Resident Evil Zero - The Prequel No One Has Played

 Resident Evil Zero - Review

The two protagonists: Rebecca and Billy.

Serving as a prequel to the beloved classic, Resident Evil Zero was first released on the GameCube as an exclusive, before being ported more modern consoles, such as PS4. Despite being a mainline entry to the most popular horror game franchise, there are an extreme amount of fans whom haven't played it. As someone who is playing through the series, I played Zero right after the first game, and saw that it improved a lot on the original, and is even one of my favourite games of all time. Of course, that doesn't mean it's without its issues. Minor spoilers upcoming, (nothing about the story, only setting changes).

Pros

The train setting is an extremely unique place to have the characters explore, and it help creates a more claustrophobic atmosphere for the characters. It also allows for more strategic survival, as you have to manage your limited supplies - which has to be shared between two characters at that - in an enclosed space.

Many of the monsters from the first game are repeated in this game, but with the new creatures, Humanoid Leech and in general, the Leeches, they are designed very well, in my opinion. The Leeches aren't a threat in my opinion whatsoever, but the Humanoid Leeches on the other hand make for very tense situations, and are easily the best non-boss monster in the game.

Rebecca, Chris' companion from the first game, and a completely new character, Billy, are the two playable characters in this game, which we have to swap between throughout the game's run. The swapping between characters runs a lot swifter than I originally would have expected, and is generally a fun mechanic in the game. They both have their quirks, like how Rebecca is the only one who can mix herbs, or Billy has a lot more health. The puzzles also involve utilising both characters, so you can't complete the whole game only using one character.

The characters themselves have a lot of chemistry, and you do get attached to them by the end. Rebecca, a little more naïve than she is in the first game, goes on the train to look for Billy, in order to arrest him, but by the end, a real friendship has clearly blossomed. Now, there may be some flaws within the characters that not many people may enjoy, like how Billy can be seen as somewhat edgy, but honestly I loved both of them as much as the other.

This game is a challenge for veteran players, due to the lack of item boxes and less resources in general. Most agree it is harder than the classics, if you don't have at least a clear game plan. However, if a beginner, don't let the difficulty stop you, as Easy mode does remove a lot of this difficulty.a

Cons

The setting does change from the train, and for me, the new setting is way too similar to the first game's mansion. It's nowhere near as intriguing, but still works well.

Backtracking can be a pain in the arse, as there are no item boxes. They do mark items on the map, making it a bit less annoying, but doesn't stop the backtracking. Some of the items are pretty pointless too (the hookshot) and take up two item spaces. I did encounter some glitches where items disappeared in certain areas as well, meaning I had to reload old saves.

Most of the enemies are the same formula, animals but bigger, particularly seen in boss battles, but also just normal enemy encounters. 

Many have criticised the plot by stating it's very convoluted, to which I somewhat agree. The plot didn't exactly strike out to me, but it does explore the in-game universe (including two characters seen in 1 and 2) further.

There are around two timed sections from what I remember, which does effectively make the game stressful. I do know this may dissuade some though, as I don't really like being put on a timer either.

Overall

I really liked this game, and I do think it would benefit from the same remake treatment as others titles in the series have been getting. The game had so much potential it did not reach, and even with this untouched potential, it was a very fun experience. It is definitely worth a try if you've completely finished Resident Evil 1 through 8, or even if you're just starting out.

Game Rating: 7.5/10

Personal Enjoyment: 9/10 (definitely biased lol)

If you read this far, please tell me your own personal thoughts on the game in the comments! And if you liked my review, please stay tuned for a lot more horror game content (+ some other stuff, but mostly horror games at the moment).

mog.