Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

So this is somewhat topical if not a smidgen late. See, Dead Rising 2 came out today! Yay! New video game. This right here is a review for Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, which serves as a prequel to the new game. If it's any indication by it being on this blog, I dug Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, certainly enough to purchase at some point when I find a good enough deal for it.

So how did I get into this game? A really great strategy by the creators of the game, that's how. First of all, DR2:C0 was available as a demo download on XBox Live. I download almost every single demo that gets put out, so bam, I'm instantly going to be playing this game. Second, the game is $5. That's a solid price point. Sure, it only take 3-4 hours to beat the game, but it's $5. And the game has pretty solid replay value. Killing zombies is fun, what can I say?

That last paragraph should convince you to buy the game. It really should. Now the following is why I enjoy playing the game.

First of all, there are hundreds of zombies to murder. Every time you enter and exit your safehouse they all respawn, so you'll never run out of little beasties to beat down. Heck, one play through I decided to see how many zombies I could kill before time ran out (see a paragraph below if you've never played Dead Rising [I think, I really don't know since I've also never played Dead Rising, but this is what I've been told]). I killed 2000 of the bastards and I still had time to go. I just got hungry and a little drained from the slaughter.

On top of the slaughter is the ability to CREATIVELY slaughter. There are a ton of fun weapons to choose from: baseball bats, swords, guns, cacti, sledge hammers, chain saws, cardboard cutouts of Proto Man (seriously). That list doesn't even count the customizable weapons which range from a spiked baseball bat (baseball bat + nails) and the Boom Stick (Shot Gun + Pitchfork) which are just a ton of fun, and really increase the carnage. Custom weapons deal more damage and give out more xp. Whenever I play a game that requires leveling I turn into a bit of a munchkin, so there's that.

There's also the point of the game. Ya know, the storyline. Your daughter, yea, you have a daughter, has been infected with a zombie bite and you have to find more of this miracle drug, Zombrex, which delays her transformation into the undead. Oh, and you have to escape from the little town you're in because the government is on the way and you just know they're going to take your little girl away. This means you have a time limit on your activities. I thought this was annoying at first, very counter-intuitive for a sandbox game. However, it really heightens the tension come end game. You're all busy getting parts for your getaway vehicle and rescuing hostages that all of a sudden you have 20 minutes before the military comes and you lose! You don't want to lose, so you best hurry your ass up!

So yea, go buy this game. Then go buy Dead Rising 2. I've heard that all the problems people had with Dead Rising have been solved here, so yay!