Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Review (360, XBLA)

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It feels so long since the first Dead Rising, and for many, the four years have just been too long. The skin of the inventive undead slayers has been getting incredibly dry as of late, waiting for the blood of a freshly deceased population to sober it all up. With constant delays preventing the sequel of 2006’s mall mash-up hit, Capcom have released a miniature prologue to fire up the chainsaws for the next blood coated smash-hit.

Bridging the gap between the plots of Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2, Case Zero concerns a short stay in the small town of Still Creek. Through escaping Las Vegas and moving onto the slightly tackier Fortune City, Chuck Greene and his daughter are forced to stop over in the hamlet. Nowhere’s safe for the few survivors that remain though, as the undead rear their ugly heads and some guy that can only be described as a douche stealing Chuck’s truck, it becomes clear that he must hit the road again…and fast.

The game takes place over 14 in-game hours, and re-instigates the same time focused objectives that the original did. In fact, it’s not the only thing that remains in place from the original. Sometimes things feel so familiar that it’s easy to start thinking you’re playing the first game with a new unlockable skin for Frank. Yet everything that remains is still ridiculously fun to take part in, with added tweaks, gore and sharp pointy items to boot.

The area of Still Creek is very small, with a zombieless walk from one end to the other taking but a few minutes, yet your objectives force you to search every nook and cranny of the area. Well hidden items of valuable importance and the constant stream of hungry husks make short dashes between buildings incredibly hectic.

The hefty amount of blood is more for laughs than for gruesomeness

Though a small humble town, the place is littered with useful killing utensils. Assault rifles are always a nice commodity, no one complains about picking off zombies from range, but the real fun comes from getting up close and personal with a baseball bat/wrench/broom. Simply bashing X with a certain force will determine how badly a skull will crack. This is about as complex as combat gets. You’ll either be flailing limbs into flailing limbs or delivering a sharp blow to the skull. It’s fun, but unless you duct-tape your weapons together, you’ll find yourself as mindless as your lumbering opponents.

Approaching workbenches with certain weapons will allow you to combine them to form some diabolical combos. It won’t take long until you find a reliable fave, and the bashful commodity of a nail-covered baseball-bat and masking a zombie with a bucket before drilling into their membrane presented a deadly enough arsenal for me to be taken seriously enough by the zombies, yet with undeniable glee from player and spectator alike.

It’s a shame that Chuck leaves his daughter Katey behind in the safehouse, seeing as swift decapitations cause zombies to swiftly become child friendly jam fountains. Though greatly gory, the hefty amount of blood is more for laughs than for gruesomeness. Everything looks brilliantly crisp, with lighting effects as the day passes taking pride of place in graphical prowess.

The improvements from the original are prominently clear, yet these aren’t enough to gloss over the issues that still remain. Public restrooms are a lot more prominent, so players can save more often and won’t take to forums declaring this a deal breaker on an otherwise brilliant title. The main issues come with controlling Chuck himself. Though he’s on a race against time made exceptionally clear by the military creeping into the town and his own daughter slowly becoming a zombie, Chuck still feels a strange need to hobble around the town like he’s fighting some sort of stroke. Loading times between key locations you’ll frequently visit also provide issues in the ways of speed, taking an age to finally reveal your next location.

The minor issues that remain may dampen the spirits of those eagerly awaiting the long awaited sequel, yet everything positive on offer in this three hour demo extravaganza should please anyone wishing to purchase the full game. Though you have to pay almost £5 for this bitesize teaser, it provides enough to facilitate what’s to come for those who wait, and has just the right amount of content with multiple endings encouraging multiple playthroughs to make Dead Rising 2:Case Zero a brilliantly valued time killer. It’s just a shame those wishing to buy Dead Rising 2 on the PS3 will be left somewhat hungrier for plot.