biohazard 0 (Resident Evil 0) was released in 2002 to the United States and Japan, after a near six year development cycle, which took it across two platforms. Although Resident Evil 0 is the fifth title in the series's canon chronological release order, it is a prequel to the first Resident Evil. The game follows the events that lead up to the Arklay Mansion incident from the perspectives of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team and ultimately ends up centering around the teams medic, Rebecca Chambers and an escaped felon, Billy Coen.
Production Information
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 3
Publishers: Capcom
Platforms: GCN, Wii
Publishers: Capcom
Platforms: GCN, Wii
Plot Synopsis
As the cases of morbid murders in the surrounding Arklay Mountains begin to pile up, the populous of Raccoon City becomes restless. In order to alleviate the people's growing fear, Chief Brian Irons orders Captain Albert Wesker to dispatch the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team to investigate the strange occurrences. However, while on route to the investigation, a sudden engine failure causes their helicopter to crash land deep within the heart of the mountain's forest.
Although everyone survives the crash, Bravo Team quickly finds themselves in unfamiliar territory. The team's leader, Enrico Marini, commands his unit to form a perimeter, leading Rebecca to discover an upturned military prison transport riddled with mutilated corpses. Bravo Team discovers a prisoner transport sheet which details the escort mission of the now deceased military police. The MP's were escorting Billy Coen, a convicted murder. Sensing danger, Enrico orders his team to hunt for the murderer.
Although everyone survives the crash, Bravo Team quickly finds themselves in unfamiliar territory. The team's leader, Enrico Marini, commands his unit to form a perimeter, leading Rebecca to discover an upturned military prison transport riddled with mutilated corpses. Bravo Team discovers a prisoner transport sheet which details the escort mission of the now deceased military police. The MP's were escorting Billy Coen, a convicted murder. Sensing danger, Enrico orders his team to hunt for the murderer.
Development History
Initially slated for release on the Nintendo 64, Resident Evil 0 began its conceptual phase in 1997. The cartridge media was initially chosen over the more popular cd media because it lent optimal conditions to the concepts of item dropping and partner zapping due to its lack of load times. Despite the game's relatively early conceptualization and hordes of perpetual rumors, it was not officially announced until January of 1999.
The first hint came from a Famitsu interview with Yoshiki Okamoto on August 7th of 1998. In the interview, when asked what Nintendo 64 games his company was working on, Mr. Okamoto blurted out Resident Evil 64; however, Capcom requested Famitsu not print the name and instead readers found "********." It was not until January 7th of 1999 that Mr Okamoto officially admitted that he was working on an unnamed Resident Evil game for the Nintendo 64 through an interview with the Japanese magazine Dengeki.
The first game demo was featured during Tokyo Game Show 2000, revealing Billy Coen as a playable character, the exclusion of the item box, and the ability to "zap" between Billy and Rebecca in real time.
Half way through production, Resident Evil 0 switched platforms to GameCube in early 2000 for a number of reasons. Firstly, with Shinji Mikami's remake of the original Resident Evil (hereon out referred to as "REmake") making huge graphical advancements on the GameCube, the production team of Resident Evil Ø felt pressure to compete with its lush atmosphere. As well, the GameCube's small disc size cut down on load times significantly, a factor which originally caused the production team to choose a cartridge media. It didn't take long for rumors of the platform switch to circulate and on September 7th of 2000, just five months after the first playable demo on the Nintendo 64, Capcom officially announced the switch to the sixth generation of gaming.
News on the game's development would not come again until nearly two yeas later at E3 2002. There, Resident Evil 0's transition to GameCube was revealed to have changed very little of the actual game with much of the beta's settings, characters, enemies, and scenarios untouched. However, there were a number of notable continuity and graphical changes:
The first hint came from a Famitsu interview with Yoshiki Okamoto on August 7th of 1998. In the interview, when asked what Nintendo 64 games his company was working on, Mr. Okamoto blurted out Resident Evil 64; however, Capcom requested Famitsu not print the name and instead readers found "********." It was not until January 7th of 1999 that Mr Okamoto officially admitted that he was working on an unnamed Resident Evil game for the Nintendo 64 through an interview with the Japanese magazine Dengeki.
The first game demo was featured during Tokyo Game Show 2000, revealing Billy Coen as a playable character, the exclusion of the item box, and the ability to "zap" between Billy and Rebecca in real time.
