"Points of Origin"

Before The Mansion
The RE storyline is long, complicated, somewhat confusing and really, when you think about it, doesn't make a lot of sense. Here we have RE0, a long string of events focusing on Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen the day before that whole Spencer Mansion debacle. Does it competently fill in the plot holes laid out for it by it's predecessors? Is it fun to play? Is it scary? Well...

Story/Characters: 7/10 (Mild spoilers)
Becky and Billy have a nice train ride, discover a few things about Umbrella, a research facility goes boom, the end. Right? Well, in some ways - yeah. That's exactly what happens. But there was that whole subplot with The Mystery Man, Wesker, and Birkin. At first, the scenes involving these guys were subtle, creepy, and mysterious. When it all wrapped up close to the end, (when The Mystery Man revealed his identity)... well, it made some sense, but it felt kinda stupid. Like Capcom was at the end of developing this game and suddenly went, ''Aw, damn! We still haven't given This Guy In A White Robe a proper identity and motive. How about we...'' and then threw together a long string of nonsensical events and dialogue. Pretty lame.

But aside from all that - the scenes focusing on Rebecca and Billy were well done. The banter between them is cute and kinda funny, but they quickly learn to trust and respect one another. In fact, the relationship is one of the most believably developed of the entire series; I appreciated that Capcom didn't go down the route of ''cheesy Titanic romance'' like they did in CVX.

Gameplay: 9/10
So much has been made about how little the controls have changed; I feel that people aren't focusing enough on what HAS changed. Yes, it's a bit harder to do the quick turnaround. Yes, the TypeC controls have been removed. But the partner-zapping system is genius, and works incredibly well. It makes shooting down hordes of zombies and solving puzzles a bit more fun. You also feel a lot safer when partnered up; you come to care about your partner and feel very vulnerable without him or her.

The ability to drop items anywhere is a welcomed change, although during some areas, I wished I had the item box thingy back. But no matter - this system is much more convenient, if a bit stressful.

The standard puzzles and item fetching are still prevalent. Being a survival horror veteran, I'm pretty used to these. But if you're not, and just a casual fan, the puzzles here are gonna tick you off. Capcom has also heavily updated the Creature Roster with giant crickets, mutated frogs, rabid monkeys (these suckers are annoying), and a truly frightening Leech Monster that seems to stalk you from room to room, hallway to hallway. Well done.

Graphics: 10/10
Jawdropping. Truly amazing. Everything is perfectly atmospheric, moody, and visually brilliant. The best graphics are on the train, what with all the moving objects and rain pounding hard against the windows. Character and enemy models are excellent as well. I love Billy's tattoo. :)

Sound: 10/10
The RE series has always consistently had great sound, and Zero is no exception. The general background score is moody, a bit creepy, but quiet. The saveroom music is suitably relaxing and comfortable. The theme for The Leech Monster, however, is one of the most frightening scores ever produced in this series, aside from the Nemesis music. Each time you run into this guy, a frantic, fast-paced, violin-shrieking score just jumps into your tv speakers and totally frays your nerves. It makes the encounters with this dude all the more intense.

The voice acting has been improving with each game released. Rebecca sounds suitably young and naive, yet determined and stubborn at the same time. Billy has this really gruff, masculine voice that fits him very well. Wonderful job was done here.

Replay: 7.5/10
Not quite as juicy as the replay value in REbirth. There's one minigame to unlock, Leech Hunter, and all other extras can be unlocked through that. It's fun and challenging, but a bit of a disappointment after all the assorted modes you could unlock in the previous game. Costumes are a mixed bag. Rebecca's cool cowgirl outfit is back, but she also gets this horribly slutty leather thing that is sure to capture the attention of the guys, but downgraded her sweet, likeable quality for me. Billy got one, lousy armani suit. Looks good on him, yes, but hey - Capcom! - throw us female gamers something to howl about. :P

Judgment
This game is creepy. It's atmospheric. The graphics and sound are outstanding. From a technical point of view, Resident Evil Zero is a masterpiece. But when you start delving in deeper: story, gameplay; that's where the flaws start revealing themselves. That's not to say that REZero is a sloppy game, it's truly not. You get used to the controls if you take the time to practice. If you don't like item fetching or puzzle solving, then rent GTA3 and beat up some hookers or something. If you like survival horror with a (somewhat) decent story, likeable characters and a gothic feel, there's no better choice than RE0.

Pros
+Extremely creepy
+Oustanding graphics and sound
+Nice character development
+Rebecca's Cowgirl costume
+Billy's tattoo

Middles
+-Story
+-Puzzles
+-Leech Hunter
+-Billy's armani suit

Cons
-Controls will piss people off
-So will the puzzles
-Nonsensical Mystery Man subplot
-Rebecca's Leather costume

Rent Or Buy? It all depends on how much you liked the REmake. For diehard survival horror fans, this is a definite buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/02, Updated 11/23/02