* Along with Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil is my favourite video game franchise, so not that long ago I wrote two overviews of the Resident Evil series, I have already written full reviews of number 6 and Revelations. But looking back, I don't think an overview really justifies the series. So starting with Resident Evil 0, I will review all of the main canonical games that I have completed, not necessarily in canonical order. All of these games I own on the Gamecube.
As I stated earlier, you can read my Resident Evil 6, and Revelations reviews in old posts on my blog.
Resident Evil 0
Originally an exclusive for the Nintendo 64, until it was pushed back for a November 2002 release on the Nintendo Gamecube. RE0 came out at a time when the franchise was beginning to feel a little tired, and in need of re-imagining.
Plot:
Set before the Spencer Mansion incident in the first Resident Evil. Bravo team of the STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) are sent to investigate the cannibalistic murders in the Arklay mountains outside of Raccoon city. Their helicopter's engine fails on their way, where they find themselves stranded in a dark forest. While investigating their surroundings they come across a crashed military police transporter, where everyone is dead except for missing convict Billy Coen. They go in search of him, which leads Rebecca Chambers to the inside of an abandoned train infested with zombies.
Gameplay:
With a few added dynamics, the gameplay uses the same engine as the classic Resident Evil games, with the CCTVesque camera angles and the tank controls. A number of these changes are the disappearance of the item box, which allows you to leave items where ever you want, and switching between two characters at one time.
Some of these changes work better than others, I don't think getting rid of the item box was a good one, it takes away a charming essence to the Resident Evil franchise for no good reason. A fair point could be made that no item box is needed now that you have two characters you can control, with their own separate item slots, but it only causes unnecessary backtracking.
However, the co-op element to the game works really well between the lead characters Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen, it adds a unique twist to the gameplay compared with the Resident Evil games that came before it, without making the experience unfamiliar.
Locations:
The game begins on a train, which is still one of the best locations in the entire franchise, and at the time of the game's release, it was a setting which hadn't really been seen either. But it doesn't last for long enough, and in the end it feels a little underwhelming. Which is the best way to describe most of the game's locations. The train aside, the rest of the locations are bland and unoriginal, and all look familiar. You have labs, a church, and a mansion. There's nothing wrong with these locations if you make them different but this game doesn't.
Although a revisit to a RE2 location is nice for nostalgic purposes.
Enemies:
The infected zombies return, not only do they look good in the train section but they're also challenging due to the narrow layout. The boss battles are pretty special, the final Queen Leech is up there as one of the best all time, and you have to strategically kill it, unlike most boss battles in the early RE games. The rest of the enemies in the game, like the locations, are pretty bland and generic, the creators seemed to have gone down the realistic route, with the enemies based on animals such as a giant bats, dogs and various insects. Which is understandable when you consider that this is the beginning of the virus outbreaks, when the effect of the T-virus was in its early stages, and before it infected Raccoon city, and beyond.
However, one new enemy is a delight, the eliminators (monkeys) lunge at you mid air, and they attack you in packs. But one blast of the shotgun does the trick.
Weapons:
The usual RE weapons are in the game, the magnum and the shotgun are still the most affective. With the new Molotov cocktails a useful addition, but are only affective and designed to kill one specific enemy. But for some reason Capcom decided to make the Shotgun and the Grenade launcher take up two blocks on your item select menu, which means that you really do have to prioritise the items you carry around with you, so expect a lot of backtracking.
Difficulty:
RE0, on the whole, is one of the easiest in the franchise, I would say that it's harder than 3 but easier than 2. None of the enemies are particularly difficult, with two discs, the length of the game clocks in at the usual 3-5 hours for an RE game, depending on how experienced you are. There are a couple of puzzles which are hard, and require a little bit of thinking, but that's about it.
Replay value:
To its credit, RE0 has plenty of extra replay value, when you complete the game you get the 'leech Hunter' mode. In which you have to collect as many leeches as possible under a certain time frame, without dying from the monsters you come across. The rewards you receive depend on how many you're able to collect.
Of all the central Resident Evil story modes, along with 6, this is the one I return to the least. In part due to it being one of the weakest, but also because it lacks anything that makes it really stand-out. it's not scary, the design is generic, it all just feels a bit 'meh'.
Verdict:
While it was a good idea to explore what happened before the mansion experience, RE0 feels like a missed opportunity, although you get to play as Rebecca Chambers, the rest of Bravo team could have been included in the story much better. Although this is only a nitpicking point, it's also hard to believe that the monster killing Rebecca Chambers in this game is the same docile Rebecca we see in RE1 (remake).
If you love Resident Evil, the chances are you'll at least like this game, and it is certainly worth having in your collection. But if you're not a fan, then there is nothing new here that will convert you.
Despite its few flaws, RE0 is a good game and one I would have certainly gave a better score if I'd wrote this review when it first came out. But compared to other games in the franchise, it's up there as one of the weakest.
7/10
