Not a bad set up for the prologue to Dead Rising 2, huh? Or is it? Let me give you my break down of this short DLC. Only this time I will break out of my normal review structure as the basic categories will be focused upon in the official Dead Rising 2 review. We're going Diary of the Dead style this time.
Hour 1:
The first ten minutes or so encompasses pretty much the above story delivered in a really drawn out cut scene. Really drawn out. It all ends with Chuck barricading himself and Katey into the above-mentioned gas station - followed by a bunch of tutorial screens. Only then are you finally allowed to walk around. Fifteen minutes in and then I get control. Sounds like a Final Fantasy game, huh? That pretty much sums up the first in-game hour of the twelve there are.
Hour 2:
Chuck is finally back outside armed with his own self-made mission - to go to the military barricade and find out what happened in Still Creek. Oh and to try and score some more Zombrex to save his daughter. Not sure why he needs to "find out what happened." If I was in Chuck's shoes, I hope I could have surmised that what happened in the town would have been clear as zombpocalypse has happened and they had to drive through the military check point already, but ok. At least while on the search, he finds enough Zombrex for another twelve hours and an engine from a motorcycle that he swears he can build back into a full bike in the short time of eleven hours.
Hour 3:
Pushing that damn engine back to the garage. I'm doing this while I'm running through hordes of zombies and passing perfectly good cars that could be hotwired.
Hour 4:
Chuck realizes that in the only auto garage/part shop in town, there are not enough parts to fix the bike the way it needs to be. So he sets another personal mission to run out and find these parts all about town while leaving his daughter alone in a gas station surrounded by the undead. Chuck doesn't worry about her because damn it, he has a mission. It is at this time he comes across the first survivor of Still Creek - the Pawn Shop owner. Of course, he's the only guy that sells Zombrex and wheels for a motorcycle. You save his life and he still charges you. Some gratitude for saving his life.
Hour 5:
Ran around town trying to platform my way to locations and other survivors who only came out since they heard how much of a tool Chuck is. I mean, he is trying to build a motorcycle to get out of a town filled with cars and saved someone's life only to agree to let them extort money out of him. I'd pop my head out too.
Hour 6:
Continued to run around looking for those pesky motorcycle parts that Chuck so desperately needs. Seeing as there was no rhyme or reason to their locations - outside of the gas can - I spent more time smashing zombies and objects out of frustration. Shortly after I found that you can "Buy A Clue" at the pawn shop. That would have been handy to know earlier. I also got Chuck gussied up in a really nice sun dress that brought out his "manly" features.
Hour 7:
Broke into the hunting goods shop and was finally able to go to town on those damn flesh eaters. Why I had to go through a roof instead of smashing open the flimsy door or smash a window, I will never know, but it was nice to find the moose head weapon for free and run down the horde.
Hour 8:
Met up with some bad asses in the back of the general store who were keeping their ground only using their fists and a motorcycle handle bar. I understood why they wanted to trade the handle bar weapon for a broadsword, but why the hell did they not go get one in the first place? They were fighting maybe 200 feet away from a rack of them. In any instance, their badassitude was lost within the trade as they needed me to lead them back to the gas station that was maybe 15 feet away from that rack of swords. The ends do justify the means - I got the handle bars.
Hour 9:
Collected the rest of the motorcycle parts. Put the bike together, further proving that duct tape can truly fix anything. Also that it can be used to make Molotov cocktails, baseball bats with nails in them and a bucket that has drills shoved into it. Read that as they use the same animation and sounds for all building sequences even when the final product doesn't have a strip of duct tape on it. Anyways, I went out and tried the new weapons on the undead as for some reason Chuck and Katey were unable drive off now that the bike was built. We HAD to wait another hour to give her the Zombrex in the danger zone.
Hour 10:
Time to give Katey the Zombrex and the bad asses seem to have run off. Just in time for the creepy gas station owner with a flame thrower and pitchfork shotgun to come and go all Kraven on us. That is, he wants to hunt and kill all forms of zombie. A noble sentiment, but not when it is Chuck's kid. Someone else's kid and it would be all fine.
Hour 11:
Gas station owner killed and finally it is time to ride off into the sunset. All so we can get ready for Dead Rising 2.
Overview:
Okay, I may have been a bit punchy above in my break down, but it is for a good reason. This DLC prologue really does nothing but allow the player to put hands on a demo for Dead Rising 2 with a story we will all most likely get during the intro for the game proper. Yes, a paid demo is the best way to explain this DLC.
While I will admit that some of the little parts - like the moose head and bucket drill - were fun, the core of it all did not justify a purchase. If you are a die-hard fan of Dead Rising you will obviously drop the 400 MS points on it, but for those who think it will add something huge to the Dead Rising 2 experience, I think you will be a bit let down. Even though I listed it out as eleven hours above, that was in game time. In real world time, it only took about an hour to hammer through and a lot of that was waiting for the specific timed events to occur.
But hey, if you have points to burn, it is a nice little extra 200 GS and it will let you try out Dead Rising 2 before launch on the 28th. Well, at least the core solo-player game play of DR2.
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was developed and Published by Capcom on August 31st 2010 exclusively for the Xbox 360. It retails for 400 Microsoft Points. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.
