Xbox 360
Resident Evil: Zero takes place before the first game (hence the name), and while it plays simlarly, it was the first game which saw you controlling two characters at once, adding a heap of new survival type problems.
Zero sees Rebecca Chambers, the 18–year old medic from the ill–fated S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team, joining forces with Billy Cohen, an escaped military convict. If we manage to suspend disbelief that Rebecca could be a fully trained medic at that age – possibly she's on some sort of youth opportunities scheme – then it's time to grab your Gamecube controller and start playing.
After getting separated from her team, Rebecca finds the mysterious Ecliptic Express, which has stopped in the middle of the woods, and on boarding finds the train is inconveniently infested with zombies. She then meets Billy and together they explore the rest of the train, (which has now been set in motion) where they find an awful lot of leeches...and later, a leech man. Yes; a man, who is also a leech. After a brief bout Cpt. Leech lopes off, probably so you can fight him again later, probably...
Anyway, as the train starts to hurtle out of control, our brave heroes decide stopping it might be useful. Fighting their way to the front of the train and killing a giant scorpion en route (as you do; it didn't have a ticket! [Arf -Ed]).
As you stop the train you look around to see a house, gosh that was lucky, which is an abandoned research and training centre. After a quick glance around it's clear something is afoot.
Inside, whilst being mobbed by animal, Billy decides that now would be a great time to explain how he came to be a military convict in the first place. Something about being ordered to kill innocent civilians in an African village (possible tie in to Resident Evil 5, anyone?).
Whilst raiding the facility, our heroes learn about the Progenitor virus which, when mixed with the Ebola virus, caused massive mutations, although photosensitive ones. James Marcus and Ozwell E. Spencer, the original discoverers, figure that they should apply the Progenitor to research in bio–weapons (well, what else?). Combining the virus with leech DNA leads to the development of the T–virus..
So, after a brief sojourn in a church where, proceeding a fight with a giant bat, Billy receives a nasty bite from a damn dirty baboon! So it's down into the labs, where Rebecca tries to find Billy, who has managed to get lost. As with any Umbrella facility, it seems to be set up like a giant puzzle box.
While making your way out, a white foot appears in a cutscene and you realise that it's Tyrant, a fine friend from the first game. The fight with Tyrant rages on as you force your way into the lift. Just then, Bravo Team Leader, Enrico Marini, arrives and helps fend him off...if only to set the scene for a fight on another helicopter platform soon.
We eventually meet Marcus and learn that he's the one behind the infections in the lab and the Spencer estate. Turns out, our old friends – Albert Wesker and William Birkin — were following Spencer's orders to kill him.
It also transpires that Marcus' pet queen leech had entered his body and had mass-reproduced within it over the past ten years, allowing him to regenerate. He monologues for a bit, before transforming into the leech man you've been dealing with all this time.
There's a chase around the base culminating in one of those Resident Evil big fights. Marcus, or rather, his pet leech in its full form, finally dies in the sunlight due to ingenius thinking by Rebecca that they ought to crack a window (good work, Sherlock!).
After defeating their last abomination, Rebecca and Billy head for the hills. On their way, they spot the Spencer mansion. Rebecca decides she needs to investigate and declares Billy "dead", much to Billy's satisfaction (after all, he's just a zombie now, right?). They then part ways.
Fin? Or just the start of the beginning?
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More from the Ultimate Resi Guide:
Resident Evil - Team S.T.A.R.S, find a little house on a little hill...
Resident Evil 2 - Unlucky Cop and Foolish Female stroll unwittingly into Raccoon City, town of the undead.
Resident Evil Zero - Taking place before Resi 1 (just incase you were following things so far), we see how S.T.A.R.S team B got to be so dead.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - Lady S.T.A.R.S. from game one must escape a city...
Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Foolish Female (from number two), seeks Unlucky Cop (from number one).
Resident Evil 4 - Unlucky Cop goes on holiday to Spain. Hates Foreigners. (Part two here)
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Oh, and the lovely picture was by wordle.net, again!