Been playing Resident Evil 0 ('Zero', not 'Oh') quite a bit the last couple of evenings, and although I'm a huge RE fan, I'm getting mighty tired of the banal puzzles and the incredibly annoying inventory restrictions. Sure, you can leave items wherever you want now (instead of putting them into storage crates - what a revolutionary idea), but it's horribly frustrating to constantly have to fiddle with your always-full inventory when you just want to pick up a key. I get the fact that I have to compromise when it comes to firearms - otherwise it'd be too easy, and rather unrealistic - but I can't pick up some lighter fluid unless I get rid of my one green herb? Pft.

Luckily, the save system isn't nearly as frustrating as in past RE games (there are plenty of typewriters, and I have more than enough ink ribbons), but again, hey, time for a redesign, Capcom. A save-anywhere-anytime system wouldn't work, not in a survival horror game, but how about a checkpoint system, like in Halo? Or a save-and-quit function, for when the doorbell rings and you just have to stop playing? People have lives now. It's a new thing. It's not always possible to keep playing for another half hour until you get to the next bloody typewriter.

Irritated now. Yes.

The game is really quite good, though, regardless of archaic game mechanisms and controls, awful dialogue, and lame story. It's incredibly beautiful to look at, it's got some truly scary monsters, and the whole thing just reeks of atmosphere. I just hope they do better - and look up the word 'redesign' - with the fourth one. But, hey, whatever they do, I'll still buy it.  ¶ 23:31