Resident Evil 0

"You and me and all of the zombies"

If you are familiar with the first Resident Evil game, you probably know about how the Bravo team was deployed before the Alpha team, and you've probably wondered what exactly happened to them. Sure, you find some of their dead bodies in the first game and you even meet a couple of survivors, including one of the main characters Rebecca Chambers, but that really wasn't enough to explain everything. Hell, they were there practically an entire day before the Alpha team showed up, so they should have a story to tell, right? Finally, Resident Evil fans get to experience the nightmare from when Rebecca, a rookie member of the Bravo team, first entered hell, learn much more about the background of Resident Evil, and even get to tinker with an interesting, albeit somewhat frustrating, gameplay mechanic new to the series.

What makes Resident Evil Zero stand out from the other entries in the series is that you can freely switch between two characters, Rebecca and a convict named Billy Coen. When you are not playing as one character, a somewhat poor A.I. takes over, but even though they're combat-stupid, they rarely get stuck on walls or anything like most A.I.-controlled co-op partners. You can also control the other character if you want by using the C stick, but this is kind of difficult to pull off effectively. I really don't know why Capcom didn't add a cooperative mode because that just makes a ton of sense as opposed to constantly switching characters.

This system is used mainly to solve puzzles and it does give more of a variation on the Resident Evil puzzle formula than other installments in the series since you have to think a little bit more. Sometimes you will be split up from your partner and then have to regroup by switching back and forth and solving various puzzles. This switching system works wonderfully and just like it should, but it does get a little irritating during the later parts of the game.

There are various quirks depending on which character you are controlling. Rebecca, for example, can mix herbs (the healing items in Resident Evil games) so she can create more powerful herbs. She's smaller so she can fit into smaller places, but when an enemy attacks her she takes more damage than Billy would. Billy also has a lighter that is mostly used to solve puzzles, he can move heavy objects, and it takes plenty of more attacks to put him down for good.

Item boxes that were present in the previous games and used to store items when you didn't need them in your inventory do not appear in this installment. Instead, the game lets you drop items on the floor in case you need to pick something up and don't feel like backtracking to an item box. This was a great idea by Capcom and it's not hard to find items you've dropped on the ground because their locations will appear on your map.

There are a couple of new and interesting enemies that appear for the first time in Resident Evil Zero. First off, there are these new monkey creatures that are beautifully gruesome and their speed plus savagery will definitely send chills down your spine. Another new enemy, the leeches, are really, really annoying. You can step on the leeches that are on the ground, but sometimes they will end up hopping onto your body and your partner can shoot them off of you before they can deal any damage. However, this isn't what makes the little bastards so irritating. They form these giant “Leech Men” that can stretch their arms out and whip at you, plus they are extremely difficult to kill unless you have a Molotov cocktail or another weapon that has some sort of flame element to it.

Capcom is always good at providing plenty of unlockable features and the usual suspect of alternate costumes appear in Resident Evil Zero, but the really solid unlockable is the Leech Hunter mode. In this mode, the goal is to basically kill as many leeches as possible, with different rewards granted depending on how many leeches you manage to murder. Unfortunately, this mini-game isn't very fun as the leeches were annoying enough playing through the main game.

There are some weapons to unlock as well, and you earn these weapons by beating the game in certain amount of time on either normal or hard mode. Resident Evil Zero is noticeably longer than most Resident Evil games, spanning two discs, but for your first time through you could probably complete it in around eight hours. As you continuously go through the game and memorize where everything is and what you should do in what order, the game gets easier and easier to beat. Even though some people may think it's boring to keep going through the same game over again, Resident Evil games actually make it a thrilling experience and you won't feel bored, you'll feel challenged.

Like I said before, Resident Evil Zero is a prequel to the original Resident Evil. The Bravo team is sent in to investigate some cannibalistic murders that are occurring in the area surrounding Raccoon City, but they soon discover an overturned jeep with an escaped convict named Billy Coen who supposedly did a very horrible crime. The drivers are mutilated and so a new objective arises: find Billy Coen. The team splits up and they soon discover terrifying monsters, and a horrible agenda by an evil company headed by some favorite characters. This game really provides a lot of answers and there are plenty of emotional scenes and moments that are worthy of a Hollywood movie.

I was a little disappointed with Resident Evil Zero's graphical presentation. I'm not saying the graphics are bad. In fact, they are some of the best graphics found on the GameCube with their amazingly detailed characters, gruesome creatures, virtually no glitches, small load times, and the environments look wonderful as well. The only reason the game is disappointing is that it doesn't look as good as the remake, which was extremely gorgeous and looked like it was a seventh generation video game.

Unlike most Resident Evil games, the game isn't very corny and there are plenty of dramatic moments that will leave you feeling a little sad. Voice acting is done superbly, with some minor exceptions, and all of the sound effects work perfectly to give the game the atmosphere it deserves. The musical score is great and always works with the moment at hand. There are some musical jumps as well to give you some scares and trust me, you'll be scared.

Resident Evil Zero will last you around eight hours, but after you beat the game you unlock some extra outfits plus an entirely new Leech Hunter mode. The Leech Hunter mode isn't very fun though, so you'll probably feel compelled to redo the game to see how fast you can beat it and to unlock some extra weapons (though there is still some stuff to unlock with the Leech Hunter mode). Capcom could have easily turned this game into a co-op game, which would have helped with the replayability greatly, but you'll still be able to have plenty of hours of Resident Evil goodness to experience.

This game must be experienced by any fan of Resident Evil as it really gives a lot of background information that takes care of some of the plot holes nicely and even adds some new characters. Resident Evil Zero is easily one of the best survival horror games released, especially for the GameCube, and is also one of the more original Resident Evil games with its unique gameplay mechanic of switching between two characters as you play through the game. Fans of Resident Evil will love this title and it's not a bad place for newcomers to start, especially since it's a prequel.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/01/08

Game Release: Resident Evil 0 (US, 11/10/02)