Resident Evil Archives: Zero (Wii)

This is prequel to the other Resident Evil games - though it is more accurately called an archive release as it the games inside were previous released and have been re-released.

(*start of opening cutscene*) The story starts the day before the Spencer mountain incident with a train called the Ecliptic Express speeding through the Arklay Forests outside Racoon City when a splat on the window attracts the attention of a passenger. The businessman looks into the darkness outside and sees a tall thin figure standing on top of one of the mountain peaks under the rapidly building storm clouds. Suddenly, a large slug like creature lands on the window with a splat, then another one, and another. The window is quickly obscured by the slimy creatures. The sucker foot of the first one opens to reveal row upon row of sharp tiny fanglike teeth. As panic starts to spread through the carriage the slugs drop from the roof and attack those travelling inside.

Unaware of this the STARS Bravo Team have are on their way to investigate a series of cannibalistic murders in the forests outside Racoon City when the helicopter they are travelling in suffers engine failure and makes an emergency crash landing. They find themselves near an overturned military prison transport where the guards are dead and the convicted murderer, Billy Cohn, is on the run.

Bravo team fan out to find him and the newest recruit discovers the Ecliptic Express broken down and damaged and decides to enter to see what has happened (*end of the opening cutscene*). So starts the terror.

First thing to say is that this is a "free to roam" game. You start with a choice of Easy, Normal or Hard - I, personally, always start with the easy option (mainly because I have only been playing this type of game for a short time). Playable are 18 year old rookie STARS Bravo team member Rebecca Chambers and escaped convict Billy Cohn. Interestingly, rather than play as either Rebecca or Billy you can switch between the two of them during play.

As a second AI player the alternate character is almost useless, it rarely helps out when you are in a tight corner. Worse than that is the inability to aim at the zombies, creatures and bosses. That really does annoy me when I have to retarget because the boss creature has moved, it wastes valuable time and can get your character killed.

I had a couple of problems controlling the movement, but having played Resident Evil right before it I was more used to directionality. Other than that and cursing the lack of save areas every time Rebecca or Billy bit the dust I had no other problems.

There are still puzzles to solve and there are also unlockable mini games including "leech hunter" which is basically a shooting gallery game where you try to shoot as many leeches as possible within the given time - damn that auto targetting.

What you learn in the game goes a long way to adding to the Resident Evil story.

I was advised to play RE before this game and I can see why the introduction of the person behind the mansion incident would have been spoilt if I had played this first.

It is a great game and I am very glad I persevered through to the end and discovered the story behind Umbrella.

This is GameCube's 2nd RE game after the remake of the original Resident Evil and it isn't a sequel. It's much more than a prequel and I'll explain why is it. When the original Resident Evil infected the Psone back in 1996, players wondered how the zombie outbreak all began in the first place when the story unfolded. Capcom remade the original game for the GameCube as part of the exclusive deal with capcom and players were still left wondering how it all happened in the first place, until capcom got the idea to go back in time with the series and that's when Resident Evil Zero was born. The game goes back in time to where it all started and that lead to the zombie outbreak to happen in the original game.

Resident Evil Zero was originally going to be released on the Nintendo 64. It's true, but that was when the console was almost at the end of it's life, so capcom moved the game to gamecube as part of the exclusive deal with capcom.

The game introduces the Bravo Team, but it was the original game that first introduced the team along with the S.T.A.R.S. team. The team are made up of Edward, Forrest, Joseph, Brad, Enrico, Richard and Rebecca - as you may remember from the original game. The game also introduces a brand new character called Billy Coen, who is a former U.S. Marine. You'll follow the team of how they ended up there and how they died, but mainly you will be in the shoes of Rebecca and Billy throughout the entire game. Albert Wesker returns and you'll find out that he's the brains behind all of this mess to begin with and William Birkin is also in this game from RE2.

The game has some new features, enemies and weapons, but it does lose a feature that everyone liked throughout the series. The notable and the biggest feature about this is that you can control two characters at once instead of one throughout the game and that's called Partner Zapping. The way this works is that you can swap between rebecca and billy at anytime or whatever room they're in if they are seperated. I bet many people disliked this feature, but makes it easier to kill zombies and monsters knowing that you have another pair of hands to help you. You can switch items between them and that's where the storage box comes in. There isn't one, so players will have to drop items on the floor, which is ridiculous.

After this game was originally announced for the nintendo 64 and was released for the gamecube. The game has came to the Wii with no new features or graphically enhancements like the RE Remake, but it does offer Wiimote controls now, which is not very good at all.

Despite the new features and lost features that many didn't like, this is still a very good game in the series.

So you've revisited and survived the "mansion incident" Resident Evil (Wii) which was reworked beautifully by Capcom, capturing the feel of Playstation original and expanding on the story just enough to provide a fresh take on a familiar classic, while taking nothing away from the '96 offering. The next logical step was the creation a completely original title to elorate further on the reinvisioning of 'Resident Evil' the "remake," a prequel.

'Resident Evil Zero' takes you back a mere day before the exploits of 'Alpha Team,' who were subsequently investigating the aftermath of the investigation into a series of "grisly murders" taken place in the 'Arkley Mountains,' an investigation led by the Bravo Team.

We follow the story of Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen as they overcome a speeding passenger train full of zombies, your token "boss" creatures and a mysterious infestation of giant leeches.

'Zero' is absolutely essential for all fans of the classic series.