So you’ve played Resident Evil before? It’s going to take more than just good graphics to get you to play the game again. You think you don’t need Resident Evil, Right? Wrong.
I’ve always been somewhat of a Resident Evil fan. I had rented the original Resident Evil after playing the second one (four times), but it’s been a very long time since I’ve played that one. I also have the DC versions of Code Veronica and RE 2 and 3. Basically, I thought I knew what to expect from the GameCube incarnation of Resident Evil: great graphics, lots of spooks and the usual, somewhat-flawed Resident Evil gameplay. Boy, was I wrong.
As I expected, Resident Evil is graphically light years ahead of every video game I’ve ever seen, albeit with the necessary prerendered backgrounds and fixed cameras that go with them. Still, the style suits the game well, and the embellishments on the backgrounds—real time shadows and lighting, dynamic character lighting, exquisitely rendered 3D water and particle effects—really have an amazing effect on the atmosphere and gameplay. In addition to this, because the backgrounds are prerendered, a very significant amount of the Cube’s power is still available to make very impressive boss monsters and zombies. Another interesting graphical embellishment is in the item screen. If you’ve played the previous games in the series, then you know you can examine items from the menu, flipping them around to look at them for hidden clues. In the GameCube incarnation, no effect is spared in the item screen. The gems and medallions are especially notable, but even the lowliest items are covered with beautiful specular highlighting. Even the excellent lighting and shadow engine does double duty in Resident Evil. Not only does it look great, it also enhances the gameplay. Shadows and pulsing lights can be frightening in their own right when you’re trying to keep an eye out for the undead. The best part about the graphics are how much different they are from the original game. The only thing that really remains from the old mansion is the framework. Every little detail in each room has been changed so drastically that my memory of it was reduced to a vague sense of déja vu most of the time. The only slight marks against the graphics are the lack of progressive scan (which most of us won’t care about right now, but what about when you dig the game up in five years?) and the animation of your character. It’s hard enough to accurately animate a player controlled character, but Resident Evil’s control scheme works against it making it look even more unnatural. It’s mostly your characters’ turning animations that look weird. Every other animation in the game looks great (the walking/running up and down stairs animations are especially good).
The sound in Resident Evil also gets the job done nicely. Of course, I would expect no less on system with optical media. In addition to excellent and well-placed samples, all of the little bells and whistles we’ve come to expect are here. For example, when your character walks on different surfaces in the mansion or outside, the sound of your footfalls change appropriately. Along with the lighting and shadowing, this goes a long way in helping to immerse you in the game, despite the fact that the backgrounds are prerendered. Finally, the voice acting (and dialogue) is nearly spotless, especially by video game standards. The only mark against the sound design is the lack of any kind of 3D sound. RE doesn’t support Dolby Prologic II.
It seems like people have been complaining about Resident Evil’s control scheme since it was invented. I suppose we can blame it on the original PlayStation’s lack of an analog stick. I can see why Capcom sticks with the old scheme too. They can’t get rid of it, or some gamers would complain. So why not support a fully analog scheme as well? It would require a completely different set of animations to make it look right, and it would change (improve) the character’s mobility which could unbalance the gameplay. So, we’re stuck with the original PSX control scheme or minor variations of it. For the GameCube version, I recommend using control type C. It allows you to use the R button like a gas pedal while using the analog stick for “steering”. Pressing down moves you backwards which is difficult to use effectively, but it’s ok because you can also do a quick 180º turn by tapping the C-Stick. This works well for the game, but it still could have used analog sensitive “steering”. The vertical aiming is also digital as before (you can aim in three distinct positions, straight and diagonally up or down). It would have been nice to have analog vertical aiming as well, but at least the game doesn’t discriminate in this case. The bullets don’t necessarily travel in a direct line from the muzzle of your gun which allows you some leeway when you’re trying to take off a zombie’s head or kill a giant spider clinging to the ceiling. The culprit here is probably animation again. Making three distinct aiming animations is not difficult, but making a fully analog range of them can be.
Even though the control scheme could be better, it still works well for the game once you accept it. This is because the gameplay usually doesn’t emphasize action. Much of your time will be spent moving around the mansion… carefully… exploring the different rooms and trying to figure out where to go next, and how to get there. Especially in the beginning of the game, you’ll often find less enemies than you would expect. This makes their appearance all the more surprising. Just when you’re sure something is going to be around that corner, or come crashing through that window, nothing happens. When you least expect it, something gets the jump on you. This makes Resident Evil more of a thinking man’s game. Your inventory is limited so you have to make decisions about what to take with you when you leave your trusty item box. You have to decide if it’s worth it to take out that Zombie (at the cost of precious ammo) or if you should try and go around, or take some damage and escape with your firepower intact. Capcom’s also added yet another element to the ammo conservation aspect of the game. I won’t reveal it here for those who don’t know about it yet, but it certainly makes things a lot more interesting. The puzzles (surprisingly) make a lot of sense now. If you don’t have the item you need to solve the puzzle, it’s generally obvious that you’re missing something and that you can move on for now. Other puzzles are thinking oriented in that you press buttons and things instead of using items to solve them. Usually, all the clues you need to solve these are in the room with you. Most of this gameplay is not much different from the previous games in the series, however the level of quality has been raised considerably. Even the graphics, which in most games are largely superficial, play a large role in the gameplay. You’ll often find yourself literally jumping at shadows. I strongly suggest that you play with the lights off, and no nagging spouses, children or parents around if you really want to be absorbed in the game’s exquisitely crafted atmosphere. If there is one notable mark against the gameplay it’s the boss fights. The Resident Evil style of action, the fixed camera angles and the limiting control scheme don’t really lend themselves to spectacular boss fights. The bosses do look great, but they die a bit too easy (of course, now that I’ve beaten the game on easy and I’m halfway through normal, I’ll be playing hard soon). The last thing I want to note here is the storyline. It seems to go into a lot more detail than what I remember. Specifically there are entirely new parts that were cut out of (or didn’t exist in) the original game. I won’t spoil anything, but try to find and read all of the different documents lying around the game.
Fortunately, when you beat the game (which lasts a reasonable fifteen to twenty hours the first time through), you’ll start unlocking new gameplay modes starting with hard mode. After that, you can work on getting the more interesting modes that have special challenges (like invisible monsters). Of course, even without all of this, you have two characters that use different weapons and have a few other differences as well (including entirely different takes on the story), so the lastability is pretty good for a single player game.
Having played through the new build of Resident Evil, the thing that I’m most unhappy about is that Resident Evil 2 and 3 won’t be getting the same treatment. Oh well, there’s always Resident Evil 0 and 4. Unless you just can’t get over the aging control scheme, or you prefer more action-oriented games, I strongly suggest that you pick up Resident Evil immediately. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.