Resident Evil 0

Resident Evil 0 or Resident Evil Zero (Japanese:バイオハザード０, Biohazard 0) is a prequel to the latter Resident Evil Games.

Before the Mansion. Before the disaster. Evil is Born.

• Releases: Nintendo GameCube 2002

Set in 1998, just one day before the events of the original Resident Evil, S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team is sent in to investigate a series of grisly murders in the Arklay Mountains region. On the way to the scene Bravo's helicopter crashes with no fatalities and they discover an overturned military transport truck riddled with corpses. The team is soon split up and Bravo team's field medic, rookie member Rebecca Chambers, begins to wonder what she has gotten herself into. She quickly hooks up with a passenger, ex-marine Billy Cohen, and the two of them face off against a band of Cerberus, swarms of strange leeches, and a mysterious individual with possible links to the disaster.

Resident Evil 0's main gameplay is unique in the series in that instead of choosing a character to play through the whole game you play as both Rebecca and Billy at the same time. You can control both characters at once with the gamepad or switch between them at will while letting the computer control the unused member. This dual control is central to solving some of the puzzles in the game. The game also does away with the use of "item boxes" placed in fixed locations for you to store your items in. Instead, the player actually drop items on the floor to make room for new ones, and must retracee their steps back to the room they previously dropped the discarded item if they find they need it later in the game.

Other recurring Resident Evil characters present are Alpha leader Albert Wesker and Umbrella executive Dr. William Birkin. The two of them make a cameo appearance in a couple of cutscenes, but never interact with the player's characters. The game also introduces Dr. James Marcus, who is apparently the true creator of the T-virus and is heavily involved in the game's story.