I think Case Zero is great. This new idea of playing a prequel to a new release sounds fishy on paper, but I can't complain with a $5.00 price tag. Case Zero, from what I've played so far feels like a streamlined Dead Rising game.
 
Although I will have to wait until I see the full length to label this game as "awesome".

 I'm really enjoying it and I agree at the price you really can't be tooooo cynical about it. I think maybe the style of the game helps a lot though, having a big sandbox full of zombies and ways to kill zombies is just flat-out appealing, but if it were more like a vertical slice of a more linear game I think I'd be less happy paying $5 for it, maybe.    

I was loving it but then I died and had to start way back to 4pm [game time] because I thought the game was autosaving... apparently not, made me remember how crap the save system was in the first Dead Rising, but oh well, I'll just have to save very often.
 
Survivors are very much improved, had absolutely no trouble escorting them from one place to the next.
Town is a little bit smaller than I had hoped but it's still nice to kind of play DR2 before it actually comes out, I wish they weren't so time limit orientated this time around though, I don't like time limits in games, it's not a game breaker for me with this but I still wish it wasn't there, I just want roam around at my own will with no time constraints.

If someone could find out all the combination items, that would be great. So far, I have only been using the nail-bat weapon.

I've got to case0-4 and now rescuing survivors. Got the two in the bar. Anyone know how many there are all together? Reminds me how much fun i had with Dead Rising. Love the sniper rifle on the rooftoop. That thing is fucking powerful.

It reviewed well over at Joystiq and I thought, hey for $5 why not?  But then I started thinking, is it really just a demo or....? Anyone care to share their thoughts?  Funnily enough, I haven't even considered buying the retail game.

how long is case zero? im definitely going to get it. i loved dead rising even though i never finished it. i got to where the swat guys come which is basically the end. but i really want dead rising 2 and from what ive heard you can take your guy from case zero into dead rising 2?

It's classic Dead Rising design, and that's why I love it!

The quicklook has me pretty convinced.
 
I was never a huge fan of the original, mainly because my gaming time is too limited to waste on not making it to a save point. The Case Zero quicklook has tempted me to give Dead Rising yet another shot (this will be attempt 4 or 5?).
 
I want to like it so bad.

The thing that will always keep me from enjoying Dead Rising is that you can't go around killing zombies forever. Time-limits always ruin games for me, and I'll never play a game where they are a constant thing.

So far I was liking it but the time seems to be going by awfully fast in the game. Shortly after finding the bike parts & opening the pawn shop it seemed that the time just flew by in the game (but not while playing it). Still clueless on finding any of the bike parts or some of the side quests (treasure in the alley & finding the key to the shed). Guess I'll have to restart it & maybe hit level2 as there's a bit of a mess after you give your daughter the zombrex & I had no weapons on me which made it all a little awkward.

I was the first person to rate the game. Seriously. The game wasn't there, then 5 seconds later, scrolling through the game library, I see it.

The misconception that it was a demo is what I think created the outrage. It definitely isn't a demo. To call it "pre-LC" is more apt. I don't know if the gaming press was fed the word "demo" or not, but using that term for it seems like a big mistake. 
 
To put it in perspective,  you'd pay $7-$10 for some Dragon Age DLC and get about an hour or two of gameplay out of it. If the concept Dead Rising appeals to you at all, you could get a lot more than 2 hours of fun out of this for $5.

" The misconception that it was a demo is what I think created the outrage. It definitely isn't a demo.

Somebody will probably ask this at some point so: The boss song is Celldweller - The Best It's Gonna Get

I think it's an unnecessary product. 
Dead Rising 2 by itself would have been sufficient.

It's awesome.

Is no one else having this disconnect glitch? When I hit zombies with certain weapons or get grabbed, my controller disconnects. 
It keeps happening and no one else seems to be getting it! Does i only affect the trial? I might not get this if it happens in the full game!

I think it's a pretty good, holding me off while I wait for DR2.
 
400 MS points is a steal when it lasts longer than games like Limbo.

Downloading Trial, even though I will probably buy it right after. 
I love this game. The worst thing was getting stuck on a loading screen and having to restart from my save, but thats ok.

For $5, this is a pretty cool little game with a substantial amount of content in it. However, not being a fan of DR1 due to the constant time constraints, the time in here as well is the only thing keeping me from really enjoying it. There seems to be a lot of shit to do, and just like the original, no time to do any of it in, which I cannot stand. I don't really understand why the passing of time in the game's clock cannot be slower. It would make the experience way more fun and flexible.
 
Other than that, the game is fine. Not much has changed from the original. The individual game mechanics are serviceable enough, but everything comes together nicely.

I feel like I'm moving slower than I did in Dead Rising. On the plus side, Survivors are no longer idiots that walk into zombies! Very pleased.

Really enjoying it so far, for 400 points you can't go wrong! 

" For $5, this is a pretty cool little game with a substantial amount of content in it. However, not being a fan of DR1 due to the constant time constraints, the time in here as well is the only thing keeping me from really enjoying it. There seems to be a lot of shit to do, and just like the original, no time to do any of it in, which I cannot stand. I don't really understand why the passing of time in the game's clock cannot be slower. It would make the experience way more fun and flexible.  Other than that, the game is fine. Not much has changed from the original. The individual game mechanics are serviceable enough, but everything comes together nicely. "

I'd like to know when Capcom is going to stop making videogames with zombies in them that feature an onslaught of outdated controls and mechanics?
 
