f13.net

Case Zero is a Dead Rising game that occurs before Dead Rising 2 - it costs 400 points and serves as kind of a stand alone demo to Dead Rising 2.

Chuck Greene and his zombie-bitten daughter roll into Still Creek to get some petrol, but end up stranded and looking for a way out. The daughter is being treated with Zombrex - a drug that needs to be administers once every 12 hours (and only once every 12 hours) to keep the zombification process at bay. Chuck needs to find Zombrex and get the hell out of town to somewhere safe.

Based on initial impressions - I've only a short way in - Case Zero serves to show off the improvements of Dead Rising 2 over the original. Escort AI seems to be improved, the case timing system makes more sense and the weapon building system (e.g. box of nails + baseball bat = spiked baseball bat) is a nice addition. Other than that, it is Dead Rising, so if that appeals to you it is 400 points well spent.

Haven't played it all the way through - on my way to running out of time on my first play through since I don't know where things are - but the bits I've seen have been good. Voice acting is at least passable (the daughter walks the line a bit though) while Chuck Greene might just pull off being charming and douche-y at the same time ("Daddy can fix anything").

General internet complaints that this is very short, but even from the short period I've played it seems worth the price. It is also a good lead-in to DR2, given that you can bring your character level across to the full game.

Opinion: If you liked Dead Rising, buy it.

Finished it.

I'd say you could complete it in about an hour if you follow a walkthrough / know where to go, but may need to play through at least twice to get all the achievements.

Overall, it's a good warm-up to DR2 and the weapon build system (chainsaw + paddle = paddlesaw - basically a double chainsaw polearm) is inspired.

Worst bit: the motorbike part. Maybe it gets better with practise, but the handling is terrible.

So, this is a standalone in the sense that if I have been planning on renting Dead Rising 2 on Gamefly, I can try this and save myself the horrific shipping times?

Yes.

It's a couple of hours of zombie killing fun. Grab a moosehead and hold down X to run around town, goring zombies as you go.

Motorbike bit is better with practise (don't go full speed everywhere), but steering is still awful.

Thanks for the BiiF.  I was a bit hesitant on getting this at first due to platform and questions of value, but you convinced me to pick it up. 

And.. one night was well worth the $5.  Dead Rising 2 is going to be some insane fun.

I'd rather they do more downloadable Dead Rising stuff like this than do sequels.

Describe to me how the drill bucket works as a weapon.

It's a single shot zombie head-blender. Not really worth carrying around.

Drills are in the top of the bucket. Put the bucket on the zombie's head. Drills go to work. Head explodes.

Cute the first time, but yeah, not worth carrying around. Doesn't work on the psychopath at all. The boomstick (pitchfork + shotgun) or paddlesaw are a lot more useful.

I think I shall have to purchase this....

It's a really forgiving scenario too.  The only timing issue comes with the last survivor you can choose to save.  But the survivor AI is so much better that it's not hard to escort anyone.  I saved everyone pretty easily. 

I didn't think the motorbike part was that difficult, but you did warn us, so I just assumed it was really fast with sensitive controls.  With that in mind, it was simple.

Case Zero gets highest ever week 1 sales on Xbox Arcade (http://www.xboxer360.com/news/dead-rising-2-case-zero-breaks-first-week-sales-record-on-xbl-arcade/)

Estimated 320k downloaded in a week. On one hand: great start for DR2. On the other: bye bye free demos on Arcade (although DR2:C0 really is different than just being a demo since it has a self-contained storyline).

Since the drill-bucket gives 500 PP, I use it over and over until it breaks.  Only in the second play.

This is pretty much what EA was on about in that thread about paid demos we had awhile back which was filled with nerdrage.

We talk big but we buy shit anyway.

This is a perfectly fine paid demo, or as I like to call it, early DLC. Seriously: introduces the game, unique area, replayable, sandboxy, and only $5. It satisfies the Dead Rising itch until the main game hits. I cannot find a complaint with what Case Zero offers. If you haven't gotten it yet, I recommend doing so.

My only concern is if people try to reproduce this effort and fail. We might have been spoiled out of the gate by such a stellar tidbit of the full product. Bravo, Capcom.

Paid demo is the right terminology if what they are shipping is part of the core content of the game.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. EA was using the example of BF1943. Nerdrage was using the example of (say) Bayonetta's demo.

I agree with that.  If Case Zero sucked ass, I'd be angry.  But of course that applies to full games as well.  So far I've gotten at least $4 of entertainment from it and I think I can get a few more, so I'm OK.