re in a boss fight or in the big moments of the game. Most of the time though all you hear is the zombies but this is good, it gives you that feeling of emptiness, that this place is practically a ghost town. The best music I have to say though is in the credits (figures…).

Unfortunately there is no multiplayer in Case Zero but there will be in Dead Rising 2.

They do have leader-boards for the game though, if that catches your interest. The achievements for this game are easy to accomplish but at the same time challenging. I can recall myself searching every nook and cranny in the game to complete it 100% (I did). I did not find it repetitive at all in fact I found it fun to bash my way through zombies for some sort of goal which made it all the more fun for me.

This game is a MUST BUY! It has an engaging story that really kept me going and even got me to play through the game multiple times. This game is also extremely cheap its only 400 MICROSOFT POINTS! that is a great offer for what you are getting. This is a perfect addition to someones collection especially if you are a zombie fan such as I am and that is why this is truly the best XBLA game offer i have seen period.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero