Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
by SynRaptor on Sep.07, 2010, under Xbox Live Arcade
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is the prequel to the up and coming retail version which was recently released on Xbox Live Arcade. The game centres around new protagonist Chuck Greene as he battles the zombie hordes with his daughter Katey in order to obtain “zombrex”; a zombification suppressing drug. The game is set three years after the Willamette incident which is where the first Dead Rising game was based.
The game starts in typical retarded zombie survivor style of Chuck leaving the keys in his ignition and wandering off to find some scroat has stolen his car. His daughter requiring the drug to keep her from zombifying is left alone in the petrol station while braves the infested town to find more Zombrex.
The controls of the game are identical to Dead Rising and the ability to pick up everything up and use it as a weapon returns too. This was always the aspect that intrigued me the most as anyone who has seen 28 Days Later will have a decent bash at being creative with the zombie killing. They have also introduced a new system where you can combine items to make better weapons like in Alone In The Dark. The survivors return and you get bonus points for saving them. One utter and complete fail is the first survivor you come across is a the pawn shop owner. Saving him unlocks the pawn shop to which as a show of gratitude, continues to charge you through the teeth for items and zombrex. Firstly this is fucking stupid unless he actually works for Microsoft and what pray tell is he going to do with the money? We’re in a human apocalypse!! Secondly seeing that Chuck is a badass and when I was controlling him I was holding a gun, I would happily gun him down to save my daughter. Go figure.
Unfortunately, the other aspects from Dead Rising have returned in DR2:CZ. Time based objectives which leave you running totally against the clock to get anything done like you’re working on a manufacturing line. And secondly they’ve brought back more QTEs if you find yourself acosted by zombies and you will end up breaking the left analog stick just to try and overpower some zombied up old woman when she manages to sneak up on your like some olympic triple jumper. Two things which really pissed me off with the first game because while the game is marketed as a sandbox title, you can’t fuck about and do your own thing because the time ebbs away faster than an icecube in a volcano and you’ll be left staring at a game over screen with utter contempt. My sentiments are echoed throughout the gaming community as I have read on several posts on forums about how everyone hated the time (or lack of time) element in the game so it’s nice to see the developers from Capcom COMPLETELY IGNORE THE FANS again and do their own thing.
All in all DR2:CZ was a competent game and has enough lastability for what is essentially an interactive game trailer for Dead Rising 2 later this month. If this is indeed a precedent for the new game, then I’ll happily wait for it to come down in price because I’m not paying £40 to spend the whole game swearing at it because it contains three hates in games: QTEs, escort missions and time based objectives. Thank you Capcom for convincing me to wait until the game is much more reduced. Borderlands anyone?
September 7th, 2010 on 3:48 pm
Yay for Borderlands!
… on a more related point, I couldn’t stand the original Dead Rising for a number of reasons. Mostly because of the aforementioned “escort missions”. When the person you have to rescue has an IQ below 10, I don’t think it’s really in the interest of the gene pool that you help him/her survive. I can’t stand running down a hallway to make your escape only to look back to see that the person you’re helping escape decided it was a good idea to wander into a shop inhabited by 9999 zombies instead of into the zombie-free lift where survival awaits.
These are controller throwing moments!
The other thing that also annoyed me was the weapons, as you said it’s great to be able to pick up anything and use it, but when you pick up a golf club or hockey stick only to find that you can’t decapitate zombies with it, you can merely put a golf ball/hockey puck on the floor and hit the projectile at them. That wouldn’t be my first method of utilising a golf club if I was in that situation!
So after that review it looks like I’ll be skipping the rest of the series, arcade or retail!