Resident Evil Zero

Resident Evil Zero (or Resident Evil 0) is a 2002 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. It is a prequel to Resident Evil (2002), following S.T.A.R.S. officer Rebecca Chambers and convict Billy Coen as they explore an abandoned training facility for employees of the pharmaceutical company Umbrella in the outskirts of Raccoon City. The gameplay is similar to other Resident Evil games, but adds the ability to switch between characters to solve puzzles and use unique abilities. Development for Resident Evil Zero began for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. The partner system was created to take advantage of the short load times possible with the capabilities of the Nintendo 64 Game Pak. The cartridge format also provided limitations, as the storage capacity was significantly less than that of a CD-ROM. The team had to approach the design differently from previous series entries to conserve storage space. Resident Evil Zero was designed to be more difficult than previous Resident Evil games. Inspired by Sweet Home (1989), the team removed the item storage boxes present in earlier games and introduced a new item-dropping feature. Production was switched to the recently unveiled GameCube after development slowed due to memory storage issues. Only the concept and story remained from the original game, which had to be rebuilt. Resident Evil Zero received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the graphics and audio for building a haunting atmosphere. Opinions on the new partner and item systems were mixed. Some found the changes were an improvement and added new layers of strategy; others believed the changes were cumbersome or non-innovative. The game's tank controls were criticized as outdated. The game was ported to the Wii in 2008, and a high-definition remaster was released in January 2016; the rereleases received mixed reviews due to lack of improvements.

Source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 — Resident Evil Zero · retrieved October 19, 2026

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Developer

Capcom

Publisher

Capcom

First release

November 12, 2002

Series

Resident Evil

Cover

Official thumbnail

Record ID

Q1056069