Resident Evil takes its cues from the infamous Night of the Living Dead with its endless zombie scares, but adds many conspiratorial twists and turns as well as tons of wild action, a host of scary and just plain disturbing moments and endless puzzles and hidden secrets. As a minor note, RE was originally called Biohazard in a Japan, which actually makes a LOT more sense (considering it's all about fun with vile chemicals) and makes it far more difficult to mock the name with things like "President Evil: Planet of the Abes". The choice was made to change the name because... well, I just don't know. Possibly there was already a game by the same name on US Soil, the only other Biohazard I can think of besides the real thing (As in Godilla crap is considered a "biohazard" because it glows) is a band.
Before I continue, I'm going to give a lil' note on my perspective when RE came out in order to better understand my views. Feel to skip down to the "why it sucks" in bold to proceed directly to the cons.
RE's shocking entrance into the gaming industry happened back when the PSone was still called the PSX (Or just "Playstation") and its games sold in stupidly oversized boxes. Those who didn't read about it heard about it purely through word of mouth, I was in highschool at the time. Jobless, depressed and had just barely gotten a playstation a few months after RE2 had hit the streets and the only games I had were Final Fantasy VII and Battle Arena Toshinden. Being far from the coolest in the school I mostly lurked around in the back listening to the other guys chatter about what was cool, like Tomb Raider and eventually resident evil. One of these guys let me borrow his copy of RE2 in exchange for Ghost in the Shell, that night I got tanked and played Final Fantasy Tactics and eventually when I got frustrated (because I had NO idea what I was doing), I popped in RE2... and didn't sleep the rest of the night. I hadn't played ANYTHING that scary since clock tower! I was down right terrified, but I kept playing. Real smart, I know. When I sobered up, it wasn't that scary, but goddamn! That was something NO movie could do!
From there I bought RE3 when it came out, it scared me now and then, but it got kind of addicting running from that freaky Nemesis. After that I went through each game (though the original cracks me up with it's cheesy voice acting which someone thought was just right for a lil' piece called "Resident Jigalo"). I love this series and own practically EVERY version of every game 'cept for the original in the oversized box, the 64 version of RE2, the DC version of RE3 and the gamecube re-make of the the first game. But I've played every single one :) I won't be biased about consoles since it's ALL the same thing on each system, basically it either looks better, has extras or is all on a cartridge. Anyway, let's do this...
Why it sucks: Could they make the voice acting ANY worse?!? Some of these guys did anime as I recognize their voices, but good lord, the direction they've got is SO bad that I can't take them seriously! The entire series has shown this fun lil' flaw (though Code Veronica and the GC Remake are slightly better in this regard) and if it weren't for the scares coming at you from all over the place you might very well turn it off based on THAT alone!
The camera angles... I know I'm not the first poor bastard to get caught in serious action between two different angles. It's really hard fighting zombies when your perspective keeps changing, they never seem to have addressed this issue unfortunately...
Save points... I don't know about you guys, but when I'm up to my ass in zombies I like to SAVE!!!!! And save often!!!! Having limited typewriter tape doesn't help, nor does the fact that saving hurts your chances of getting "special bonuses", I should be able to save on at least one of the damn computers or something. Carry around a PDA and save anywhere!!! But I won't pretend I don't suck at zombie fighting, I never unlocked Tofu or Hunk. IF I managed to beat the game it was always just barely and I was never arsed enough to put in the extra effort to find ALL the keys or ALL the secrets, weapons, ammo, etc. And the fact that I'm often on the verge of death or running like hell from some seriously horrible moaning and groaning shit behind me means I WANT TO SAVE, because I *HATE* going through puzzles and crap more than I have to. And is it just me, or do there seem to be less save point in every game?
