Stand-alone Game: Despite the title, Case Zero does not require any other Dead Rising games to function. If you do buy it, you can carry your progress over into the retail version of Dead Rising 2. It should be noted up front that Case Zero takes place in a location not present in the retail game, and thus is essentially a stand-alone game unto itself.

Dead Rising was a pretty big deal when it released in 2006, letting players take on truly impressive numbers of zombies, all on-screen at once. But in hindsight it had some pretty real design flaws, ones that any sequel would need to address. Somewhere between being a demo for said sequel and being a DLC pack for it, Case Zero lets us see what lessons have been learned and what we can expect next month.

Taking place in the small town of Still Creek, Case Zero lets you play as Chuck Greene over the course of most of one in-game day. Those familiar with the first game will feel right at home, as the controls have only subtle differences this time around and can be adjusted to within just a few minutes. You’ll also find the game’s structure is familiar; Chuck is pitted against hordes of zombies and can only carry a limited amount of weapons to fend them off while he searches for survivors, completes various tasks, and explores a fairly large environment. Case Zero makes clear to us that Dead Rising 2 will not be reinventing the series; it will refine the formula from the first game.

The real changes are a mix of improvements to existing game mechanics, and adding new ones. While much of your zombie hunting still revolves around packing a few good hand-to-hand weapons and healing items, you can make a much better case for carrying guns this time around. They still require you to enter an aiming mode if you expect any accuracy beyond close range, but you can move around while aiming; slowly, but nonetheless moving and thus less vulnerable. Changes like these are the sort of obvious fixes Dead Rising 2 (and Case Zero) should have, though.

Far more exciting are things like combo weapons; any weapon with a small wrench icon above it can be combined with certain others to make a new, stronger weapon that awards you PP (essentially experience points, much like the first game) for using them. Some of them are cool but impractical, like a bucket mixed with a cordless drill; slap it on a zombie’s head and their brain gets drilled out, but you have to pick up the bucket after each use so it’s more fun to watch than being used in serious fights. Perhaps more practical are things like a spiked baseball bat; combine the bat with some nails and you have a powerful weapon that can easily clear through zombie crowds, break objects, and so on. You can even create air-horns that can stun zombies and burst their heads if trained on them long enough, or hook up a weapon to a car battery to electrify it; you need specific combinations of items for any of this to work, but there are tons of options.