Every gory bit remade in HD, the Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster is advertised as far as graphical fidelity is concerned. But as far as fun, the rework of Resident Evil Zero doesn't offer much of it, if early reviews are to be believed.
It seems whatever plague bit the Wii version of Resident Evil Zero, originally released for GameCube, is still causing iterations of the game to slur its words and stumble short of its mark.
Originally developed on the Nintendo 64 and wrapped up on the GameCube in 2002, Resident Evil Zero's warm reception turned chilly when the game was ported to the Wii. It was a de facto prequel for the Resident Evil series, but it was released at a time when interest in the survival horror genre was on the decline.
HD ports of the game were released this week for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC. Sadly, the single-player entry into the survivor horror appears to be a horror show -- it's sad because, who doesn't like to pull the shades down and turn the speakers up to embrace the inevitable jump scares in a Resident Evil
Graphics
As far as graphics go, Resident Evil Zero has been prettied up with more pixels and given a boost in frame rate for a smoother presentation. The game delivers an old-school 4:3 ratio or a more common 16:9 screen ratio. ShackNews' Daniel Perez, who scored the game a 5/10, said he was at least impressed with the graphics.
"While there was a fair amount of detail in the original Resident Evil 0, its remaster greatly improves on a number of visual and auditory aspects as I could now enjoy 5.1 surround sound and take in the finer details of the game on my HDTV," Perez writes. "I was also happy to see in-game cutscenes were also greatly improved thanks to all of those previously-mentioned visual improvements."
Gameplay
Resident Evil Zero HD includes support for modern control schemes, making it a bit easier to navigate through the game world. The original game itself also introduces a major deviation to the series' gameplay mechanics. Instead of one player character, there are two.
The two partners, a cop and a criminal, are forced to render mutual aid because Raccoon City has developed a serious zombie problem. The game allows players to switch between the two unlikely partners on the fly.
Elsewhere, Capcom was conservative and gentle with its HD remaster brush. The HD remaster of the game is still an "old-school Resident Evil game at heart," wrote Destructoid's Chris Carter. He gave the game a 9/10
"Zero features limited ammo, save ribbons, and a lot of decision making, mostly in regards to inventory management," Carter writes. "This is especially true given the zapping, because at any moment one character may be forced to fight a boss without the help of another, so ensuring that both cast members are fully equipped is key to your success."
The Verdict
While there have been some glowing reviews and others rating the game as being mediocre, Resident Evil Zero HD's looks like a mixed bag. It may be worth the time for diehards, but it might just be too much of a hassle for newcomers.
Here's a roundup of the reviews of the Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster, with scores scaled to ten:
GamesRadar 7/10
GameSpot 7/10
IGN 6.5/10
PC Gamer 6.3/10
Destructoid 9/10
Game Informer 8.5/10
Polygon 7/10
ShackNews 5/10
VideoGamer 8.5/10
