I’m not a really big fan of Survival/Horror games, but on occasion, I do play some (Silent Hill 2 and Onimusha: Warlords). When you hear the words “Survival” and “Horror” in the same sentence, you immediately think of the RE franchise (I do, too) because the RE series “started it all”. I almost wasn’t going to try this latest remake of the series (I played the first one, the Director’s cut, and the Dual Shock version and I was disappointed by all of them) because I had been disappointed especially after Resident Evil 2. So anyway, I was bored one day (and I needed some zombie-killing fun), so I researched around about the newest remake (and heard about how excited Rocky (Rock_On) was about it). When I searched on the Internet and read about it a lot, my newest issue of EGM came in the mail and I learned that it was going to come for the Gamecube. THE GC! I had heard that RE2 had come to the N64, but I never knew that Capcom would make it for the GC—financially and…regularly. I mean come on! GC has on the market, little more than a half of as many PS2’s as there are so why would the big C develop it for a system that is fresh and hasn’t matured yet. I don’t get it. Also, it NINTENDO! Nintendo is famous for Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pokemon. Why would they tell little gamers, “Hey! Go out and buy a copy of Luigi’s Mansion and Resident Evil!” Which reminds me, Luigi’s Mansion is sort of like Resident Evil (minus everything except mansions). Luigi’s stuck in a mansion inhabited by ghosts with a vacuum cleaner and a couple of people are stuck in a mansion inhabited by zombie-man-eating-sharks and zombies with Grenade Launchers and God knows what else.

STORYLINE: 4/5

STARS (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) go on a rescue mission to save a downed aircraft with their soldiers in it, but find them dead—eaten alive. They then find themselves running from zombie dogs and come upon a mansion where they take cover. As soon as they get into the mansion, they discover one of their team is missing with more people eaten by the dogs. I’ve played the original ones, and this storyline (which sounds almost like the first one) is totally revamped and more thrilling than the original for PlayStation.

You thought Silent Hill 2 was scary? Get ready for RE! With the ones on PS1, I was never scared from it mainly because the storyline sucked and the graphics sucked, but you can be guaranteed a scare by this game. I am on a level right now where I’m walking through waist-deep water with sharks in it. This is so freaky. The sharks move rapidly and look real! They have grace just like in real life. Every time, I turn my back I go sweaty because I know a shark is going to try to eat me. This game is awesome.

I was at my friend’s house a couple days ago and I was watching him play and I told him, “Let me borrow this game!” I didn’t threaten him or anything…I just convinced him to let me borrow it. Once I borrowed it and went home (around 9:00 PM), I turned off all the lights in my room and popped the game into the player and laid back. This is a true story: A couple of hours into the game (it was about midnight), I was at this really freaky cut scene (which reminds me, all of the cut scenes that you remember in the other game have returned but have gotten a major facelift, and the dialogue have been changed.) where I remember myself on the edge of my comfy chair. Suddenly, my cat (Miss Kitty) jumped into my lap, but missed and clawed down my leg (I was wearing my normal uniform for playing video games, my boxers, so her claws went through the skin) and I shouted and jumped. I found out it was my cat and my sister came into my room and asked what I was playing at that hour and she asked me to turn it off. I hadn’t got to a saving point yet, so I played (with her watching me) until I got to a saving point. I told her it was an RE remake and she nodded sleepily (she had played Resident Evil: Code Veronica X for PS2 and loved it, so she wanted to play it but she was tired) and we went to bed.

The first new thing I’ll come to is the ability to use defense items. These really come in handy when you’re low on health or ammunition. Basically, you equip a grenade (for Chris) or a Stun Gun (for Jill) or a Dagger (for both) and when you get attacked, you can pull that out and either stun the zombie or stab the dog, or put a grenade in the zombie’s mouth (which is awesome to watch it explode).

There are two characters that you can be (Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield) and they’re good in their own ways. Jill is very smart, has quick reflexes, and common sense and Chris is highly intelligent and has great strength. On my first try, I started as Jill and went a ways in the game, but then I died without a saving point. I then, started as Chris and I am farther in the game than I was with her, so I would say that Chris is better.

