Parents' Guide to

Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Violent horror remake visually striking yet frustrating.

Game PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox 360 , Xbox One 2016
Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster Game: Screenshot #1
  • Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster Game: Screenshot #2
  • Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 2 parent reviews

JackyLonsy26
JackyLonsy26 Adult
October 22, 2021
age 9+

Some swearing

This is a game with blood and gore. The zombies heads can be cut off. Some of the notes found in the game include words such as hell, damn, and one note says bastard. There isnt much nudity but later in the game there is a human like creature that is in nude but no major detail. No penises or nipples. Also naked zombies with no nipples or penises can be found, but all of the naked creatures have buttholes. One part near the end one of the characters says s—t. That naked creature I mentioned earlier also has one hand with a really long middle finger and he can be seen rising that finger up at one scene.
Michael M.
Michael M. Parent of 13-year-old
December 16, 2017
age 12+

Common Sense Media has lied again

I was born in 1980 so I was 16 when the first Resident Evil came out. Resident Evil was one of my favorite games. I played it for so many hours. This was a worthy remake of Resident Evil 0. There is absolutely NO NUDITY at all. The language is minimal. There are just a few curse words in some of the action sequences. There is a fair amount of blood and gore, but if your child has played any of the fallout games then they have seen much worse than there is in this game or the Resident Evil 1 remake.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

RESIDENT EVIL ZERO HD REMASTER isn't a brand-new Resident Evil game but rather a spiffed-up version of a game originally released for GameCube. It's a prequel that explains what happened in the hours leading up to the events of the very first Resident Evil. Sent out as part of a team to investigate a series of countryside murders, young field medic Rebecca Chambers forms an unlikely alliance with military convict Billy Coen. The pair fight to survive an onslaught of mutated monsters, the products of a corporate-developed virus unleashed on both humans and animals. Together they explore a train, a mansion, and a couple of underground facilities where they battle zombies and solve a procession of contextual puzzles involving machines, keys, and chemicals to gain access to new areas. New elements include "modern" control options unavailable in the original release, as well as a bonus mode that allows players to replay the game with notorious Resident Evil villain Albert Wesker taking the place of Billy Coen.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (3 ):

This survival horror title was never among the most popular games in the series, but it was one of the final entries to follow the formula established in the original game. That means the camera is fixed, players need to stop and pivot to aim and shoot, inventory space is extremely limited, and the focus is more on puzzles than action. It doesn't quite give rise to the same sort of nostalgia as the original Resident Evil, but it has enough of the same ingredients that it should intrigue players who wished recent entries in Capcom's survival horror franchise were a little more like those that came before.

There are reasons, though, why Zero never enjoyed the popularity of its predecessors. One of them is the lack of storage containers where players can keep -- and later retrieve -- excess items, such as ammunition and weapons. Without these boxes, players end up frequently backtracking to fetch items they left in previous areas. Plus, Zero relies on a teamwork system that requires players to constantly switch between the two lead characters. It's fine most of the time but can become frustrating -- especially when the heroes are separated and need to swap a key item or during puzzles in which each performs a specific and repetitive task. But even with these problems, Zero should prove a minor treat for anyone longing for a truly retro Resident Evil adventure.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the impact of violence in media. Is there a difference between games that require characters to defend themselves from aggressors and those in which the heroes attack their enemies? Is this difference significant?

  • Discuss Rebecca Chambers, the female star in this game. Is she as powerful as her male counterpart? Which abilities do the two leads share, and which are different? Do the differences feel as though they're based on gender?

Game Details

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