Resident Evil 0

Resident Evil 0 was an exclusive prequel made specifically for GameCube, telling the events preceding the first game, in which S.T.A.R.S. member Rebecca Chambers, after a train crash full of dead passengers, encounters the escaped convict Billy Coen. The pair must work together to survive the journey from the train to a nearby mountain laboratory, where the origins of the experiments that later led to the creation of the T-virus and the eventual destruction of Raccoon City lie hidden.

The major new feature is a system of two simultaneously controlled characters, between whom the player can switch at any time or have them cooperate on puzzles - one holds a ladder while the other climbs it, or one lures away an enemy while the other activates a mechanism. The game also does away with the traditional item storage boxes and forces the player to leave surplus items freely in the environment, which increases the emphasis on inventory planning and returning for supplies stashed across the map. The train setting, full of narrow carriages and sudden encounters with zombified passengers, ranks among the most memorable openings in the series' history, and the following mountain base offers a range of industrial and natural locations.

The graphics, using pre-rendered backgrounds, were among the most elaborate in the entire series at the time of release and still feel atmospheric today thanks to detailed scenery and dark, tense music that heightens the sense of isolation in the remote mountains. Reviewers particularly praised the cooperative mechanic and the return to a slower, exploratory style of play after the more action-oriented third installment. Resident Evil 0 remains valued as one of the last representatives of the series' classic survival horror before the fourth game fundamentally reshaped the genre, and its two-character mechanic is still mentioned today as original and inventive, if more demanding to plan around than the classic single-character approach.

Why play it: For fans of classic, slower-paced survival horror with elaborate pre-rendered backgrounds and an original two-character mechanic that is inventive, if more demanding to plan around than a single-character approach.