Resident Evil Zero
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| Resident Evil Zero | |
|---|---|
 The American cover shows the protagonists: Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen. A similar cover was used in Japan , while the European cover was shown on a white background. |
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| Developer(s) | Capcom Production Studio 3 |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Designer(s) | Vincent Chov |
| Series | Resident Evil series |
| Release date(s) | Nintendo GameCube: November 11, 2002 November 21, 2002 February 28, 2003 March 7, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: M (Mature) BBFC: 15 |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Media | 2 × GameCube Optical Disc |
| Input | Controller |
Resident Evil Zero, or Resident Evil Ø, known in Japan as biohazard Ø (バイオハザードØ 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.
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[edit] 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 the two main characters, Rebecca Chambers (S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team's medic, seen in the original Resident Evil) and Billy Coen (an escaped 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. 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 "item 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
[edit] 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 gotten 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. The Umbrella's underground facility from Resident Evil 2 is briefly visited by Rebecca at one point of the game as well.
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.
[edit] Reaction
Resident Evil 0 had multiple positive reviews and rankings. IGN gave it a 8.2, GameSpot gave a 8.0, and GameStats gave it a 8.4 out of 10. MobyGames had an 84 out of 100 critic reviews, and a 3.4 out of 5 for user reviews. Metacritic gave an 83 out of a 100 critic reviews, and an 8.2 out of 10 user reviews. The aggregate rating on Game Rankings is 83%.[citation needed]
[edit] 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 Sony PlayStation and Sega 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.
Currently, this is the only Resident Evil in the main lineage not to be released on multiple platforms. To this day, it is still a GameCube exclusive.
[edit] Novelization
Zero Hour is a novelization of the game written 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 game.
[edit] External links
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Resident Evil • Resident Evil 2 • Resident Evil 3 • Resident Evil Code: Veronica • Resident Evil Zero • Resident Evil 4 • Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles • Resident Evil 5 |
