Before Claire Redfield was captured in Paris, before Jill escaped from Raccoon City, before Leon, Claire and Sherry Birkin managed to escape that same city, and even before STARS Alpha team was betrayed by Wesker and left for dead in the Spencer Mansion there was a train, an escaped convict and Rebecca Chambers.

Resident Evil Zero takes place before all the other games in the series as described above; if you remember the introduction to the original Resident Evil you will be able to piece this zero chapter into the mix. When the RPD needed help investigating the bizarre murders in the forest just outside Raccoon City, they called in a specially trained unit called STARS. Captain of the team Albert Wesker sent Bravo Team in first to secure a perimeter, but a helicopter malfunction caused them to crash land—as you see in the opening cinema—and they run into some very unfriendly inhabitants.

As the team is decimated, Rebecca stumbles upon an overturned Hummer with several dead men in military garb along with a file jacket on a convict named Billy Coen, whom they were transporting. Coen is nowhere to be found. As the remaining members of Bravo Team run to the mansion to be killed and discovered by Alpha Team in Resident Evil, Rebecca finds a passenger train seemingly abandoned deep within the forest (you learn what happens to the train also during the opening introduction). As with all Resident Evil games, nothing is as it seems.

The marketing point of this game was the moving train, and early screenshots taken from the Nintendo 64 version primarily showed the game from the train. You will be surprised to find out that you only spend a small portion of the game on the vehicle before you are thrown into the familiar, dingy settings of derelict research facilities and sewers.

What you are really thinking is, “Do we REALLY need another Resident Evil game?” The answer is a very positive yes, because while RE0 is like all of the Resident Evils before it, it offers some new tweaks to the tried and true formula that make it stand out in the series.

The most notable addition is the player-zapping technology, which is very different than previous RE games. If you remember back to Resident Evil 2, you were faced with the decision to play as either Leon or Claire and the decision you made changed the game. After you completed your primary storyline, you went back and did it again with the other character, noting different placements of items and such. In RE0 you play as both characters at the same time. Using a semi-smart AI the character that you are not primarily controlling will follow you around and respond to different commands that you issue. These commands are very basic and range from “Fire Away” to “Stay Here.” At times when the fighting comes in close quarters you can controller the other character with the C Stick for just movement, they will fire on their own.

The player-zapping adds a new perspective on the puzzles that Capcom was able to include in the game. Aside from the usual find-a-key-to-open-a-door-that-has-another-key-inside type of puzzles, you will be faced with times when you are made to separate your characters in order to complete a specific task. For example, while on the train you must engage the brakes at the rear car and the locomotive at the same time; this requires you battling to the back of the train while the other character stays in the control room. Switching characters is as easy as hitting the X button on the controller.

Another new addition to the game is the lack of item boxes—those things that magically transported items from one save point to another. You now have the long-sought ability to drop items anywhere, the only drawback to this is if you drop an item that you will later need, you are forced to backtrack and reclaim it before you can proceed. This will lead to going back to the same areas over and over again and stifle the progress of the game. Another problem with this system is the ability to distinguish two items that are placed close together on the ground. If you try to pick up a knife that is lying next to a can of first aid spray, you are more than likely to keep picking up the first aid spray until you decide to move it out of the way. When several items are placed together picking up the one you want could be a trial in frustration. Hoping to alleviate some problems managing your items, Capcom also included the option to transfer items between characters when they are standing in close proximity to each other. This leads in to another problem as each character only has six items lots that fill up very fast in an item intensive game such as this.

Even with your character looking as dimwitted as ever while trying to pick up the correct item, at least they will be looking good. The graphics are top-notch. I personally believe we haven’t seen what the GameCube can really do, but this is getting damn close. Character models are designed perfectly and full of little details, such as the handcuffs swinging off of Billy’s hand. The shadowing effects are also superbly done, again with the shadow cast by the swinging handcuffs. While walking in the ambience of the train you will find bodies strewn across the cabin, one has an arm hung over the side of the chair that slightly swings with the motion of the moving train. It is really the little details—like raindrops flowing in from a broken window—that keep your attention on just how beautiful the game looks. And where the real time graphics look amazing, the FMV cutscenes are only second to the awe-inspiring work done by Blizzard Entertainment.

Sound is also of a very high quality, which we have come to expect from Capcom. The moans and groans of the living dead are delivered crisp and clear. Voice acting, as always, is laughable at best, but much better than previous games in the series (here’s looking at you RE2). Your characters speak in an “English-lite” sort of way that tries to keep the number of vowels in a sentence to the bare minimum. This isn’t really a fault of the game anymore, as we have come to expect it.

The only major problem still persistent through all of the Resident Evil games is the horrendous control scheme. I like to call it “Solitary Robot Control” as it just looks and feels awkward still. Your character isn’t able to back up any faster than a 450-lb. fat woman unless you use the 180-degree turn around feature, but even that makes you take your aim away from your target to run the opposite direction and do it again. It’s hard to see digital controls in an analog world where games like Super Mario Sunshine and even Silent Hill 2 enable the player to control the character like a normal living creature.

I was mightily impressed with Resident Evil Zero as I didn’t think Capcom could really pull of the prequel thing and not make it suck (something George Lucas only wishes he could do). With brief appearances from familiar characters like William Birkin and Albert Wesker it ads to the believability and transition from the Zero chapter to RE1. While some of the hindering aspects of the Resident Evil gameplay have remained, many new enhancements, like the character zapping and item dropping, have given a new angle on the series. With chapters 0-3 and Code Veronica in the books, this RE fan is anxiously awaiting Leon’s return in Resident Evil 4 next year.