The original Dead Rising was released in 2006. A true sandbox action-adventure title set within a sprawling mall in the town of Willamette, Colorado, players controlled Frank West. Frank was a photojournalist tasked with surviving the zombie apocalypse for three days until help could arrive. To complete the game, then, players simply had to exist within the zombie-packed gameworld for six hours.
Naturally, there were a variety of optional tasks to participate in, such as rescuing other survivors, or putting down psychopaths - survivors who had gone violently insane. However, much of the game’s charm lied in the freedom afforded to the player. It was a formula that proved to be a great success for both the Xbox 360 and Capcom. The title is now enshrined as one of the console’s “Platinum Hits.”
Yesterday, publisher THQ invited us over to play the downloadable prequel to Dead Rising 2, called Case Zero. Set three years after the Willamette incident and two years before Dead Rising 2, Case Zero establishes how new protagonist Chuck Greene arrives in Las Vegas, the setting for the upcoming sequel.
Chuck arrives in the small town of Still Creek with his daughter, Katey, as civilisation goes into freefall with re-emergence of the undead.
A fascinating aside: On the term “undead” THQ’s Alan Moore was very particular. Left 4 Dead 2, another zombie apocalypse title, was significantly filtered in order meet Australia’s outmoded MA15+ rating. THQ believes that much of the trouble was brought about by Valve’s heavy use of the term “infected” in reference to its zombies. The Australian ratings board clearly decided that Valve’s fodder could be misconstrued as sick humans; something that is infected can be cured, surely. By stressing that Dead Rising 2’s zombies are irredeemably animated corpses, the full title will be released there without federal tampering.
Most ironically, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero actually includes a cure, or more precisely a counter measure, to the "zombification" process. Young Katey has been bitten by a zombie and must receive an injection of the pharmaceutical Zombrex every twelve hours to avoid joining the ranks of the living dead.
When Chuck’s truck, along with his cache of Zombrex for his daughter, is stolen by a fellow survivor, he’s left with no other option but to venture through the infested town in search of more medicine and a new means of transportation. Unlike Dead Rising’s Frank West, Chuck is a character with motivation. Case Zero is very much mission oriented and presumably this more structured experience will carry over into the full title. Everything else does. All levels and cash earned in Case Zero can be imported painlessly into Dead Rising 2.
That’s not to suggest players aren’t given ample leash to deviate from the script, explore the environment and dispatch the ambling undead in exceedingly violent and frequently humorous fashion. Case Zero compounds on the promise of creativity in the original title by allowing players to assemble random objects into ad hoc arsenal.
At the most elementary level, Chuck can add nails to a bat to create a makeshift mace. Bowie knives added to boxing gloves turn out Wolverine-like claws. Snikt. Nails and a propane tank can be turned into an improvised explosive device – during our session we hurled one from the roof of a building before shooting it with a sniper rifle to satisfyingly devastating effect.
Anyone who has seen the E3 footage will also be aware that chainsaws can be strapped to both ends of a kayak oar to create a brutal double-ended staff. While you won’t find it in the prequel, the indisputable grail of creatable items is the Freedom Bear. By combining a machine gun with a man-sized stuffed teddy, Chuck can construct a plush Rambo-babbling gun turret that will draw first blood from anything in the vicinity.
Creativity is rewarded with additional Prestige Points. Paddling a zombie with a bat is fine for the apocalypse tourist, but the true undead connoisseur knows that slamming a drill bucket on a zombie’s head and taking unconcealed delight in the ensuing ‘pop’ will level Chuck faster.
Case Zero also highlights several improvements over the original title. For one, the survivors you come across in Still Creek have much better AI. Moreover, they each have unique statistics, making them variously sufficient or incapable.
More importantly – and this was a crippling gripe with the first game – Case Zero introduces three save slots. All installments in the Dead Rising franchise function on a simple timer mechanic – when it reaches zero, the player must deal with the consequences. With only one save slot, a serious error or a recent save meant starting the game over entirely. Happily, this will no longer be the case.
Finally, both Case Zero and Dead Rising 2 are able to display up to 10,000 zombies on screen at once, said Moore. We're still trying to picture a scenario where that kind of capacity would be necessary but a noteworthy figure all the same.
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero will be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE on the 31st of August. At an especially affordable 400 Microsoft Points, anyone considering Dead Rising 2 would do very well wet their feet in this prequel.
Many thanks to THQ for this New Zealand-exclusive preview session.
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