Half way through production, Resident Evil 0 switched platforms to GameCube in early 2000 for a number of reasons. Firstly, with Shinji Mikami's remake of the original Resident Evil (hereon out referred to as "REmake") making huge graphical advancements on the GameCube, the production team of Resident Evil Ø felt pressure to compete with its lush atmosphere. As well, the GameCube's small disc size cut down on load times significantly, a factor which originally caused the production team to choose a cartridge media. It didn't take long for rumors of the platform switch to circulate and on September 7th of 2000, just five months after the first playable demo on the Nintendo 64, Capcom officially announced the switch to the sixth generation of gaming.
News on the game's development would not come again until nearly two yeas later at E3 2002. There, Resident Evil 0's transition to GameCube was revealed to have changed very little of the actual game with much of the beta's settings, characters, enemies, and scenarios untouched. However, there were a number of notable continuity and graphical changes:
- The game would now feature FMA (Full Motion-Animated) backdrops, like REmake with real time shadow effects, but, unlike REmake, Resident Evil 0's put an even heavier emphasis on the animation aspect.
- Rebecca Chambers no longer wore the white beret she had in the Nintendo 64 build since the new character model was to remain consistent with her appearance in REmake.
- Edward Dewey was originally directed to lose his hand to a Cerberus before jumping through the train window. This would be the hand that Joseph Frost finds in the original Resident Evil's opening video; however, the REmake development team edited this out of their updated opening video and instead opted for Joseph Frost to find the corpse of Kevin Dooley. In order to keep continuity, Edward kept his hand in the GameCube incarnate.
Critical Response
While Resident Evil 0's graphics and soundscapes were hailed as being among the best to be seen in video games to that date, the game's "classic" styled gameplay has garnered it animosity from industry reviewers.
Using the same technology as REmake, Resident Evil 0 produces stunningly realistic visuals coupled with dramatic camera angles to help complete the cinematic atmosphere. However, Resident Evil Ø goes even beyond the scope of REmake by putting a heavy stress on full motion-animated backdrops, giving the game an engrossing sense of realism. To compliment its engaging visuals, the sound team developed an excellent soundscape gathers positive remarks among reviewers.
Partner zapping is well accepted as adding new game play elements to otherwise trite puzzles and additional tactics to the survival horror mechanics. However, the second game feature, item dropping, receives mixed reviews at best. While it is true that the exclusion of an item box helped liven up the same old game play, the feature ended up generally not making much of a different. The safest place to drop items was still in a save room where enemies could not enter causing most players to use it as an "item box" regardless.
The most criticized of all the game's assets is the traditional Resident Evil game mechanics and controls. While endured by fans of the series, the "tank" control scheme is heavily disliked by players and reviewers alike. It is largely considered "archaic" by industry veterans when Devil May Cry, the first Resident Evil 4 beta, shows examples of much superior game controls. Another returned nuisance is ink ribbons, which limits the amount of saves you may have and takes up room in your inventory. Intended to create a sense of strategy for saving through inventory space management, it seems entirely out of place in Resident Evil 0 when you can just as easily drop the ink ribbon next to the typewriter.
Finally, the story itself is a topic of much debate among fans of the series because of its tangentiality. While initial reports promised the plot would explain what happened to Bravo Team prior to events in Resident Evil, it instead relishes a plot of revenge with Rebecca and Billy caught in the middle. Consequently, very little of Bravo Team is actually shown. Resident Evil 0 focuses heavily on the Progenitor Virus and its origins suggesting that it was to be a precursor to the "fog" build of Resident Evil 4, but this beta was scrapped causing Resident Evil 0 to feel divergent from the main series.
Using the same technology as REmake, Resident Evil 0 produces stunningly realistic visuals coupled with dramatic camera angles to help complete the cinematic atmosphere. However, Resident Evil Ø goes even beyond the scope of REmake by putting a heavy stress on full motion-animated backdrops, giving the game an engrossing sense of realism. To compliment its engaging visuals, the sound team developed an excellent soundscape gathers positive remarks among reviewers.
Partner zapping is well accepted as adding new game play elements to otherwise trite puzzles and additional tactics to the survival horror mechanics. However, the second game feature, item dropping, receives mixed reviews at best. While it is true that the exclusion of an item box helped liven up the same old game play, the feature ended up generally not making much of a different. The safest place to drop items was still in a save room where enemies could not enter causing most players to use it as an "item box" regardless.
The most criticized of all the game's assets is the traditional Resident Evil game mechanics and controls. While endured by fans of the series, the "tank" control scheme is heavily disliked by players and reviewers alike. It is largely considered "archaic" by industry veterans when Devil May Cry, the first Resident Evil 4 beta, shows examples of much superior game controls. Another returned nuisance is ink ribbons, which limits the amount of saves you may have and takes up room in your inventory. Intended to create a sense of strategy for saving through inventory space management, it seems entirely out of place in Resident Evil 0 when you can just as easily drop the ink ribbon next to the typewriter.
