Resident Evil 0 Returns to Consoles in Early 2016
Following the surprise success of Resident Evil HD Remaster, Capcom has announced it’s going to keep the remaster gravy train, er, full of warm gravy? All right, that got away from me – Capcom announced yesterday that horror-laden prequel Resident Evil 0 is next up on the remaster docket and that’s just gravy (shit! What is wrong with me?).First released on the little-loved little love machine, the Nintendo Gamecube, in 2002, RE0 follows the ill-begotton journey of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team’s 19-year-old medic Rebecca Chambers. The prequel details Rebecca’s worst night ever (before her other worst night ever in the Spencer Estate) as she partners up with a stoic convict named Billy Cohen and unravels a mystery surrounding the very origins of the Umbrella Corporation itself. What it doesn’t unravel is why Becca wouldn’t fucking mention any of these events to her comrades the next day in Resident Evil, but whatever – that’s video games.
Staff members that worked on the game thirteen years ago are back to oversee the remastering – including original director Koji Oda. Here’s a fun video of him having a green herb throttled his way by producer Tsukasa Takenaka. It’s fantastically awkward, and much bowing ensues.
Though it beautifully evolves the high fidelity graphics first found in REmake, RE0 doesn’t rank high on my list of survival horror favorites. A hastily utilized character “zapping” system and obtuse inventory mechanics that made it too easy to lose integral items throughout the stages (sometimes for-fucking-ever – lookin’ at you, train sequence) turned this horror romp more grueling than gruesome.
Despite its flaws (no item boxes?! I don’t care if they’re physics bending magic, I love them!), Zero still earned the respect of Resident Evil fans and will likely satiate gamers looking for more survival horror than boulder-uppercutting horror.
Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster is set for a *long breath* PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC release in early 2016 *exhale*.