Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 0 or
Resident Evil Zero, known in
Japan as
Biohazard 0 (バイオハザード０), 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
Resident Evil series by release order and was the last of the core 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 original
Resident Evil, covering
Rebecca Chambers' ordeal a day prior to the
Spencer 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.
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. 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 the police themselves. 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 hooks up with the man the Military Police were escorting to his execution; ex-
marine Billy Coen, and the two of them face off against a band of
Cerberus, swarms of strange
leeches, and a mysterious individual with possible links to the disaster.
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.
Resident Evil 0 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 medias 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
"128-bit" 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 order to compete with the
Resident Evil remake, also for GameCube.
In contrast to other known
Resident Evil prototypes, which have been known to go through massive changes during production, (one of the most dramatic examples being the original idea for Resident Evil 4, which was eventually released as the start of an entirely new series, called
Devil May Cry) the actual game plan did not change as dramatically compared to the released version. Rebecca's original character design featured her wearing a beret instead of the red bandanna she wears in the original game (it is unknown whether this discrepancy would've been explained in the actual game). In the released GameCube version, she wears neither (as her character model in the game is based on
REmake). The
train in the beginning of the
N64 version did not actually move until being activated by the player. Edward Dewey was originally scripted to lose his hand to a
zombie dog before his death (which would later turn out to be the same hand found by Joseph Frost in the original game). However, this would prove unnecessary with the inclusion of Kevin Dooley in
REmake. The N64 version's graphics were more in line with
Resident Evil 2 and
Resident Evil 3 than any other game in the series.
The storyline in
Resident Evil Zero was originally supposed to lay the groundwork for the forthcoming
Resident Evil 4 by introducing the Progenitor Virus which was to play a major role in RE4. Originally,
Resident Evil 4 had Leon S. Kennedy exploring an ancient castle in Europe that was owned by Umbrella and was reputed to be where Umbrella's biological weapon research started. At some point in the game, the Progenitor Virus is unleashed and infects Leon which makes him hallucinate at points in the game which fans have speculated is symbolism for his body trying to fight off the virus. Most of Resident Evil Zero's new storylines was rendered obsolete when Shinji Mikami took over directorial control of
Resident Evil 4 and tossed everything out, intending
Resident Evil 4 to have a completely new story, as a change of scenery (and enemies) to the previous
Resident Evil games.
*
Handgun*
Combat Knife*
Hunting Gun**Found in the Ecliptic express in room 101
**Uses shotgun ammo
**Cons: Can only shoot 2 rounds before it needs to be reloaded, and is relatively slow. Good weapon to be used early in the game before aquisition of the real Shotgun which is stronger, faster, and able to carry more rounds.
*
Shotgun*
Grenade Launcher*
Magnum*
Molotov Cocktail*
Submachine Gun (Unlockable)
*
Magnum Revolver (Unlockable)
*
Rocket Launcher (Unlockable)
After the player completes the main game, the following is unlocked:
* Alternate Costumes (Complete the game with any rank on Normal or Hard mode). Rebecca begins the next playthrough with the "closet key" already in her inventory and can be used to open the closet inside Cabin 101 in the Ecliptic Express. The outfits available includes a
Suit with
sunglasses for Billy and
leather pants and a
halter top for Rebecca. Rebecca's cowgirl outfit from the
REmake is available as well.
* Submachine Gun (Complete the game in 5 hours or less on Normal or Hard mode with an A rank). The Submachine Gun is available as part of Billy's initial inventory during the subsequent playthrough.
* Rocket Launcher with unlimited ammo (Complete the game in 3.5 hours or less on Normal or Hard mode with an S rank). The Rocket Launcher is available as part of Rebecca's initial inventory during the subsequent playthrough.
* The "Leech Hunter" Minigame. The objective is for Billy and Rebecca to collect the 100 leech-shaped charms scattered inside the Management Training Facility. There are 50 blue charms that can only be picked up by Billy and 50 green ones for Rebecca. Once the player has obtained a charm (up to 10 for each item slot), it cannot be dropped. For the Leech Charms obtained by both characters to be taken into account, one must escape by leaving the facility from the main entrance in the main hall. If one of the characters is killed, the game will end and only the charms collected by the surviving character will be taken in account. The following items can be unlocked for the main game depending on how many charms were collected.
Leech Hunter Bonuses* 100 Leech Charms: Infinite ammo for all weapons.
* 90-99 Leech Charms: Magnum Revolver will appear in Room 202 of the Train.
* 60-89 Leech Charms: Infinite ammo for the Hunting Gun.
* 30-59 Leech Charms: Equipped Handguns will have infinite ammo.
* 1-29 Leech Charms: Ammo for the Submachine Gun will be available throughout the main game.
* The Dead Factory makes a return from its original appearance in
Resident Evil 3.* Once the player gets to the Factory, the turntable from
Resident Evil 2, is missing. The turntable may have been used by the Umbrella faculity. It wasn't used by the survivors of
Resident Evil: Outbreak to escape the Lab because the outbreak didn't happen after S.T.A.R.S and
William Birkin returned to Raccoon city.
* The Save Room at the Factory entry has a hatch near the wall. It's the same hatch from Resident Evil 2 that leads to the R.P.D at Raccoon City, but it's sealed and can't be opened. Also, the door that goes back to the Military Training Facility was never found or used on
Resident Evil 2; by this time, the door had been covered up with a stack of barrels, and most likely sealed.
*Although
Resident Evil :Survivor (
Biohazard: Gun Survivor) was only considered to be a a spinoff of the main game franchise , Sheena Island, the main setting of the "Gun Survivor" game, is mentioned early in Zero's prologue as one of the places infected by the T-virus.
Resident Evil 0 started production on the Nintendo 64, and featured graphics close to Resident Evil 2 and 3 in appearance. The developers believed that the system's cartridge media would give the quick load times required for the game's character switching system.
Production shifted to the GameCube halfway during development, in order to compete with the Shinji Mikami-directed remake of the original.[9] The scenario and storyline in the released GameCube version remained largely unchanged, though Rebecca received a new outfit (she originally wore a white beret and shoulder pads, similar to Jill Valentine's original costume) and the graphics were significantly enhanced to take advantage of the GameCube's hardware. Several of the EX Files featured in the Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2, namely Rebecca's Report and Mother Virus Report, alluded to the events of Resident Evil 0. Several of the later variations of the Nintendo 64 hardware's packaging featured screenshots of this version of Resident Evil 0 with a "Coming Soon" notation.
A
novelization of the game titled
Resident Evil 0, was written by
author S.D. Perry. Prequel to the very first game (Resident Evil) or book (Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy). Main characters include the Bravo Team's
Rebecca Chambers and an ex-Marine named
Billy Coen.
*
Official Japanese site*
Official European site*
Resident Evil 0 at MobyGames
