Resident Evil 0

I went into Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster already knowing its reputation as the awkward cousin in the classic RE family, and I can confirm: that reputation is earned, and it still does not tell the whole story. Set on a zombie-overrun train before spiraling into the familiar Umbrella training facility, the game pairs S.T.A.R.S. medic Rebecca Chambers with military fugitive Billy Coen in what was the series' first real experiment with a dual-character system. You can swap between them at any time, and the design actually leans into the split: Billy is your muscle, capable of pushing heavy objects and absorbing more punishment, while Rebecca is the only one who can mix herbs or combine chemicals for puzzle solutions. The partner-zapping mechanic sounds good on paper and genuinely produces some clever co-dependent puzzle moments, but it also doubles the inventory headache. The inventory is where the game will sort its audience ruthlessly. Item boxes from earlier RE titles are gone entirely, replaced by a drop-anywhere system that sounds liberating until you realize it means trekking back through monster-filled corridors to retrieve a shotgun shell you left three rooms ago. Each character carries six slots, larger weapons like the grenade launcher eat two of those, and the game hands you key items at a pace that keeps the pressure constant. Players who enjoy the slow, deliberate resource chess of old-school survival horror will find this genuinely tense. Players who just want to shoot things and move forward will be grinding their teeth before the first boss. That divide in opinion has followed this game for over two decades, and the HD remaster does nothing to smooth it over. The backtracking is real, the pacing dips hard in the middle sections, and the FMV cutscenes were not meaningfully upscaled, so they look noticeably muddier than the clean pre-rendered backgrounds around them. What the remaster does well: the pre-rendered environments look excellent in HD, the atmospheric lighting and 5.1 audio hold up to create genuine dread in tight spaces, and the optional modern control scheme means you no longer have to fight tank controls on top of everything else. Classic controls are still there for purists. You can also choose between 4:3 and 16:9 widescreen with a pan-and-scan camera, or lock to 60 fps. The options menu respects different kinds of players, which counts for something. First playthrough clocks around ten hours, but repeat runs reward players who know the optimal route, and speedrunning this type of fixed-camera survival horror has its own satisfying rhythm. Post-completion, two bonus modes unlock. The Leech Hunter mini-game challenges you to collect up to 100 stone leeches scattered through the Umbrella facility, with unlockables as reward. The headliner is Wesker Mode, which replaces Billy with Albert Wesker himself, complete with a Shadow Dash mobility move and a Death Stare eye-beam attack that lets him charge and release a blast of energy, clearing zombie heads with zero ammo cost. It is deliberately overpowered and treats the same corridors you just crawled through as a speedrunning playground. The absurdity of a god-tier RE villain being stopped by flimsy wooden doors and math puzzles is not lost on anyone, but leaning into that joke makes a second playthrough feel distinctly different rather than just a harder difficulty repeat. Community opinion on Wesker Mode splits between fans who find it a perfect victory lap and those who wanted a standalone experience rather than a reskin of the main campaign. Both sides have a point. Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster occupies a strange position: it is a faithful remaster of one of the weaker entries in the classic RE lineup, yet it still delivers the core loop of tension, resource management, and puzzle-solving that defined an era. If you have already worked through the REmake HD Remaster and want more of that formula pushed to its most demanding extreme, Zero is the logical next step. If you are new to classic Resident Evil and this is your first taste, expect a learning curve that the game will not apologize for.

Alex · Scout Team

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