GAME
OF THE MONTH COLLECTION!
RESIDENT
EVIL
(Capcom, May, 2002)
I think everybody was pretty much shocked when
Capcom announced in the summer of 2001 that their new next generation Resident
Evil game was going to be a Nintendo Game Cube exclusive and not for the PlayStation2
like many were expecting. Capcom is going to try to remake Resident Evil 1,
2, and 3 all over again and this is the first game of their master plan. So
how did they do on there first outing? Sadly this game is scary for all the
wrong reasons.
If you're expecting me to go crazy for the new Resident Evil here exclusively
on Gamecube then you may in for big disappointment, I'm hoping that you already
know that I'm not a fan of the series but I did play this with a open mind only
to be shot down yet again unfortunately. This is a remake of the original, and
in my personal opinion overrated, Resident Evil with more areas, better more
realistic graphics and more heart pumping sound, plus all new undead creatures
to fight if you want to escape the old mansion alive but some things haven't
changed either and there's the problem.
Like the original game, you have the choice between the S.T.A.R.S. police force
members Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine as they investigate a forest at night
to hopefully solve the murder mysteries of eaten people in the local area. The
S.T.A.R.S. team is forced into a nearly by mansion after being chased by undead
dogs, although they're safe for now, they soon learn the hard way that there
is almost no one left alive here in this huge place and the survival game has
just begun. Awesome story, eh? Jill and Chris can carry different weapons to
fight those zombies in the game like Jill can equip a defensive item like a
taser. The best part about these new defensive tools is that they can be equipped
separate box so you don't have to mess around with these items at least, I just
wish Capcom didn't force the player to throw away all the other stuff to solve
a few a puzzles.
Even though this is a two disc game, it doesn't work on the character switch
system like in Resident Evil 2 for the Playstation. This mansion is so big that
it had to be made on two discs, so you're bound to find new areas like the sewers
and the garden sections not found in the old game and there are even some new
enemies as well. The Zombies are not the same old undead creatures from before,
now you can light them on fire and you can feed them grenades in the mouth.
It's a good idea to make sure their completely finished because these Zombies
can come back even stronger than before if you just kill them with a gun and
knife. Sometimes it's a better idea to just out run them and save your ammo
which in all honesty is pretty boring especially since these undead guys are
not too intelligent.
The new RE game looks really great with very extremely realistic graphics but
it better look good because the backgrounds are on a single fixed angle much
like the older Playstation titles were a few years back and not the like newer
Code Veronica RE games for the PS2 and Dreamcast. Sure the game looks fantastic
and the lighting alone will make your jaw drop but I still feel a little cheated
working with a 3D character on a 2D background at least in this day and age.
The characters themselves look extremely real so you can forget about the blocky
figures of the past. Unlike the original RE this game uses Computer Generated
graphics for the cinemas instead of the cheesy live actor action stuff that
really took away from the horror at the beginning. In fairness Capcom really
did everything possible to make this mansion look real and the fact all that
there is so much detail here that it had to be spanned across two GC discs and
remember that these GC discs hold over 2 times the data of a average CD.
The sound is great for what there is and the music just knows when to hit to
build up some tension. You could be just walking down a very quiet hallway as
the only sound coming from the game is your footsteps across a old wooden floor........
and then suddenly something crashes through the window to attack and that's
when the heart pounding music kicks in. Sure the music is ok when it comes up
but the sound effects are where Resident Evil really scored high. You'll hear
loud gun shots as the gun empties its clips and you can even hear the tons of
zombies eat and crunch away on human flesh if they get too close to ya or they're
sometimes munching on somebody else you know in the background. You have to
love that!
Sure, everything seems good so far but not every aspect of the past game was
improved for the better here in this version. First off like before you can
only carry so many items at one time and if you don't the right key for a door
because you just didn't have the room or something then you may have to do a
lot of tedious backtracking. What's worse about this NEW game (and it's a biggie)
is that the super lame controls are same; you know, the truly evil Atari Combat,
Asteroids controls from a old console that's been dead for nearly 20 years now!
Here's a breakdown of what you have to do if you want to move your characters,
if you want to move down but your guy is facing up then you would have to use
the Right or Left arrows of the cross pad or analog stick to first turn and
then when your character is fully turned around then you may press Up to move
your character downward. You can run but only if a button is pressed down plus
any game that has a turn around button is going to suck (anybody remember Mortal
Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero?). Why not include a Normal control set up especially
after all these sequels, uh? I would love to have the controls of Super Mario
64 here but no such luck. Does Capcom even listen to many complaints or even
look at the slower sales figures anymore seen any Resident Evil after part 2?
It just doesn't seem right this day and age and my scores are heavily based
on controls.
Although I'm glad there is finally a horror game on the Game Cube (known for
being another "kid's game system") but I just wish Capcom was more
serious this time around on creating the ultimate RE game instead of just having
the same issues go unaddressed yet again. The controls really killed any enjoyment
for me despite some new sharper looks and louder sounds. I see no reason why
the controls should be this way especially since the set up is basically for
games with tanks in them not cops. Also the game play is a little on the boring
side despite having some undead monsters jumping at you all the time. Saving
your gunfire and going back and front for items is not too exciting to me. Resident
Evil should please fans of the series for a few days anyways but if you're looking
for the ultimate survival horror game than you are going to be disappointed.
Conclusion: | |
Resident Evil overall rating: 63/100 Look for RESIDENT EVIL on eBay here! For 1 player only Rated (M) for Mature graphics: 8/10 sound: 8/10 gameplay: 6/10 -StarSoldier1 (Ryan Genno) 2005 See the other Games of the Month |