Resident Evil Zero

Before the Mansion. Before the Disaster. Evil is Born.

NA release: 12th November 2002
JP release: 21st November 2002
EU release: 7th March 2003
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
NGC Magazine Score: 85%
Mods Used: None

A game that was originally planned for the Nintendo 64, Resident Evil Zero was moved to the GameCube and was given similar graphical treatment to the Resident Evil Remake. This Resident Evil adventure also remained a GameCube exclusive until 2016. It takes place before the first game and tells the story of STARS member Rebecca Chambers and an ex-US Marine called Billy, who is wanted for murder.

This time, though, you don’t pick which character you want to play as, but control both at the same time. With a tap of a button you can tell the other to follow you or stay still, and at any point you can move the second character with the C-stick. You can also swap between them at will, especially useful when the characters get separated. You can also set them as passive or let them shoot enemies for you. The whole system works extremely well.

The inventory system also has changes, although this is both a blessing and a curse. You still have a frustratingly limited inventory and have to manage important items alongside weapons and herbs, but now you can drop objects anywhere. This means no backtracking to empty your inventory to pick something up, but also means that you can end up having to walk a long way to find something you left somewhere else a good while earlier.

While I still don’t like a lot of aspects, I didn’t find it as frustrating as the Resident Evil remake, and things seemed to flow a bit better. I would have gotten through more of the game, but I messed something up and realised I hadn’t saved in a while and had no desire to replay a huge chunk again.

Fun

It’s very difficult to dislike Resident Evil Zero, but at the same time it’s also hard to love it. The game falls foul of the same bloopers as its predecessors; namely, that every door-opening sequence is a tedious waste of time, and when your progress grinds to a halt, there’s too much running around for that single, vital item. These are last-generation issues that should’ve been eradicated by now. But non the plus side, Zero adds truckloads of rich material to the Resident Evil mythos, and at times, it’s an absolute joy to play.
Al Bickham, NGC Magazine #78

Remake or remaster?

I would like remasters of the classic style Resident Evil games with alternative ways to play (to cater to people like me, but still having the main way to play be restrictive) and the backgroudns regenerated in HD instead of upscaled.

Official Ways to get the game

Resident Evil Zero with upscaled textures is available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch.