Resident Evil

The Good
Resident Evil (a.k.a Biohazard) brought the survival horror genre to life for an audience that had not heard of the genre before, or confined it to games that were not terribly scary or fun to play; i.e. the first Alone In The Dark game.

Never before had most gamers played a game quite like this before. Resident Evil level's of graphic violence, blood and gore was jaw dropping to a generation of gamers who were used to the censorship policies of the two home console gatekeepers; Nintendo and Sega.

Yes, Sega had a bit more of a liberal policy then Nintendo, but most of the games released for a Sega system that featured graphic violence, tended to be using it as a gimmick. This was not the case with Resident Evil.

The adult content in Resident Evil was not just a gimmick to cover up an otherwise lame or inferior product. The graphic violence, blood and gore and (if you looked closely) some risque pictures all served to tell a story along the lines of the great horror films.

Resident Evil's story paid homage to classic horror films, while also offering up some of developers own gruesome ideas.

The adult content puts you in a truly interactive horror film, and also helps set the stage for what would probably happen if employees -- who lived and worked in a giant mansion/lab -- slowly became infected with a deadly virus.

Many of the elements used to make a great scary movie were wonderfully brought into the video game world through this game.

In addition to the story, the game featured some truly incredible graphics, music and sound effects. Yet, Resident Evil was not just a "pretty face".

The character control were responsive, tight and easy to master. In a game that requires brains as well as (well-armed) brawns, it was refreshing to see how natural it felt to solve puzzles or unload a clip onto a monster.

The result was that Resident Evil became a game that the player wanted to fully explore, while also being downright terrified at what could be behind the corner or in the next room.

Players of Resident Evil had every reason to be terrified, although we might have been to macho to admit it to our peers.

It did not take long before players realized that the Umbrella was up to no good. The Gothic mansion housed undead former employees as well some of the most creatures ever seen in a video game.

The way that these video game zombies looked, moved and, yes, the creepy sounds that they made, invoked a level of terror only the great horror films have been able to mine out of people.

It was not just zombies! The design of the dogs, birds, mutants, giant spiders and snakes all were designed to bring out the horror in surrvial horror.

The sound of a door opening, a nice way to handling the loading time, meant walking into the dangerous and undead unknown.

The music played in a room with a storage chest was designed to set a more relaxing mode, just as the music used during a boss sequence was designed to make you want to turn the lights back on.

The Bad
Resident Evil has great controls, until you see how much better the controls were in Resident Evil 2 and 3.

Yes, it may be an unfair (or odd) complaint, but you may not fully appreciate all of the Resident Evil's control quirks, until you see how much better things ended up being in the two sequels.

Resident Evil has the computer control the camera angle, and most of the time it does a superb job. However, a few times in the game existed, when the computer's choice was not especially helpful or what I would have chosen.

The full-motion-video is excellent, although the acting involved is (at times) strictly average. Having seen the full-motion-video of the Sega CD, it was nice to see it done well here, but I can also appreciate why live actors were not used in the sequels.

Some of the language used in the game is a bit off, i.e. the master of unlocking, although I probably be annoyed if it was changed today.

Lastly, it probably should be noted that the game was, slightly, censored. It is not a huge complaint, but the original full motion video clips did show some of the main characters lighting a cigarette.

The game already had a "Mature" rating, so it is not likely that this video clip would have impacted the ESRB rating. It is not really necessary from a story standpoint, but it does feel a tad silly that it was cut.

It was cut from the Playstation 1 (even the re-released Director's Cut), but I think it was included when the game was ported over to the PC.

This makes the censorship even sillier, because it seems to be suggesting that a 17+ PC gamer is somehow better able to handle a game character smoking cigarettes, then a home console gamer.

The Bottom Line
Resident Evil really put the horror in surrvial horror, and the fun in trying to survive. Playing the game feels like being the star in a classic horror film, and it will certainly make you rethink your position on playing video games with the lights out.

The Good
This is a review where I would like start straight off at the bad section, but anyway, Resident Evil is surprisingly similar to Alone in the Dark, which is mainly the good to say about the game. I loved the AitD series, so it's nice to play something similar. It's just too bad everything is pale in comparison. Resident Evil has better graphics though, that's one plus.

The Bad
Okay, you've probably heard this a million times but I have to say it... this game has perhaps the worst voice acting ever heard in a game before. The game would perhaps be better off being text only. The storyline is to puke of, it's full of cliches and there's nothing original or new to be seen, the game would be much better off being without it... at least then the player could decide for himself why the zombies were in the game instead of hearing the horrible explanation the game has. The game also fails where just about all console games fail... almost no options, cutscenes impossible to skip, redudant save system, and yada yada...

The game isn't exactly any much scary... at least, there was no time I jumped out of my chair. The puzzles are just a mere joke, they can't even be called puzzles, more like "fetch item A and combine it with item B, puzzle solved", they're extremely obvious and simple, and those which aren't are simply frustrating in the way there's no good hints given and being just illogical. And the game is perhaps a bit too combat oriented.

The Bottom Line
You'll perhaps be surprised when I say this, but I actually enjoyed the game. The first time through it was nice enough... I'm a big AitD fan so I guess that's the only real reason why I liked it. It's no game I'd like to recommend, it's far too "light" and simple, go and play the original Alone in the Dark series instead.

The Good
Resident Evil stands as an oddity in videogame history, sure now nobody is surprised by it, but before the advent of survival horror games if somebody would have told be that Capcom (whoose entire gaming library is based on Final Fight, Megaman and Street Fighter) would release an amazingly entertaining survival/horror title that would re-define the genre...well, you can imagine what my reaction would have been! Yeah, and then Id software is going to start making actual games instead of engines! Ha! Sucker!!

...Well, the joke is on all of us naysayers, because RE managed to carve it's place into videogame history with full honors, why? Well, let's see shall we?

For those who are already acquainted with the genre there's no need to point out it's strenghts: these games combine a measure of fierce action combat with lots of adventure touches such as puzzles, inventory management, scripted sequences, etc... Furthermore the emphasis on survival means that you don't play these games like regular action games and just breeze by each location clearing rooms filled with enemies. More often than not, you just won't have enough ammo or health to play 3D Doom, so you'll have to rely on escape tactics and keep an eye on your bullets, health items, etc... All these things merged in a game with a horror theme with lots of awkward camera angles and a penchant for jack-in-the-box scares makes for a very, VERY intense gameplay experience and it Rocks!! One of the best things one can say about RE is that it really is a blast to play through, and hardly ever feels frustrating or annoying. Plus it offers two different styles of play (action-oriented for Chris or adventure-oriented with Jill), different endings for each character depending on who you saved, and other bonuses based on your ranking (the now standard alternate costumes, etc..)

The graphics and sound were a must for this game, since one could hardly be scared at a bunch of pixels unless they were properly rendered, right? Well for it's time RE provided some of the most gorgeous graphics to grace the Playstation. The game combined some nicely animated textured models with static, pre-rendered backgrounds, and the detail in both were stunning, particularly in the case of the backgrounds and the tremendous attention paid to the character animations (even if the walking/turning still seemed rather awkward and fake). Another area that RE is famous for (and also infamous for!) is the sound department, say what you will of the voice acting but the music and sfx are fantastic. The effects are fantastically realized and fit the game perfectly, with perfect renditions of creaking wood, eery howls, mechanical devices and all sorts of other things, but the music is simply amazing! Combining eery instrumental music with ominous piano cues and other gimmicks make for a thrilling and truly spooky soundtrack, so good in fact, that almost every other survival/horror game tried to copy it.

Yep, as you can see the game excels on just about everything, yet what I feel defines RE and made it such a hit was the tremendous style in it's execution. After all, many other games feature the same gimmicks that RE does, but it was the sense of style applied to the game that lifted it up to the stratosphere. Capcom wisely realized that the impact of the game would be totally lost if they went for a serious route (actually this is not really true, but it would have implied major changes to the game), so they maximized each potentially cheezy element as well as it's B-movie angle and coated it all with gloss and production values so as to make the videogame equivalent of a hollywood high budget extravaganza and a low grade B-movie at the same time. And it's fantastic! You have a simple and predictable storyline, super-models that double as spec-ops operatives for the main characters, lots of gore and violence, comic-booky situations, horror setpieces (oh look!, the lights went out!... hmmm somebody should go activate the generator... alone.... But don't worry! I'm sure everything's ok!!), lots of zombies as the main horrors and other biologic nightmares, etc. etc.. In fact I also feel that such things as the horrible voice acting and the cheesy live action fmv sequences only serve to enhance the game. Truly it's one of those cases of "it's so bad it's good" But don't think super-crappy films, think in the way of Evil Dead. Get it?

The Bad
I respect the checkpoint save system, but I hate having to manage those stupid ink ribbons; the control is very limited and while this actually serves to increase the level of desperation and horror I would have killed for a strafe key and faster response; the puzzles may be interesting for console gamers but they are truly the crappiest thing ever, already infamous are the "push the statues" puzzles and the crest-collecting and there's a reason for that.

One also has to acknowledge that despite the tremendous production values poured in the game the acting sucks in just about every level, but hey... as I said above I think this works for the game. On games like Deus Ex for instance, the crappy voice acting became so bad because of the serious context and material, but not so here! I don't think there's any bad way you can act lines like "What... are these things?? Look out! They are dangerous!" or the other things the poor actors have to say :))

Last but not least, and more of an "ethical" flaw, is the fact that to the educated gamer the game is a total ripoff. I mean, this is just Alone in the Dark for the new millenium, and it's not just that it "took the basic premise and expanded from there", nope sir... Heck, if they hadn't removed the supernatural things about the original owner of the mansion and added more Lovecraft-influenced themes instead of the zombies the games would have been virtually the same! And it doesn't stop there. The plot for the RE movie had to be changed so much to make it more like RE2 because George Romero almost sued Capcom's ass! Seeing as how the basic concept of the game is so much like Night of the Living Dead (people locked on an abandoned mansion overun by zombies, etc...)... Interestingly enough they almost did an adaptation of the original game, but the only way Romero would have gone with that was if he got to write the screenplay, and we all know that unfortunately that wasn't the case :(

The Bottom Line
Don't think about The Shinning! Think Evil Dead!!! That's what this game is, and while plagiarism may come to mind while playing it, Residen Evil provides one of the most intense and entertaining gameplay experiences for the playstation.

This one's a classic, and rightly so, I just wished the zombies would have made a rendition of "Thriller" in the credits (seeing as how you can get some super-funky ones if you finish it right...)... Ah well.. can't have it all I guess!

The Good
This game is very similar to another title that I like very much, Alone in the Dark. Resident Evil took the game mechanics of Alone in the Dark and made something special. A fun horror adventure game with way better graphics than Alone in the Dark.

The Bad
The controls are a bit testy. They do get a bit getting used too and they are very awkward at times.

The Bottom Line
For those who love horror movies and Zombie flicks in particular, will definitely love this game. Guns, zombies a creepy mansion, its all here in the original Resident Evil (Biohazard) game.

The Good
I never really played a game like Resident Evil before it. I never remember actually getting freaked out by a video game. PS1 was new to me, I was late getting one and this was the first game I rented. and rented. and rented. I loved it, it was freaky and I couldn't believe a video game made me jump out of my seat... crazy, I'll never forget it... Capcom did a wonderful job bringing the mansion to life (aside from the voice-acting). It reminded me of the Alone in the Dark series for the PC which was released prior to Resident Evil but Resident Evil seem much more dark and real. (aside from the voice-acting ;)

The Bad
SO... the voice acting. I find it hard to believe that someone actually ok'd the dialogue. Someone down at Capcom actually said, "Yep! Sounds great! Go ahead and release the game." I just have a hard time believing that. I've heard text-to-speech programs that sound more life like than the dialogue in the game. The game is so dark and creepy but as soon as a cut-scene begins, it instantly becomes a comedy. "Wesker?! (insert a 15 second pause and a blank stare) Jill?! (insert pause) Wheres Barry? (insert 10 second pause)" the acting was terrible and it caused a break from the game's seriousness. The loading times were annoying from room to room but what do you expect from a PS1 drive? Inventory is annoying... not matter how big or how small the item is, it takes up the same amount of space in inventory. You can't carry very much stuff. Apparently Capcom thought that holding 6 keys should take up as much room as holding 6 large weapons.
A lot of the game is just busy work, trying to deal with the limited inventory space and just a lot of running around unlocking doors and solving stupid puzzles. Needed more ammo I thought, pot-shooting is always a fun thing to do. The saving system is ridiculous.

The Bottom Line
Play it, great game, can get annoying but its definitely fun :)

The Good
Resident Evil was probably the first game that I found to be truly terrifying. The visuals displayed beautifully rendered rooms and corridors with realtime 3d monsters that make your skin crawl. Music is, for the most part, wonderfully orchestrated haunting melodies and sharp, shock inducing starts that make you jump out of your seat. A lot of fears and phobias have been addressed. Hate spiders? You'll find giant ones in here not to mention all the sharks, snakes and zombies you'll encounter. The events are generally interesting enough to keep you going but it's the environments that really push you forward because it's always thrilling to see what comes next (I won't spoil them for you.) Gameplay wise there's a lot of adventuring to do and the exploration and battles are good enough to keep you glued to the screen for hours.

The Bad
The voice acting has gone down in history as some of the worst acting ever in a video game and with good cause. The dialogue and delivery are both horrible and inappropriate. The story is fairly weak and the combat system is fiddly at times. Lastly, the puzzles are far too simplistic for my tastes and have clearly been aimed at the common console gamer. There are very few exceptions to this rule and most of the time you'll only get stuck if you forgot where the door was that you have to unlock with the key you found.

The Bottom Line
Resident Evil is a great Survival Horror title which, while being surpassed by it's numerous sequels, has a certain atmosphere about it that none of the titles since have ever been able to replicate.

The Good
Resident Evil showed people what a survival horror game was. The graphics, as old as they were, had a proud feeling behind it, like one of a kind. The controls were a little tough to get used to, but after a while it just made the game better. The endless hallways and surprising zombies keep you on your toes. There's nothing better than walking down a quiet hallway and a zombie crashed through a window. The two available characters had stories of there own, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. The story is the greatest thing about the game. While playing you totally forget that you are playing a video game, you think your in the game trying to escape the mansion. Thats how good the stories are, you can get into the stories by reading the files laying around the game.

The Bad
There wasn't really anything I didn't like. There's things that you really shouldn't complain about, like the poor voice-overs and the graphics. That's what you get for Playstation 1996, but for that it was awesome. I think that the two characters stories don't interact with each other is a minus. It would be great to play as Chris and have Jill meet up with you somewhere, and the other way around.

The Bottom Line
Resident Evil isn't something your going to like if you are a next generation gamer or have never played a survival horror game. I hear many people complain about how bad the Resident Evil series is, but like I said, your not going to like it if you haven't been playing for a long time, and if you do like it, your one of a kind. Resident Evil something that you have to have a liking for it before you even play it. This game has a story to easily fall into. The twists in the game are constantly making you think of who's doing what. Play it to know the story.

The Good
When was the last time you ever brought a Playstation and start thinking a title that defined taking the pages out of every horror movie?

For starters, I never heard of a video game titled "Resident Evil" before. I know it stands for BIOHAZARD in Japanese, but I will never ever forget the great and wonderful work the big bad guys of Capcom introduced to the genre called "Survival Horror." But "Resident Evil" killed it! It has great cutscenes, including my favorite moment in the beginning of the game, when you play Jill Valentine trying to investigate through a haunted police station until all of a sudden, a vicious type of zombie dog came though the window and I was totally freaked out. It's like "Saw" meets "Friday the 13th."

The characters are outstanding. My favorite "Resident Evil" character was Albert Wesker. He was the Hannibal Lecter of evil geniuses. When he starts making a eerie grin on his face, you know that something bad is going to happen when it comes to flesh-eating zombies and disgusting creatures.

The Bad
Although I had a few problems on how the game starts, here's how the game almost lost its mark:

Voice Acting: This was a bad example of dialogues in a video game. Remember when Barry used to say to Jill: "Jill, Here's a lockpick. It might come in handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you." I wasn't sure what that means but as far as I concern, he should be taking shooting lessons instead of stand-up comedy. I know Jill won the hearts by many critics and nicknamed her "The Master of Unlocking" or "The First Female Protagonist of a horror game," but Barry is by far the utmost worst character in Capcom history.

Another bad idea in the game is the "You Died" or "You Are Dead" game over screens. I hope Capcom should get rid of those pesky screens. What happens when your ammo is running out and there's nowhere left to run with no safe rooms to save the game data and hordes of zombies shows up and you got eaten by brain food? I hope this will be the last time in every "Resident Evil" game with those restrictions to be disappointed by fans.

The Bottom Line
Everyone should revisit the same year that "Tomb Raider" got started. 15 years, more "Resident Evil" games coming out, 4 successful movies, a book series, everything. Man, I wish I was the only one stranded in the house playing the game for more than "an hour."

"Resident Evil" is not just the greatest franchise of all time, it's truly reminds me of a flashback of what makes horror so much fun. A truly, great classic and a masterpiece. That's what the first "Resident Evil" game was all about. "Resident Evil" is the greatest game of the Playstation Era.