Developer Blue Castle Games
Publisher Capcom
Platform Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Release date 31 August 2010
Price: 400msp
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is the prologue to the full game, Dead Rising 2 and is out now on Xbox Live Arcade for the small price of 400 Microsoft points. Case Zero takes place after a massive zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, three years before the events of Dead Rising 2. You play as Chuck Greene, an ex motocross pro, who finds himself stuck in the small town or Still Creek, with his infected daughter Katey.To prevent Katey from becoming a zombie, Chuck must find the drug that can temporarily cure her, Zombrex. The game opens with Chucks truck being stolen, and Chuck having to figure a way out of Still Creek. He leaves Katey in a abandoned garage, promising her that all will be ok, and heads off to find transport out of town.
You have one game-day to locate all five pieces of equipment to fix a motorbike before the army comes to neutralize the area, and before Katey turns; this should take you about three hours to complete on the first play-through. To acquire the necessary tools needed you will need to explore the town, make friends with other survivors and help them get out of a spot of bother. This can be aggravating, as some survivors will not defend themselves unless you have a weapon to lend them, and others can only be found at certain times of day. You must also never forget to save your game, in a toilet, as if you die you will be forced to start all over again.
Besides sticking to the objectives, or cases, you can spend your time levelling up (max lvl 5) through killing zombies and creating weapons. This is wear Case Zero shines, the weapons you can build are great fun. For example, Chuck can tape a garden rake and a battery together to build an electric rake! Another good one is the "boomstick" a combination of a pitchfork and a shotgun! Sadly there are only a few weapon combos available, as it offers a small selection of what shall be in the final game. Saying this there is still more than enough weaponry and toys to get excited about.
One of the best things about Case Zero, is the re playability. Even if you'll drop it once the final game hits the shelves, there's still quite a bit to sink your teeth into. The weapon creation obviously being one, along with the xp ranking which carries over to DR2, and multiple endings. It's also just great fun slaying zombies, whether it be with a chainsaw or a football, you'll find yourself just aimlessly killing them purely for the thrill of it and the satisfying noise of a zombie being decapitated!
As far as the game is presented, it looks good, not great, but for a 900MB download, the graphics are hardly bad. In cut scenes flaws are easily spotted, and there is a little rendering here and there, but nothing to cry about when you've only spent 4 pounds. Hopefully the graphics will be slightly enhanced in the full game. Blood looks fantastic, and the zombies look frightful, if a little comical at times.
Simply put, Case Zero is a bargain. Whether you plan on buying dead rising 2 or not, you should really give this arcade game a go. Its prepares you for the full game, filling you in on the back story and teaching you the basics. There's plenty of reason to play through it more than once, whether it be the multiple endings, achievements, or levelling up. Case Zero is great fun, at 400 Microsoft points, you need to try it!
Carlos writes "Today adds more value to the Xbox Backward Compatible scheme, with four new arrivals making their way to Xbox One. But whilst we’ve seen our fair share of titles arriving on the program, not all have been the triple-A blockbusters that fans have craved the return of. So, with that in mind, here’s our thoughts on the latest backwards compatibility titles and if they are worth the return."
Full appreciate the frequency of new BC titles, but surely I'm not the only one who doesn't ever use them? I've got tons of native XO games to play rather than going back over the old stuff.
Yes correct, you're probably not the only one. I also have a ton of Xbox One games. But I also had a decent collection of games that I bought digital for Xbox 360. Thanks to BC more than a handful have arrived and hopefully more. I need Marvel vs Capcom 2 but who knows if they're ever gonna release that one.
Do you really find yourself going back through the 360 ones though? I loved my time with that console, but can't bring myself to go back.
But then, perhaps it's me. Very rarely do I complete a game, or watch a film, more than once.
I'm playing GTA 4 at mo BC.
Amazing game, been almost 9 years since I played it on release.
Liberty City is still probably the best city created for any game ever IMO.
Before that I re-played Bioshock and RDR, both excellent games.
Pre-ordered GR Wildlands on the XB1 and I'm tempted to get Horizon ZD when a copy appears in my local CEX.
When Crackdown goes BC I shall be playing the shit out of that too.
Can't deny it, great games. But some great stuff on the XO indie scene too. Not enough time to play everything!
Carlos Writes "With Dead Rising 4 now out the door, and our playthrough finalised, we decided to take a look to see how it stacks up with the rest of the series entries. So here we are...ranking the full Dead Rising series from god damn worst, right up to the best zombie bashing offering that we've ever seen."
I played the first, and I bought #4. Other than that, strangely haven't played any of the others. I'll get round to it one day though I guess.
Hardcore Gamer: In game development terms, a “vertical slice,” is a gameplay segment of finished or near-finished quality that showcases all the planned features of a game to potential investors. At the start of a project, these are a massive sink for time and effort, since they essentially involve doing all the hard parts of finishing a game to complete one 10-minute section. Generally, they’re seen as a bad practice. However, toward the end of development, it’s a lot easier to pull assets together for a vertical slice. Of course, if you’re shopping your game around to publishers at that stage, you’re probably in a lot of trouble, but a standalone “vertical slice” can also serve as a strong alternative to a traditional demo.
Totally agree. It's so nice being able to try out a game without spoiling any of it. Bravely Default was genius in doing this and sold me on the game.
Doing a vertical slice as a VC/Publisher demo is an extremely risky move but it really is the best way to show off the talent of your studio and show a strong proof of concept. I believe SOF is doing this with H-Hour...
A vertical slice as a consumer demo really is a great way to show off a game and drive sales. Too many publishers would rather the advertising do the work and show only enough to lure people in. They seem to have it in their heads that demos will hurt their sales. (which it does... if you make a bad game/demo)
Publishers are so pathetic and risk adverse these days... how are consumers supposed to be confident in your games if you aren't confident enough to truly show them off in there purest form?
