Brandon F said:
I agree. Looks super lazy compared to even Case Zero. Zero had the unique and creative town setting and a great setup for Chuck Greene that gave a nice overview on what to expect of DR2. This is seemingly just a survival mode with dumb objectives and a loose connection to the narrative backbone. Poor setting, dumb missions(get to the switches!), and a very flimsy use of Frank West.
At least what was shown in the Quick Look, my interest has nosedived. Maybe it does get better?
I loved Case Zero to death and so far I haven't brought myself to beat Case West despite buying it the night it came out sight unseen.
It's far more linear and simplistic. Like they tried to make it a more standard action game about Zombies instead of the weird quasi-survival open world horror game it was. It feels like there's a much greater pressure to push you forward to the next objective rather than solve any kind of mystery or explore - even during moments where you have tons of time until the next case opens.
On top of that, the game is permanently stuck in that moment you get in a Dead Rising game where there's just too much shit going on. Not in terms of mission objectives, but just how much is on screen, what type of stuff is attacking you, and so on. The signal-to-noise ratio dial cranks almost all the way to noise and before you know it you've taken so much incidental chip damage (most of it unavoidable) over the course of ten minutes or so that you're dead without even realizing it.
The pairing of Frank West and Chuck Greene is great. The writers really took advantage of having those two characters together for some awesome moments where they're quipping with each other.
But gameplay-wise, there's not a lot in Case West that feels like what I want out of a Dead Rising game. Part of it almost feels like a response to what some say are the "bad parts" of a Dead Rising game - the item management, survivor escorting, leveling up, and so on. Here, you start out with a bunch of health, plenty of item slots, a bunch of moves and you only get even more power as you keep playing. The lack of rescuing survivors, too. It's sort of weird that they just kind of go "Oh. Well I guess I better go somewhere safe now." and walk away once you rescue them.
It just doesn't feel like Dead Rising.