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It’s time to celebrate horror game fans; we’re going back in to the history books of Resident Evil again. After the brilliant success of Resident Evil HD Remaster last year, based on the Gamecube remake of the original Playstation classic horror, Capcom are gifting us with another Gamecube exclusive made non-exclusive with Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster coming early 2016.
Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster is part of Capcom’s grand scheme to keep remastering old games in the series for newer audiences to test the waters for new games inspired by the old. Call me crazy, but I think we’ve seen more than enough of Resident Evil 4 (Catch it on Gamecube, Playstation 2, PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iOS or Steam if you’re looking for the ultra HD version, do get in touch if I missed any…), here’s hoping for a complete version of Resident Evil Outbreak with its online functionality restored, including those missing levels that never made it in to the final games. Yoko’s is a story that needs to be told!
On the off chance anyone at Capcom reads this, I would love a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in the style of Alien Isolation and think it would be immensely popular. Maybe get involved with The Creative Assembly and prove that outsourcing can produce quality games and not just Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City. Cough, cough.
Resident Evil 0 put us in the shoes of Ayumi Hamasaki (Google her) lookalike Rebecca Chambers, the only time she’s had a leading role in the series (something that fans would like to see change), but in a twist we were also put in control of newcomer Billy Cohen … At the same time.
In recent Resident Evil titles, fans have complained that having a partner character constantly accompanying you throughout the entire game breaks the lonely tension, eliminates the horror atmosphere and often leads to unnecessary and unfair game overs due to bad AI (or players if you’re online). Many blame Resident Evil 5’s Sheva as the seed of this evil (I for one resent that, she’s a great character and Chris is just as bad when controlled by AI), but it was in fact Resident Evil 0 that introduced the dreaded partner character.
Even before then, the series has had moments in which you would be accompanied by a temporary partner character, with none being more infuriating in my memory than Sherry Birkin in Resident Evil 2 with her constant stopping to crouch should you run too far ahead – I’m trying to beat the game in less than three hours, keep up! And let’s not forget it was Resident Evil Outbreak that introduced the series to multiplayer. So, is the stick Resident Evil 5 gets entirely fair?
Resident Evil 0 took place before the days of multiplayer (and before the days of Resident Evil, in case the title didn’t clue you in) so the partner zapping system became our way to control both characters. Remember that fancy feature from Resident Evil Revelations 2? Yeah, that’s nothing new either. But at least we didn’t have to be in close proximity of our partner. Indeed Rebecca and Billy often had to split up and could end up on either end of a mansion without the game telling you one character couldn’t proceed without the other, so there were still windows for dread and loneliness.
It’s interesting how all these features get brushed under the rug –Resident Evil Revelations, for example, was credited as the first to introduce moving whilst aiming to the series because Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 didn’t do so well…
The spotlight is about to shine on an unusual entry in the series that boasts features that have been loved and loathed throughout the series. Fixed camera angles (that purists just love to nerdgasm over) meet a partner character. It’ll certainly be interesting to see the reaction of those that never tried the original due to Capcom’s exclusivity agreement with Nintendo. Being the last entry to use the original mechanics before Resident Evil 4 came in like a third-person shooter wrecking ball, now we’ll see whether Resident Evil 4 was the nail in the coffin the purists believe it is or maybe we’ll see the series had gone stale long before then. Only time will tell…
No trailers or details on new features (if any) yet, but we’ll keep you posted! Meanwhile, here’s a message from the producers behind Resident Evil HD Remaster.
Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster will be coming to Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC as a digital download only title in early 2016.
