Capcom is really turning up DLC a notch with the Dead Rising 2 “cases” and Case West is another testament to that fact. They’ve created an excellent prequel and epilogue, neither of which require a copy of DR2. Case West picks up right after “Ending A” of DR2 as opposed to picking up from “Ending S.” While that’s a bit disappointing, it makes the most sense for a team up between Chuck Greene and Frank West without having to worry about pumping Zombrex into Katie on a regular basis. Case West’s strong suit is a much stronger co-op element than that of DR2. Obviously, one player takes on the role of Chuck, the other, Frank. While it can be played alone, the single-player lacks a character selection and defaults to Chuck. For those that want to return to the role of Frank West, co-op is the only manner in which you can do so. Fortunately, Frank is incapable of being killed and is by your side at all times if you take the route of going it alone. You’re going to need the help, since Case West brings along all the strongest enemies you may remember from the end of DR2. While Frank can hold his own, co-op certainly brings a much more lively experience especially with a well-ironed experience, dropping the lag-hell prevalent in DR2.
There a few improvements that make for a much more enjoyable experience than the previous games. If you locate survivors, they only need an item or to be saved from a horde of zombies. Once you fulfill his/her request, they run off to safety without any need of an escort. No more leading a gaggle of survivors into a boss fight happens to be a fairly relieving update. There are also a few new combo weapons, new enemy types, new weapons, outfits, and instead of importing a save Chuck defaults to level 40, 10 levels under the game’s cap. While there is plenty of “new” in the download, there aren’t more than a handful of objectives to work on. I spent half of my time in Case West killing zombies. This is good and bad, since DR and DR2 hardly give me a second to just enjoy the zombie-killing aspect. Problem is, I’m so used to accomplishing objectives that the departure from the usual was a bit offsetting. I don’t want to complain much on that subject since we’ve all been begging Capcom for more free time to diminish the zombie populous. The effort doesn’t deserve a standing ovation, but I’ll definitely give them a golf clap for their efforts.
So you think you’re excited for the return of Frank’s camera? Don’t let your excitement carry you too far, it’s actually been dumbed down The camera is no longer used for loads of PP, but it can only be used to take pictures of the “PP stickers” you may remember from the first game. So, it’s essentially a tool for picking up collectibles, but far less interesting than it was when Frank used to wield it. Both Chuck and Frank have access to the camera a little ways into the campaign, but it was an distant thought after taking a snapshot or two. Taking place in a Phenotrans research base not far from Fortune City, Chuck and Frank just happen to run into one another in a chance of pure luck. The two work their way through the facility in an effort to clear Chuck’s name and get Frank another big scoop around the controversial process of manufacturing Zombrex. The story isn’t exactly gripping at any point, nor does it add any major revelations to what we gained from DR2, but Case West does manage to set up for the inevitable Dead Rising 3, with a few possible endings. We are introduced to a new villain as well as an old face, but the story doesn’t really hit any high notes and the last boss is such a generic character compared to DR2’s “psychopaths” that it’s laughable.
The Chuck/Frank duo seems to be either a cool “what-if” scenario or a tease at a full length game starring the duo; I’m crossing my fingers that it’s the latter. Sadly, Case West isn’t going to capture the attention of many outside of fans. It only clocks around an couple hours, and it’s only worth playing through a few times. Case Zero was great because it was just $5 and was an excellent prologue to DR2, while Case West doesn’t bring about quite as much for twice the price. Sure, it’s a bit longer and has co-op, but it is far less intriguing than Case Zero and the added content such as the camera feels half-baked. While the real reason to come around is to see Frank West’s awesome mug once again, you can’t even play him unless you join a co-op session. The least Capcom could have implemented was a character selection in the campaign. While Case West is the return of Frank West and a much anticipated/desired team-up, it doesn’t quite pluck my heartstrings as much as I had hoped.
