Resident Evil 0: A pleasant walk down memory lane

Krishna Bahirwani explains why this game sets a benchmark for HD remasters

Resident Evil 0 takes you back to a different time of video games, a time without unlimited saves, mini-maps and objective trackers. The game is the prequel to the series that played an instrumental role in making the horror genre what it is today. The game actually makes you pay attention to where you are going so that you don't land up going in circles. The game is mostly played in third-person, it does, however, switch to the first person while climbing ladders and opening doors.

Resident Evil 0's storyline revolves around two central characters, Rebecca Chambers and convict Billy Coen. The story begins with Rebecca and the rest of her team barely surviving a crash-landing of their helicopter to discover a few of their own dead and a prisoner missing. The search leads them to a train where the rest of Rebecca's team is either killed or separated from her. The circumstances lead to Rebecca having to team up with the prisoner to ensure their survival. They then progress to look for what caused the outbreak of zombies and monsters on the train.

The game allows you to actively switch between both. Since you have a small inventory and limited ammo effectively combining their storage space is the only way forward. Rebecca and Billy both play a little differently, Only if you really understand their strengths and weaknesses effectively, will you be able to solve some of the intricate puzzles this game has to offer.

If you play this game without any outside assistance, the game rewards experimentation. It's not the kind of game that holds your hand and tells you what to do, you need to actually think to play the game. You can also only save the game when you are next to a typewriter and have ink in your inventory. This makes you really think about when you want to save and also changes the way you approach enemies as losing to one of them could lead to a lot of backtracking.

The remaster manages to make a fourteen-year-old game and give it a visual makeover with a lot of attention to detail, resulting in a beautiful recreation of the original classic. The low resolution textures have been replaced with new high-resolution textures that have been created from the ground up. The new visuals manage to preserve the classic appearance of the original release while supporting a resolution of 1080p. The sound has also been re done with 5.1 surround sound support and a better overall audio experience. The game gives you the option of playing it with the original 4:3 ratio or the more modern 16:9 widescreen mode. That being said, the cutscenes have not got a makeover and don't look anything like the rest of the game.

The game allows you to choose between two control schemes, the original and slightly more modern control scheme. While the original control scheme is almost unplayable for most new players, the modern control scheme gives some accessibility to gamers of the current generation. The modern control scheme could have been further improved the overall gameplay experience and made the game a lot more accessible.

Once you complete the main storyline, you unlock the ability to play through the story using Albert Wesker, the series' antagonist adding a lot of replayability.

The remaster is a great entry point for those new to the series while giving old-time fans enough reason to replay the game. If you missed the original for any reason, this remaster is one game you don't want to miss.

Reviewed on...

Asus GL552JX Laptop
Processor: Intel Core i7 4720HQ Processor
Operating System: Windows 10
Memory: 8GB DDR3L 1600 MHz
Display: 15.6" 16:9 IPS FHD (1920x1080) anti-glare
Graphic card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M with 4GB DDR3 VRAM
Storage: 1TB HDD 5400 RPM
Mouse: ROCCAT Nyth

Game information

Rating: 9/10
Platforms: Xbox One, Playstation 4, Microsoft Windows
Genre: Action, Adventure
Developer: CAPCOM, Capcom Production Studio 3, Flagship, Tose, Capcom Production Studio 4
Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Designers: Tomohiro Kida, Takayoshi Miyake, Yasuhiro Itoge, Takahiro Ushiroda, Isamu Hara
Series: Resident Evil
Awards: Satellite Award for Outstanding Art Direction - Interactive Media
Release Date: 19 Jan, 2016