
	Platform Xbox 360 Genre Action Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom Vancouver (previously Blue Castle Games) ESRB M (Mature) Released August 31, 2010

- Far more than just a demo of what Dead Rising 2 will have on tap - Three save slots! - Weapon combinations are over-the-top

- If you didn't like the way Dead Rising was played (i.e. restarting and replaying large chunks of the game) you might be aggravated

Review: Dead Rising (360) Review: Resident Evil 5 (360) Review: Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)
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Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

Score: 8.5 /10

If Dead Rising 2: Case Zero does only thing it will be that it gets other game publishers on the band wagon when it comes to the way downloadable content is developed because there's more "game" here than a simple demo, even though the function is much the same.

Setup as a prologue to Dead Rising 2, Case 0 does what every demo should do: showcase what makes the game special or worth playing. Calling Case 0 a simple

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"demo" sells it short. It's a stand-alone title with a story, a variety of optional goals, tons and tons of zombie-killing, and offers a sandbox to play in. This isn't a simple self-contained chunk of the full game; Case 0 is its own thing and for $5 there's quite a bit of game to wade through.

Chuck Greene and his infected (but not yet zombified) daughter are stranded in Still Creek, a

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place just inside the quarantine zone surrounding Las Vegas. That means one thing: zombies, and lots of them. After his truck is stolen, Chuck's only chance of escape is to assemble a motorcycle and leave town before the military arrives. That's the main goal, but Case 0 presents has many completely optional objectives to undertake and many of them can be screwed up royally. Escorting a group of Survivors to the safe room? If they die, that's okay. You just won't get the "Prestige Points" associated with successfully getting them there. Forget to inject your daughter with the anti-zombie drug Zombrex? No worries, except for the fact she's a zombie now and you'll leave town with an emotionally-wrecked Chuck. The upshot is that there's more to do than just kill zombies.

But you'll still kill a lot of zombies. Besides the standard returning weapons from the original game, like park benches, trash cans, and sledgehammers, Chuck has access to upgrade benches that can turn an ordinary bucket and drill into a "drill bucket" which Chuck can drop onto a zombie head and essentially liquefy. You have to earn or find the combo cards that grant access to these combinations. It's an artificial restriction to be sure but the results are worth it.

Like the original game, Case 0 has a hard time limit. Chuck has 12 hours of in-game time to get out of town, which is about 90 minutes of actual time (by my figuring). Because the game has different objectives available, you can take Chuck back into the fray repeatedly, carrying over the PP he's earned and any new moves he has learned, and there's always the chance you'll find something new. (It was only on my third play through that I came across some Survivors in the bowling alley.) Even if you enjoy the sandbox thing more, there's still a lot of fun to be had, especially if you nab the broadsword by the gunshop.

$5 is dirt cheap for what Capcom is offering here. It's a no brainer purchase!

How appropriate.

- Aaron Simmer

(September 16, 2010)