Resident Evil Zero (or Resident Evil 0) is a 2002 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. It is a prequel to Resident Evil (1996), following S.T.A.R.S. officer Rebecca Chambers and convict Billy Coen as they explore an abandoned training facility for employees of the pharmaceutical company Umbrella in the outskirts of Raccoon City. The gameplay is similar to other Resident Evil games, but adds the ability to switch between characters to solve puzzles and use unique abilities.

Development for Resident Evil Zero began for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. The partner system was created to take advantage of the short load times possible with the capabilities of the Nintendo 64 Game Pak. The cartridge format also provided limitations, as the storage capacity was significantly less than that of a CD-ROM. The team had to approach the design differently from previous series entries to conserve storage space. Resident Evil Zero was designed to be more difficult than previous Resident Evil games. Inspired by Sweet Home (1989), the team removed the item storage boxes present in earlier games and introduced a new item-dropping feature. Production was switched to the recently unveiled GameCube after development slowed due to memory storage issues. Only the concept and story remained from the original game, which had to be rebuilt.

Resident Evil Zero received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the graphics and audio for building a haunting atmosphere. Opinions on the new partner and item systems were mixed. Some found the changes were an improvement and added new layers of strategy; others believed the changes were cumbersome or non-innovative. The game's tank controls were criticized as outdated.

The game was ported to the Wii in 2008, and a high-definition remaster was released in January 2016; the rereleases received mixed reviews due to lack of improvements. Resident Evil Zero was commercially successful, having sold over 4 million copies across all platforms.

Gameplay

left|thumb|The player guides Rebecca away from a zombie which has just emerged from a refrigerator. Meanwhile, the AI-controlled Billy takes aim at the enemy.

Resident Evil Zero is a third-person survival horror video game. The gameplay remains largely the same as previous entries in the series. The partner system is central to solving many of the game's puzzles.

The characters can run as well as perform quick 180-degree turns to evade danger. The player may examine objects such as doors, other characters, and items in order to find clues to proceed through the game. Some objects can be pushed or climbed upon to investigate higher levels. After the script had been completed in early 1999, the production of a Resident Evil game for Nintendo 64 was revealed to the public by Yoshiki Okamoto, the president of Capcom's screenplay company Flagship.

Resident Evil Zero was designed to be more difficult than its predecessors, removing the item boxes to make the game more like Sweet Home (1989). The real-time "partner zapping" system was designed to take advantage of the console's unique features and strengths, namely the lack of load times, which are necessary for optical disc-based gameplay as with the PlayStation. In an effort to make 1-on-1 zombie fights more intense, Capcom experimented with giving the zombies different reactions when they were shot and allowing the player to counter-attack when bitten. The team also toyed with faster zombies, a precursor to Resident Evils crimson head enemies. The prototype also supported local co-operative play. The game was expected to be released in July 2000 and reportedly had an atmosphere close to the first Resident Evil, focusing more on suspense than the more action-oriented gameplay of Resident Evil 2 (1998). However, development began to slow down when it became apparent that the data for Resident Evil Zero would not fit on a single cartridge.

Production shifted to the newly announced GameCube, with the concept and story carried over but all of the data recreated. The game's final version was developed primarily by Capcom Production Studio 3 with additional support provided by Tose. As a result of the transition to the GameCube, it was delayed so that the environments could be upgraded visually. Scenario writer Noboru Sugimura was called back to make some changes to the story. In the prototype's story, either Rebecca or Billy could die with the other character surviving and completing the game. This idea was scrapped as Rebecca dying would ruin the canon of the Resident Evil timeline. The character designs were also adjusted: Rebecca for example lost her beret and shoulder pads while Billy received a new hairstyle. The GameCube's use of optical discs reintroduced load times, so the programmers had to use sophisticated programming to make the "partner zapping" system work.

2023 Demake

An unofficial mod was created on July 1, 2023, by El Rincón del Lobezno and a coding group called "Biohazard España" modded a copy of Resident Evil 2, and used pre-rendered areas and models of the original Resident Evil: Zero, including cutscenes and dialogue. The cutscenes were used directly from Resident Evil Zero and was stretched out, since a Playstation cannot handle the width capacity of a Playstation 4.The dialogue was slightly distorted to reimagine the audios of Resident Evil 2. The area in the demake is a 45 minute demo, centered around the opening train section with Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers. The demo has only one save room after the double doors in the train, which has two green herbs, and a typewriter. The typewriter cannot be used in this 45 minute demo. Like the original game, the player can hold R1 and press Square to switch between Billy and Rebecca. thumb | right | alt=An image showing Rebecca Chambers next to an electronic card reader with text stating: "Closed, there is a card reader on the right." | Gameplay of Resident Evil Zero: Demake

Release

Resident Evil Zero was released for the Nintendo GameCube on November 12, 2002, in North America, on November 21, 2002, in Japan and March 7, 2003, in Europe. In December 2008, the game was ported to the Wii along with Resident Evil (2002). The port, Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero, is near-identical but features a control system that supports the Wii Remote and the GameCube controller. For many years, the fate of the original Nintendo 64 prototype remained unclear. All that remained was low-quality video captured from the Tokyo Game Show in 2000 and magazine scans. In 2015, Capcom showed off the prototype while marketing the remaster and demonstrated new high-quality footage of it. The prototype remains unreleased to the public.

HD Remaster

On May 26, 2015, Capcom announced that a high-definition remastered version of the game was in development, Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster. The success of the high-definition remaster of Resident Evil inspired producer Tsukasa Takenaka to provide the same treatment to that game's prequel. Takenaka recognized that many Resident Evil fans preferred the old style of gameplay pre-Resident Evil 4, and so he reasoned that the HD remasters were to provide that same gameplay experience on modern hardware. The remaster was produced by Tsukasa Takenaka and the team was made up of many members from the original team, including director Koji Oda. Takenaka was glad Oda was on board, as this ensured Oda's original vision of the game would not be tarnished. Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster was released on January 19, 2016. A retail compilation called Resident Evil Origins Collection that includes Resident Evil HD Remaster and Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster was released on January 22, 2016. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch on May 21, 2019, along with Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4.

For the remaster, Capcom used the original 2002 models and textures from their archives. To Takenaka's surprise, the models and textures were actually designed in a very high quality and then downscaled for the original release. This meant that some assets had to be redone, as items that were intentionally blurry or illegible in the original were now much more clear and did not make sense in context, such as posters or signs in the environment. Some backgrounds in the original also featured video effects such as fire. In the remaster, these videos were transitioned into 3D effects.

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Resident Evil Zero received generally positive reviews after its initial GameCube release in 2002. The Wii release was criticized for being a near-identical port of the GameCube version and for not fully using the Wii Remote's motion control capabilities, instead relying largely on the Classic Controller and remote/nunchuk combo. For the high-definition remaster, critics were impressed by the improved visuals but ultimately felt the game inherited the problems of the original. Peter Brown of GameSpot highlighted Wesker Mode as a fun addition and noted the game still "bears the hallmarks that made the original Resident Evil enjoyable." The game was novelized into the book Resident Evil: Zero Hour by S. D. Perry and published by Pocket Books on October 24, 2004.

Awards

Resident Evil Zero was nominated for GameSpots annual "Best Action Adventure Game", "Best Sound", "Best Story", "Best Graphics (Technical)", and "Best Graphics (Artistic)" awards among GameCube games.

Notes

References

  • Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero official website