"This game has features that were never put in another Resident Evil game. There's good reason for that."

I was introduced to Resident Evil on December 27th, 2006. I'm new to the series, and my first game was Resident Evil 4 for the Nintendo Game Cube. I hadn't heard many good or bad reviews, so I bought it on a whim and instantly became obsessed with it. I began my quest to collect one of every RE game out on the GameCube, which started with me buying Resident Evil (REmake) and Resident Evil Zero. I played the first game with few difficulties getting 'into it,' aside from me being spoiled on action games, the action was slow, but not excruciatingly slow. After I completed it, I immediately began playing Resident Evil Zero. It started off alright, not too bad... then I had to actually TRY to be amused by it. Hence, this review.

-=-OVERVIEW-=-
No spoilers intended, the game's storyline is... amazingly isolated from the main Resident Evil series (save for the appearance of and references to: S.T.A.R.S., Wesker, Rebecca, Umbrella Corp., to name a few) in terms of enemies and setting. You're not fighting Zombies, but leech-like creatures. The B.O.W. still make an appearance, but aren't as prominent as these new enemies. The game begins in a wrecked train, and we then find ourselves meeting convicted serial killer Billy Coen, who teams himself up with our main character, Rebecca Chambers. The two fight their way off the train and enter the mansion. Not THE mansion, but one close to it.

-=-GAMEPLAY-=-
Think REmake, if you've played it, or just typical Resident Evil in terms of gameplay and movement. A few tweaks, like the enemies being able to take a bit less punishment than before, each character can hold only 6 things at once, some objects take two inventory spaces, there are no storage points (more in a second) and movement is much less 'go until you find a save point,' making the player return to places they've been to more often than previous games. Oh yeah, and you control both characters at once. One is AI controlled, and you control the other. START switches from Idle and Move With, X switches which character you're controlling, and the C-stick moves a character in that direction. Useful for when your partner is right in your way in a narrow hallway. Is it just me, or are the controls just a LITTLE more stiff than in REmake?

RE:0 introduces the new 'partner zapping' system, where you switch between two characters on a whim, more or less. This has a couple of advantages and disadvantages: first, if you simply cannot choose between one or the other, no problem; you get to play as either one during the course of the game. Second, you have... pretty much two health bars. Just move the injured or dying character out of the line of fire and let the other, healthier one do the killing for awhile. If one character dies, naturally, the game is over. Why? Well, plot. I can understand having Billy Coen dying- you might just get a different ending, but of course, there are character specific puzzles that need either or character, or both, so scratch that, and Rebecca can't die, since that'd eat the consistancy of REmake and... well, I don't think Rebecca is in any other RE game at this point in time. Some disadvantages are that it limits your movement a little, you now have TWO characters to worry about (and boy, can your partner be stupid at times), and it just removes some of the fright of Resident Evil's horror. But then again, almost EVERY horror game has some sort of 'escort' section, where you have someone at your heels (except Silent Hill 3, thankfully), so I guess this isn't a big complaint that comes up often.

As I mentioned, no storage areas. None. You put things on the ground and get them later. This is good, I suppose. No more 'Oh, I can't seem to pick up this grenade launcher because I'm holding five keys and a handgun. Now I have to go back to that magickal box and put some of my stuff in it.' My GOD that was a hassle. Now you just put things on the ground... and when you're dying of poison, forget where that place you put those Blue herbs down about forty minutes ago. At least you get twelve inventory slots (Rebecca and Billy combined, detract from having some weapons consume two slots).

I'm not entirely sure what does it, but the gameplay seems... slower than usual. The cutscenes are alright, but for this game, we need more of 'em.

-=-SOUND/MUSIC-=-
There isn't much music to speak of, so scratch that. The voice acting isn't that bad. Rebecca isn't as hard to listen to, the zombies don't sound like they're in quite as much pain... and the volume is, for me, too quiet. Ever notice how some games are made with a certain volume, like Sonic Adventure 2: Battle will be too loud, so you turn it down, then play something like Nightfire and notice that it's too quiet? This game's on the quiet end of the spectrum. Not really anything special here...

-=-CHARACTERS/STORY-=-
For me, story is a big factor in games, and the characters have to be decent, likeable, well developed or deep. Rebecca has been MAJORLY improved since Resident Evil 1, but this is an inconsistency. She's braver, stronger and just... more 'in control' than she will be in REmake... which again, detracts from the horror. Billy Coen is set up to be a real a**hole, and he seems like you'll want to kill him halfway through the game. Well, after the first line he delivered in-game, he became one of my favorite characters in the series. He has attitude, but not the kind that makes you want to throw a shoe at. He also seems to have some soft spot. You'll find out later who he really is. Nice development on his part. Also, there's William Birkin. The typical 'out for revenge guy' who puts up an excruciatingly easy fight. It was... not worthy of a battle, I'll say. He's not worthy of a place in my review.

The story... not predictable, but not exactly... compelling. There is nothing you can do to change the plot, there is only ONE ending that I know of, as I've seen nothing of additional endings, which detracts from the replay value, I say. Also, the final boss battle is somewhat... pathetic. I don't mean to be overtly critical, but it was, really. Nothing too surprising or amazing. I suppose this game was just to give more insight on the nature of Umbrella and their employees.

-=-GRAPHICS-=-
Silver award for best graphics on a GameCube game. Sure, they're nice. Pretty... the facial movements are a little stiff (I've seen better in Eternal Darkness, personally), and distracting when the lipsynch is off. Textures are nice, and the team made good use of Specular effects all around. The shadows aren't as low-res as REmake, so you don't find yourself saying 'Wow, my shadow is pixellated...' as you wander down a dimly lit hallway. The environments are a little... I'm not sure how to put it. The individual objects in the background are sometimes difficult to tell apart, leading to some navigation problems. Overall, the best part of the game.

-=-REPLAY VALUE-=-
You get to unlock new costumes (yay?) and the astounding Leech Hunter minigame. You run into rooms and see a glimmering blue or green crystal thingy. You stop. You bend down to look at it. "Pick up (Colour) Leech Charm?" "Yes." Rinse and repeat. There are 100 of these friggin' things in the level and you need to collect a certain number of them to unlock the more interesting upgrades, IF you want to go back into Story Mode and play the game. Again. Leech Hunter is difficult only because you have to bend and stoop over and over and over again. I picked up thirty of the damn things before realizing that it just wasn't worth it and I wouldn't ever play the game again. Hey, some people love this sorta stuff, but I just don't have the patience for it. It might be just your thing, it might not.

-=-FINALE-=-
The moment you've all been waiting for. I found this game to be... not necessary. I do believe that I could have lived without it, as it was too slow, too redundant and just not that great of a story.

Graphics: 8 (9, -1 for no real face shaping movements)
Sound/Music: 7 (8, -1 for it being too quiet)
Story: 7 (8, +1 for being Resident Evil, -1 for lack of character consistency)
Gameplay: 6 (8, -1 too slow, -1 nothing new)

So with no average, I bestow upon thee, a five : 5. Why five? Mainly because I wouldn't play this game again. Ever.

-=-Zileon Tuar'ann

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 03/15/07