It sounds harsh, but it's frustrating. I don't buy the fact that the save system is still the same. The controls are a mess and don't make a lot of sense. Why doesn't Chuck Greene have a sprint button now? It seems to make sense when you're surrounded by zombies to maybe, uh, I don't know, haul ass? Also, the placement of the car parts doesn't make any sense. If I'm looking for a tire, it makes the most sense to, gee, I don't know, put the location of it in one of the fucking garages? Put some sort of blockade in front of the location so I have to figure out how to get to it if they think it will be too easy to figure out. If they are going to be in random places, there should at least be a hint or two available to give you SOME sort of direction for you to look. Also, why can't I place a waypoint on my map and just GO to it? Why do I have to flick back to the map every 15 seconds to make sure I'm going the right way?
 
It sounds harsh, but bad game design is bad game design. I could forgive Resident Evil 5 because they at least made some decent changes. This is pretty inexcusable. Unless I am severely misinformed, Dead Rising 2 is basically going to control the exact same way. C'mon Capcom, step your game up. :/
 
EDIT: I just took a look at the guide that showed the locations of the bike parts. It's not as bad as I thought, but most of that stuff is still pretty inexcusable.

I hated the whole thing of keeping track of time from the first game and now this one puts even more of an emphasis on it. When I'm mowing down zombies the last thing I want to do is check my friggen watch ><

" @AndrewB:  I hate the  time restrictions as well, but it's obviously so you don't spend hours and hours playing Case Zero instead of actually buying DR2 and playing the full game.   I'm having real trouble with the boss fight, any tips? Is there some sort of a sidestep mechanic? "

i forgot to save at the very end...and it took me way back to the beginning....so i quit

Just completed it and thought it was great. Chuck doesn't feel nearly as oafy and cumbersome as Frank West did. Unlike some of the people here I thought the controls were fine, and a definite improvement over the first game. It just feels less.. clunky. The inventory and save systems are still the same, time management is important, you can rescue survivors, OJ still refills all health, PP.. basically this is the sequel to Dead Rising for better or worse. Some of the things people bitched about with the first aren't fixed (at least in Case Zero) but I didn't find much fault with the first game to begin with. Companion AI from what I experienced seems better than the first, but I only escorted 5/12 in my first playthrough so I'll have to play around with it a bit more.
 
Don't really feel like writing too much more about this but I found it to be enjoyable and totally worth the $5. Can't wait for late September for this to drop. In the meantime I'll replay Case Zero a few times.
 
Fake edit: Definitely getting this for the PC. After not using my 360 for a while I forgot how ass it looks in comparison. Thank God for a PC release. Any idea if 360 progress will be transferable to a PC copy? I'm assuming so due to the game using GFWL.

I had fun with it and the price was very reasonable but over all it convinced me not to buy the game. I saw what I needed to see with it, and I don't want to deal with lameass time limits anymore the entire game. So over all, I'm happy with the purchase, but I don't know if the developers should be, given that they traded 45$ for 5$.

original content that looks like > 2hrs of game time at $5, AND it looks like a fun 2hrs or so of messing around.  Win.

It's unfortunately raised some concerns about Dead Rising 2, among other things. Firstly the most frustrating thing I could envision - if it does come to fruition - is having to constantly be scavenging for Zombrex in order to give Katey a shot every 12 hours, which considering how scarce they seem to be and how quickly 12 hours will probably pass in the main game could get quite annoying.
 
Also while it's good that you can move and shoot, only being able to travel by means of a casual jog is very disappointing, hopefully faster means will become available in Dead Rising 2. And finally, not to berate the combat anymore but the boss fight is severely stacked in his favour. Superfluous health bars are one thing, but to be sniped by a shotgun from a large distance whilst trying to get behind cover only because you can't run fast enough is aggrivating to say the least. And the timer feature can be a hit or miss depending on what your doing in game.
 
I think though that multiple playthroughs are essential because in trying to do everything on my first playthrough I ultimately accomplished nothing.

I'm really interested in Chuck for some reason. More interested than I am in Killing zombies. I'm probably only going to buy the game just to see what will happen to Chuck and Katy.  
 
P.S.: I......FCKING.......HATE........THE......TIME MANAGEMENT!!!!!! Why do they insist on having it????? There are other complaints but this is the only one that really pisses me off.

"having to constantly be scavenging for Zombrex in order to give Katey a shot every 12 hours, which considering how scarce they seem to be and how quickly 12 hours will probably pass in the main game could get quite annoying.  "

I understand that people are raging about the time management, but it will make the game more replayable. If you play it through once you will miss/fail some quests but then you can replay the game with the character you ended up with and you know where you need to be and where to find stuff. In DR1 you could pretty much annihilate a horde of zombies with your fists or walk on them in the second round.

Controls feel kinda weird at first but I got used to them. Not sure it's identical to the original Dead Rising, it's been so long. I remember the first controlling better or maybe it was because I was higher level and running faster.

I think it is great. The price is right and I love the fact that my level will carry over. It manages to be both a demo and a prequel at the same time.
 
Two thumbs up for Capcom!!

I am really digging it even though i didn't care for the first one to much. I just couldn't stand the AI from in the first game. I haven't played to much of case zero so I am wondering if the AI is any better. Unlike a lot of people I really like the time management part of these games. I feel it gives me more of a sense of urgency and makes me make certain decisions because of it. It always annoyed me how in other games there is suppose to be this urgency because the world is ending or whatever but the character is perfectly fine with doing all these side quest with no consequence.