Dead Rising 2: Case Zero - Xbox 360

What We Already Know

Dead Rising was an early success story on Xbox 360, a gamble on Capcom's part to kick start a new interest in catering to Western gaming audiences. The risk paid off in spades, but Capcom has not rushed out a sequel. Capcom Japan isn't making Dead Rising 2, either; Canadian outfit Blue Castle Games is. Fortunately, Mega Man creator and head of Capcom development Keiji Inafune is personally overseeing Dead Rising 2, so the Las Vegas-set sequel is in good hands.

What We're Seeing Today

Capcom's big co-op reveal happened during Captivate earlier this year, and while Capcom was showing a few new elements from the single-player at E3 2010, what actually caught my eye was Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, the downloadable prequel for Dead Rising 2 that will be released later this summer.

Case Zero explains why Chuck Greene is in Las Vegas and the world is blaming him for letting zombies loose in Sin City. The actual gameplay isn't much different from what I've already seen of Dead Rising 2 -- not a complaint. Case Zero seems to be Capcom's experiment with the demo concept. Dead Rising 2 is going to sell well because there are so many fans of the first game. Is a normal demo really necessary? Why not create something extra that introduces players to the sequel's new gameplay hooks, while adding to the overall Dead Rising world? Case Zero does that.

The prequel opens with Chuck pulling over to a gas station with his zombie-infected daughter. In Dead Rising's world, the transformation takes place after 12 hours and a pharmaceutical company has developed medicine to put off the zombification, while the world looks for a more permanent cure. Here, players will discover the massive leap in visual fidelity from the new graphics engine for Dead Rising 2, experiment with creating their own zany weapons at the work bench and quickly learn that while things are a bit different in this time, it's very much Dead Rising.

Capcom has not announced a price point for Case Zero, however. It won't be free and based on my time with it, it shouldn't be. This is something much, much bigger than a demo and should be a fantastic treat for fans who just can't wait for the game.