Resident Evil Zero (GameCube)

GRAPHICS:

(+)Simply amazing. The sharp, pre-rendered locations are stunning and possibly the best graphics I have ever seen in any computer game. The backgrounds breathe with movement, a technique that has been perfected on the Gamecube, allowing pre-rendered backdrops to look alive and not static as they had in previous entries on the Resident Evil series. The colours work fantastically with the mood of the game and the cut-scenes are directed with amazing skill and are the most amazing I have ever seen in a game, surpassing those of Final Fantasy X in my opinion.
(-) Not a single problem, there is not one visable polygon mistake in this game. The lighting is beautiful. The only problem I would mention is that sometimes the camera is at an angle where not every available route is visable for the player. I often missed whole areas because I simply couldn't see their entrances.

SOUND:

(+) The use of sound effects is very cleverly employed, zombies will quietly shuffle in the distance, as always, and this proves to add to the tension a lot. The sounds created by the monsters are very well done. If I only had a surround sound system!
(-) The repeating footstep sounds can make the game sound a bit unrealistic, in the game "Silent Hill 2" for the playstation, hundreds of individual footsteps were recorded to avoid this, perhaps the game could have employed this technique? When you get used to the three or four different zombie groans, they just aren't scary anymore.

MUSIC:

(+) Very good, as usual. The music in the series is wonderful and the games' score is worthy of being a soundtrack to a movie. The music is very moody and slow, setting a perfect undertone for the visuals.
(-) More please! Long areas without music meant for me the atmosphere lacked. The makers perhaps thought silence was scarier and perhaps this is true, but in moderation.

PLAYABILITY:

(+) Easy to get into if you're familiar with the series. Nothing has really changed and all the improvements made throughout the series remain.
(-) The new system means you control two characters at once and there are times where this is difficult. I played the game on "Hard Mode" first which was a mistake, I thought I was good enough, but this game proves a new, and very difficult challenge on "Hard Mode" even for those experts of the series! I thought there were moments in the game where it was almost the luck if you survived - the computer controlled character can waste your ammo sometimes when you don't want them to, but you want them to be armed just in case. It's not really a bad point about the game, you just have to be very aware. You can never relax, which is actually quite a good thing in the case of this game.

REPLAY VALUE:

(+) Lots of extra stuff to do, like in all of the Resident Evil titles. It will keep you coming back and experiencing every inch of the game, which is worth doing!
(-) After playing the game on "Hard Mode" you will be exhausted and won't want to experience much more for a while, but give it time, you'll want more.

CONCLUSIONS:

I was shocked at how long this game was and how amazing it looked. There are more kinds of monster in this game than any other in the series, which is refreshing - I didn't expect so much from what I thought was going to be a fairly short and lacking spin-off to the Resident Evil Remake. This is a full blown prequel that is if anything BIGGER than the remake! The introduction of two characters is great fun and the acting is (for once) really very good! The lip-sinc is perfect (as it's not dubbed, it's in English in Japan, just subtitled) and the story is great, explaining quite a lot and leading up to the events in Resident Evil 1. With the oppertunity of a prequel, more could have been explained and the appearance of some of the more mysterious characters of the series would have been nice (though there are a few suprises, I personally would have loved to have seen what Ada Wong of "Resident Evil 2" was doing during this time period). This game is perfect, it moves away from the more "hollywood" orientated road that "Resident Evil: Code Veronica" began to steer down but keeping the horror, action and character development that we've come to respect the series for in total tact. Well done Capcom!

The storyline is excellent and helps to explain a lot about the series - Where did the virus come from? What's old Al Wesker got to do with all this?

Zombies, Monkeys, Leaches, Hunters and a pump-action shotgun. Heaven.