Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

     Dead Rising 2: Case Zero does what it sets out to do. It promotes Dead Rising 2. It's quite a different move for a game, putting out DLC before the game is even out, but it definitely works in this case. If you're excited about Dead Rising 2, or you're just curious about it, this is definitely worth it for the low $5 price tag.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero takes place about three years before the original, with the protagonist Chuck Greene stopping off at a small town called Still Creek. He is trying to save his daughter from turning into a zombie by giving her medicine called Zombrex. The core objective of this game is to find Zombrex and give it to her at the end of the day. You'll also have to collect parts of a motorbike in order to escape. On the way, you can help strangers, find new weapons, and combine them to make new, much crazier ones.

The core of the Dead Rising franchise is limiting your time. You have about 14 in-game hours to beat the game, which is about two hours and twenty minutes real-time. This means that you won't do everything on your first playthrough. You can restart the story at any time, but keep your level, meaning that if you get stuck, you can keep grinding it out to make it easier. Knowing where everything is the second time through makes it a lot more manageable. Some people may get frustrated at not being able to do everything, but the time limit adds a level of anxiety to the game which allows you to empathize with the protagonist's struggle.

One of the new features in Dead Rising 2 is the weapon combining. There are a total of eight combinations in Case Zero, with some being a lot more obvious than others. Using combo weapons gets you more experience, which lets you level up faster. The first combo you can make is a baseball bat with nails in it, which I found to be the most effective. Just seeing all the others in action makes them worth it though, because they can be quite silly. The action is incredibly satisfying, and all the different weapons are fun to use.

As well as the main objective, there are strangers you can save by bringing them back to your safe-house. You probably won't save all of them on your first playthrough, and to be honest, they're not that interesting. They get you more experience, but there's no voice acting, and all of their stories are pretty generic.

There's nothing out there that's like Dead Rising, and this prequel is a lot of fun for five dollars. The problems are easy to look past because the zombie-killing action is so fun. It's definitely got me more interested in the full game, so it feels like a success. It's definitely not for everyone though.