Resident Evil
Reviewed by KasketDarkfyre
When I look back over the years at all of the games
that I've played on various systems, there is nothing
finer than playing a start to a widely favored genre
when it's revisited. Resident Evil on the Nintendo
Game Cube is just that, a revisitation to a game that
most of us have played years ago when the fighting
game giant, Capcom, moved into the survival horror
world. You have a game that scares the hell out of
you, even if it is a few years old!
The storyline that you may have found in Resident
Evil years ago is back, but with a few twists and
game play changes that make it a slightly different
visit on a familiar face. You take control of either
Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, both of whom are
recruited into a rescue unit known as S.T.A.R.S.
Following after a mysterious disappearance of another
team into the mountains of Raccoon City, the
secondary team is drawn into the dark mansion and
apparently a deadly plot.
Most gamers will find that the game play is just that
of past Resident Evil games, where you control a
character and move from place to place while
collecting items and blasting the undead. However,
there are some changes that you'll find here in which
the game has been worked over for the best to
complete some past problems. First of all, the
puzzles in the game require a little more thought and
the enemies need to be taken care of a certain way in
order to keep them from resurrecting themselves!
The challenge in the game is no longer to just find
things and simply blast them, but to actually use
your head and your ammunition accordingly. You'll
find that the game simply does not allow you to kill
every last enemy in the game, and if you're not
careful on what you expend your bullets on, you may
end up fighting with little more than the knife.
Speaking of enemies, the zombies have been changed to
mutate in certain areas, which means that burning
them while they are down is your only course of action.
One other impressive feature to the game play is the
use of Defensive Weapons which will allow you to
escape from an enemies grasp with some rather
gruesome results. This was a problem in previous
versions of the game, in which you couldn't escape
the damage which was given to you at any point in
time. With a letter opener, you can now defend
yourself by stabbing the attacker in the neck or eye,
giving you a few scant seconds of breathing room to
either fight or run!
One problem that the game does have is the way that
the control is set up. Even with the buttons on the
Game Cube controller literally giving you access to
every facet in the game, there are some problems with
the movement of either Chris or Jill. The analog
stick is a little too loose in some areas and the
directional pad is virtually useless when trying to
avoid an attacker that is right in front of you. Auto
aiming is back though, which does help with targeting
the closest possible enemy to you.
Visually speaking though, Resident Evil is a complete
and total make-over from the original version of the
game found on the Play Station. For all of the
lighting, background effects and even flickering
candles, this is truly the way that the game was
meant to be seen. Darkness follows you, candles and
shadows follow with your movements and even the way
that the mansion is set up gives new insight into the
way that it was originally intended to be seen! If
there is anything in a Resident Evil game that could
possibly take the smooth character textures and
amazing backgrounds to the next level, it's all right here.
The audio that you find here is also greatly
improved. With different effects in most of the
areas, there is little here that you'll hear twice
aside from the grunting and groaning of various
creatures that inhabit the mansion. The music has
been given a darker feel and really sets the mood of
the game without ever going too far overboard. You'll
need to listen to the sound effects at all points in
the game, simply because you cannot see around
corners and you'll need to listen to whatever is
growling, moaning or hissing at all times!
For a remake of a rather famous game, there isn't a
better version available for the time being that
really immerses you into the world of Resident Evil.
With the storyline intact, the voice acting fixed and
some impressive cut-scenes that really close the
original story together, there is very little here
that you'll find wrong. That is, unless you've played
all of the previous Resident Evil games. There are
some points in the game where the challenge may seem
a little intense, but it's still an impressive game nonetheless.
If you're looking for a good scare on the Game Cube
until future Resident Evil games are released, then
you're looking in the right place. With nothing more
than some new item placement, new enemies and ways to
defeat them along with some pretty cool defenses,
this is a game that you have to experience and
literally unlearn what you've already learned. For
those who haven't played Resident Evil, this is the
game for you. For those who have, this is a good way
to rehash something that literally started a trend!
Overall: 9 out of 10