Finally, the story itself is a topic of much debate among fans of the series because of its tangentiality. While initial reports promised the plot would explain what happened to Bravo Team prior to events in Resident Evil, it instead relishes a plot of revenge with Rebecca and Billy caught in the middle. Consequently, very little of Bravo Team is actually shown. Resident Evil 0 focuses heavily on the Progenitor Virus and its origins suggesting that it was to be a precursor to the "fog" build of Resident Evil 4, but this beta was scrapped causing Resident Evil 0 to feel divergent from the main series.
Secrets/Glitches
Rank Requirements and Rewards
D: (9:01 or more) - Leech Hunter and Closet Key unlocked.
C: (7:01 - 9:00) - Leech Hunter and Closet Key unlocked.
B: (5:01 - 7:00) - Leech Hunter and Closet Key unlocked.
A: (3:31 - 5:00) - Sub-machine Gun, Leech Hunter, and Closet Key unlocked.
S: (3:30 or less) - Rocket Launcher, Sub-machine Gun, Leech Hunter, and Closet Key unlocked.
Alternate Costumes
Complete the game on either normal or hard difficulties with any rank. You will start your next game wit the Closet Key in your inventory. Use this key on the locked closet door inside the passenger compartment where the Hunting Shotgun is found. Billy gains a suite while Rebecca can choose between a leather outfit or a cowboy uniform.
Leech Hunter Mini-Game
To unlock Leech Hunter, complete the main game on any difficulty with any rank. It will become accessible through the "Extras" option.
Leech Hunter is a mini-game where the player takes control of Billy and Rebecca simultaneously, through "partner zapping," with each character beginning with their respective handguns, handgun ammo, and recovery items. The object is to collect fifty Green Leech Charms and fifty Blue Leech Charms (totaling one hundred charms) scattered throughout the Management Training Facility while fending off basic enemies from the main game, including zombies, Hunter α's, and Plague Crawlers. Additional weapons, ammo, and healing items may be found along the way. Unlockables are rewarded upon completion based on the number of leech charms collected.
Rewards for completing the mini-game with a certain amount of leech charms are as follows:
100 leeches: Infinite ammo for all weapons found in the main game.
90-99 leeches: A Magnum Revolver will appear in room 202 of the train.
60-89 leeches: Infinite ammo for the Hunting Shotgun.
30-59 leeches: Equipped handguns will have infinite ammo.
1-29 leeches: Sub-machine gun bullets added to Rebecca's inventory
D: (9:01 or more) - Leech Hunter and Closet Key unlocked.
C: (7:01 - 9:00) - Leech Hunter and Closet Key unlocked.
B: (5:01 - 7:00) - Leech Hunter and Closet Key unlocked.
A: (3:31 - 5:00) - Sub-machine Gun, Leech Hunter, and Closet Key unlocked.
S: (3:30 or less) - Rocket Launcher, Sub-machine Gun, Leech Hunter, and Closet Key unlocked.
Alternate Costumes
Complete the game on either normal or hard difficulties with any rank. You will start your next game wit the Closet Key in your inventory. Use this key on the locked closet door inside the passenger compartment where the Hunting Shotgun is found. Billy gains a suite while Rebecca can choose between a leather outfit or a cowboy uniform.
Leech Hunter Mini-Game
To unlock Leech Hunter, complete the main game on any difficulty with any rank. It will become accessible through the "Extras" option.
Leech Hunter is a mini-game where the player takes control of Billy and Rebecca simultaneously, through "partner zapping," with each character beginning with their respective handguns, handgun ammo, and recovery items. The object is to collect fifty Green Leech Charms and fifty Blue Leech Charms (totaling one hundred charms) scattered throughout the Management Training Facility while fending off basic enemies from the main game, including zombies, Hunter α's, and Plague Crawlers. Additional weapons, ammo, and healing items may be found along the way. Unlockables are rewarded upon completion based on the number of leech charms collected.
Rewards for completing the mini-game with a certain amount of leech charms are as follows:
100 leeches: Infinite ammo for all weapons found in the main game.
90-99 leeches: A Magnum Revolver will appear in room 202 of the train.
60-89 leeches: Infinite ammo for the Hunting Shotgun.
30-59 leeches: Equipped handguns will have infinite ammo.
1-29 leeches: Sub-machine gun bullets added to Rebecca's inventory