Resident Evil 0

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Resident Evil Zero
American cover with protagonists Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen. A similar cover was used in Japan. The European cover shows only the logo on a white background.
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 3 Flagship (scenario)
Publisher(s)	Capcom (EUR) Virgin Interactive
Series	Resident Evil series
Engine	Unreal Engine 2
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube, Wii
Release date	Gamecube: November 11, 2002 November 21, 2002 February 28, 2003 March 7, 2003 Wii: May 29, 2008
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M (Mature) BBFC: 15
Media	2 × GameCube Game Disc, 1 × Wii Optical Disc (Wii)
Input methods	Controller

Resident Evil Zero, known in Japan as biohazard 0 (バイオハザード0, Baiohazādo Zero^?), is a survival horror game that was developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo GameCube and released in 2002. It is the fifth game in the main Resident Evil series by release order (not counting the GameCube version of the original Resident Evil as a separate game) and was the last of the main titles to use the original Resident Evil gameplay system prior to the release of Resident Evil 4.

The game's storyline serves as a prequel to the first Resident Evil, covering Rebecca Chambers' ordeal a day prior to the Mansion incident. The game was released on November 11, 2002 in North America, November 21, 2002 in Japan, February 28, 2003 in Australia and March 7, 2003 in Europe.

Gameplay

The main gameplay feature of Resident Evil Zero, dubbed the "partner zapping" system, is unique in the series in that instead of choosing a single character to play through the whole game, the player controls both the main characters, Rebecca Chambers (S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team's 18-year-old medic, seen in the original Resident Evil) and Billy Coen (an escaped ex-military convict) simultaneously through the entire game. Both characters can travel together, with one character being controlled by the player and other by the computer, or split up and search separate areas each at the same time. Even when controlling your own character, you can also control the other characters' movements with the C stick. This dual control is central to solving some of the puzzles in the game. The difference between both characters is that Rebecca can acquire chemicals with her mixing kit and can get into tight spaces, but is more fragile to enemy attacks. In contrast, Billy can handle heavy objects, has an oil lighter and can sustain more damage than Rebecca, but cannot mix herbs (in contrast from previous games, in which any character could mix herbs).

The game also does away with the use of boxes placed in fixed locations for the player to store items in. Instead, the player can now drop items on the floor to make room for new ones, which they can later retrieve for future use. The locations of dropped items are displayed on the player's map.

Plot

On July 23, 1998, S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team is sent in to investigate a series of grisly murders in the Arklay Mountains region outside of Raccoon City. On the way to the scene, Bravo's helicopter malfunctions and is forced to crash land in the forest. Luckily, there are no fatalities. The team soon discovers an overturned Military Police transport truck, along with the mutilated corpses of two officers. The team soon splits up and Bravo team's field medic, rookie member Rebecca Chambers, stumbles upon a train suspiciously stopped in the middle of the forest- the Ecliptic Express. Soon thereafter, she discovers that it's infested with zombies. Rebecca begins to wonder what she has got herself into. After a little exploration, she teams up with the man the Military Police were escorting to his execution; former Marine Billy Coen, and the two of them face off against a band of zombies, swarms of strange leeches, and a mysterious individual with possible links to the disaster. As with previous installments, the two characters visit various locales through the course of the story, including a train (aforementioned Ecliptic Express), a research facility, a laboratory and a factory.

Other recurring Resident Evil characters present are Alpha Team leader Albert Wesker and Umbrella scientist Dr. William Birkin. The two make appearances in a few cutscenes, but never interact with the main characters. The game also introduces Dr. James Marcus, one of the three founding members of Umbrella and the true creator of the T-Virus, who was assassinated by Wesker and Birkin, only to be revived by the leeches he created.

Reception

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The game has sold 1.25 million copies worldwide.

• Famitsu 38/40
• GameSpot 8.0/10
• IGN 8.2/10
• GameInformer 9.25/10
• Gamepro 4.5/5
• Rottentomatoes 8/10

Development history

Resident Evil Zero was first unveiled during the Tokyo Game Show in 2000. The game was originally slated for the Nintendo 64, as it was believed by the developers that the platform's cartridge-based media would be more capable in handling the item dropping and partner zapping systems proposed for the game than the disc-based media used by the PlayStation and Dreamcast, due to the lack of loading times. However, production of the game shifted from the Nintendo 64 to the GameCube as a result of the transition to sixth generation consoles. Since the GameCube made use of a disc-based media, the programmers were forced to rely on clever programming methods to shorten the loading times. The graphics were improved dramatically due to the platform change.

In contrast to other known Resident Evil prototypes, which have been known to go through massive changes during production, the story and settings remained mostly unchanged in the released version. Rebecca's original character design featured her wearing a beret instead of the red bandanna she wears in the original game. In the released GameCube version, she uses the same design from the previously released GameCube remake of Resident Evil.

Novelization

Zero Hour is a novelization of the game written by S.D. Perry. It is the seventh Resident Evil novel written by Perry, but precedes the others in chronological order. It follows the same continuity as Perry's previous novels based on the series.

Wii version

A port of Resident Evil Zero was recently announced for the Wii releasing Summer 2008. According to Famitsu, the Wii version will be a direct port of the Gamecube version with no new content or changes other than Wii controls.

Currently the port is only planned to be released in Japan.

References

External links

• Official Japanese site
• Official European site
• Resident Evil Zero at MobyGames
• Resident Evil Zero at Game Rankings
• Resident Evil Ø at Wikia
• Resident Evil at Wikia