Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
For: Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace
From: Blue Castle Games/CapcomPrice: $US5
Capcom has positioned Dead Rising 2: Case Zero as a piece of purchasable marketing that doubles as a prequel to the upcoming Dead Rising 2.
But for those who got excited about the original Dead Rising but hated how Capcom laid it out back in 2006, Zero might accidentally serve as a cheap reminder not to make the same mistake twice.
Like Rising, Zero is a third-person zombie-slaying simulator, and while the scope here isn't as large as it was then or will be in DR2 proper, the game still lets players massacre schools of zombies with just about any object not bolted to the ground in a pretty spacious open world.
Zero uses assets from the upcoming game, and in addition to introducing players to main character Chuck in a short storyline set three years prior, it also introduces players to Chuck's ability to combine two weapons into a third, thoroughly ridiculous weapon.
But Zero also reintroduces players to Rising's unique structure, which places hard time limits on every objective in the game and stacks them in a way that forces players to forgo certain missions in order to complete others (and essentially replay the game, with all accumulated experience points carrying over, numerous times to complete every objective).
The system was as polarising as it was original, and while those who loved it will adore Capcom's sticking to its guns four years later, it's might make DR2 a non-starter for those who didn't.