It’s sort of hard (challenging) to save games. You see, you save games with ink ribbons. Once you get an ink ribbon, you can go to a place in the mansion that has a typewriter in it and you can record your game. What makes this hard is that there are a certain number of ink ribbons in the mansion and once you’re out, you’re out and you’re screwed.

ESRB RATING: M For Mature

If you’re a seasoned RE veteran, you will know why, but if you haven’t played an RE game, I’ll tell you why this RE is especially rated M. There are cut scenes in the game showing zombies eating human people. The sound effects are realistic and can mentally damage a person. A cut scene shows dogs eating a human while he’s screaming and you can hear his flesh rip and his blood squirt. You can also, stab your enemies in the eye with daggers and put a grenade in its mouth and watch it explode. The zombies look very real as if any minute while their walking at you, their intestines are going to spill out. It’s this kind of stuff that make it sickening. If you’ve seen the movie “Night of the Living Dead”, be sure to be grossed out again.


THE GRADING: 1.5 to 5.0 (I changed it!)


THE SOUND: 4.5

Something that always sucked in all of the RE games was the crappy dialogue, well be ready for the greatness of the voices and the noises in this game. The sound effects are gross, yet effectively believable. When a zombie’s eating somebody, it sounds so realistic you get shivers. The spooky music also adds to the flavor. Also, every gunshot, stab or explosion sounds great! If you get speakers on all four corners of the room, turn those on and turn up the volume and be sure to be alone and turn off the lights, ‘cuz you’ll be scared s***less!

THE GRAPHICS: 5.0

The graphics are superb and awesome looking. This game’s in-game graphics are better than the first RE’s whole entire graphics! The frame rate is steady at 60 frames per second and the lighting effects are wonderful! There’s so much crammed in this game, whether it be the dust trailing after you as you walk, or smoke coming from candles, this game’s graphics are where it’s at. Plus, all of the characters that you remember from the past games, have been remodeled!

THE CONTROL: 3.5

This has always been the thing to plague the RE games. When you’re a semi-beginner at survival/horror games, it’s hard starting out, but once you play for about 5 hours like me, than it gets SORT OF better. I hope the next RE in the series on the GC, Resident Evil Zero, changes some crap in this game. It’s hard sometimes to aim at monsters (even with Auto-Lock on), it’s hard to turn corners sometimes, and the camera angles can suck totally if you’re trying to kill two or three zombies at the same time.

FUN FACTOR: 4.5

This game is so much funner than all of the other games in the series (I’ve only played RE1 and RE2, but come on, you know it!). There are tons of new puzzles, rooms, and abilities to do! I have never gotten bored with this game (except when I’m at a really hard puzzle)! Also, this game makes me feel like I’m playing an entirely different game—like I’m playing the real RE as it was going to be on the PS1! All the rooms have been revamped and the enemies, too. You think a zombie’s going to be around the corner? Guess again, it’s going to be in the hall where you least expect it! This game is fresh and awesome—a definite MUST BUY in my book!

REPLAY VALUE: 5.0

There are so many things to do. My friend’s on the second disc (yeah! There are TWO DISCS OF PLEASURE!) and he got it about a month ago! I looked at his record and he’s played the game 20 hours! 20 hours! But, then again, he sort of sucks at video games, but you know how it is… Also, there are tons of multiple endings that you can unlock and tons of different costumes to unlock which just makes this game really fun!


OVERALL:

If you are gamer (18 or older) definitely buy this game! It should be in every (18 or older) gamer’s collection. If you love RE games, you’ll just love this remake—no—this NEW Resident Evil game! The franchise of RE was doomed before the big C went to Nintendo. Now, I think it’ll do great and will draw in tons of gamers like it did back in 1996 with the first RE. Now go out now and rent it—or better yet—BUY IT! Thanks for reading!


Recommended: Yes