Resident Evil 0 brings back the moaning delight of the early Evil titles while setting the groundwork for later-entry zaniness.
The Nintendo Gamecube was home to the Resident Evil remake and 0 back in the early 2000s, the latter coming the year after the former much to the delight of series lovers. Both followed the then-standard Resident Evil formula like a time code with your wits and inventory control skills being tested with agonizingly slow controls inciting more “Move!” shouts than a Michael Bay movie. The original RE came back on consoles and was an instant hit on the digital space, and Resident Evil 0, despite not feeling quite on that level, deserves the same treatment.
Originality
You play as both Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers in a sprawling, multi-location prologue to what began the Raccoon City incident for the other half of S.T.A.R.S. and lead to the eventual downfall of the city itself. At the time of the original game’s release, the story herein felt only slightly revelatory, leaning on a lot of series tropes to deliver sinister intentions that just ended up feeling par for the course. This HD version is a direct copy of that story, and time has not leant many further insights to Marcus or Wesker and Birkin’s relationship. Hindsight has spotted a groundwork for the fast-and-loose story style of Resident Evil 5 and 6, which is a bit interesting as a case study but not so much as a game’s story.
“Resident Evil 0 on the whole feels high quality in the graphical department…”
Gameplay
Gameplay in Resident Evil 0 is still an aberration in the series and in gaming. It stands as one of the best and few examples of controlling two characters at once in an action driven setting. Item boxes are gone and forgotten in this entry with either character able to drop any item at just about any time. The map has never felt so important given that it keeps track of which items are parked where, and as Rebecca and Billy have only 12 slots between them to juggle, expect the floor of a safe room to be littered with shinnies. Personally, the new control scheme, which allows running in any direction with the left stick, doesn’t add much to the experience outside of larger boss arenas. The hallways weren’t designed to be large enough to accommodate running past the likes of leech men or even a regular zombie if he’s squared in your direction. Still, the classic controls are predictably reliable, which is a boon in this environment.
That’s something to be thankful for because this game feels really, really hard compared to the original’s remake. The pacing is different in Resident Evil 0 in that there isn’t really a ramp up of difficulty so much as there are sections that feel humbling. You just completed the train and are ready to stake your claim on the training grounds area? One hallway has two leech men to slap you back down to size. Rebecca has paper-thin health while Billy can really absorb punishment, but to really conquer this game, you have to be ready to use the partner system accordingly. If one of your couple is near death, you can’t hesitate to take them to the safest area and trek forth solo for a while. Or if you’re running low on ammo, turn the computer’s attack setting to idle to save those precious rounds. Despite the more head-on approach present in this game as compared to the other HD remake, you do have opportunities to save yourself and your team.
Environment
Just as with Resident Evil, Capcom seems to have a befuddling approach to CGI cutscenes in the game. None of them seem to have been touched at all, looking grainy and archaic next to the versions that take place with the game’s assets. This is highlighted by the fact that there are so many cutscenes of this type early and often in the experience. Juxtaposed to that is the absolutely immaculate look of the environments themselves that portray that faded, aged disarray that all these earlier Resident Evil games embodied in their design. Some of the sections, atop the train early on for instance, are almost stunning in their execution but Resident Evil 0 on the whole feels high quality in the graphical department outside of the lame cutscenes.
Replayability
The only mode added into this HD version is called Wesker Mode, which comes across as feeling half lazy and half cathartic. Billy’s model is replaced by series villain Albert Wesker’s, giving him all of Mr. Coen’s lines and motions and making for some fan-fiction style visual rewriting of a lot of RE lore. His gameplay is second to none as a power trip. You’ll be dismantling any challenge the game can muster in this version of new game plus, which is admittedly kind of welcome after grinding your teeth to the gums in some encounters.
Resident Evil 0 is one of the few remakes where the graphics feel worth the reinvestment of your money. There isn’t much else beyond the main game to fumble your way through, and the original graphics are still somewhat present in a confounding way, but anyone that enjoyed the first HD remake will find just as much gnashing joy in this origin story of evil.
Final Thoughts
Resident Evil 0 feels like the transitional piece for the series between the more action-oriented 4 and the original formula. Fortunately, what still worked for the game on Gamecube works here and stands by itself as a difficult exception to the RE series.