I can jump, I can climb over fences, if chase by goddamn zombies I could perform stunts the like of which were only shown in Jackie Chan movies and JACKASS. Besides moving around all awkward, the characters are always sort of gimpy and somewhat helpless around fairly simplistic obstacles. A simple step not more than a 8 inches off the ground is like running around a WALL. Those bars that stop cars in parking garages? IMPOSSIBLE TO GET AROUND! I know this isn't a platformer, but man is it frustrating when you either can't get to or around something and all that's in your way is like a bush and a tiny slope. While on the topic of things being "less than realistic", what's with all these damn keys?!?! Screw your jewels, crests and keys! I've got a gun, a knife, A FOOT! Even monkeys have the prescence of mind to break down a door, why can't Jill or Chris?!?!?! If I'm packing a shotgun, handgun, MISSLE LAUNCHER, etc. there would be no way I'd waste valuable time looking for crap around the spooky mansion, just NO WAY. When the Tyrant is after me, I'm blowing shit up and tearing down whatever's in my way, crests and keys be damned!!! Not to say that there aren't obstacles you simply CAN'T take care of without getting a disc or or special key or password or something, but I'm talking like a regular door on hinges with a freaking KNOB! >_< There's too many of those puzzles that slow down the action and can make one lose interest or just plain kills the pace of the game. Running from scary shit one second to collecting shards of an orb to open a hatch?! Going through some hatch only to be greeted 3 doors later by the Lion's gate which requires the lion's crest, while this isn't an ACTUAL situation this is the kind of stuff you see in the game.
The zombies. As much as I dislike the thought of one of those SOBs getting up after frickin' stabbed it and emptied my gun into it, it does make a lot more sense to see the Zombie come up... like randomly change the amount of time they stay down which also varies by difficulty setting. The new GC version has something like that, Crimson heads I believe they're called. Zombies that look for revenge after you've taken them down and will get faster and meaner every time you encounter them. Besides the zombies there's all the other freaks that are running around looking to sink their... stuff... into you. Giant worms, headhunters, tyrants and all sorts of horrible things and with each game they just seem to get harder!!! I know it's not me when I end up getting chomped quicker in each game, the enemies just plain get meaner. And to make things even better, there's the whole lessening of save points I covered earlier.
Resident evil basically established the "survival horror" genre (which was followed by Dino Crisis, basically a game where RE meets Jurassic Park), but it's not the only game IN the genre. While the controls for the most part always stay the same, there's games like Vampire Hunter D, Onimusha and the RE's only real challenge the scarier than hell Silent Hill. I don't care what any RE fanboy says, when the game is SO DAMN SCARY that I can't play it at night (hell, I refuse to play the first one during the day for the most part) and hesitate to play the game at all, not out of annoyance or boredom... but out of FEAR, I give that game a prize on general principles! RE I can play anytime, but after I beat it I don't usually jump in out of regard for the frickin' hassle or going through it again. Hell, half the time I play RE I find myself doing what appear to be running errands!! And that doesn't appeal to me personally in a game, I use my games as an escape from you know... errands. RE has quite the impressive fanbase and horde of sequels, but like Megaman... I don't see capcom giving it the love it not only deserves, but is required in order to pump out the quality games that made me love the company in the first place! Fortunately, Devil May Cry and Onimusha were developed as sort of a fluke while making RE4 (Or was it RE2.5?)
Why it rules: It’s the classic zombie horror cliché, with a dash of intrigue and a feast of challenging quest-like adventure which tests your mettle like few games can. Your goal? Simply survive! Besides, who couldn’t appreciate a game simply because it has ZOMBIES?!? Besides, Resident Evil has always had a high amount of polish in terms of visuals and with every game they simply get better! While I will always consider the high point of the series to be RE2, I can’t deny that few, if any, games can even come close to any of the games which comprise this series. The controls are always decent (despite the gimpy characters), there’s always a scare hiding somewhere around the corner and then there’s the CG movies. WOW! Just like the game’s visual punch, the movies just get better and better, the recent RE remake on the gamecube is positively jaw dropping just looking at it. The lighting is… perfect, I can’t think of ANY other way to describe it! It’s incredible! The way you see moonlight shine in through cracks and windows, the way candles flicker with small breeze, the way light shines off the gore and the way that light is actually different in every area depending on how the room is lit as if it were REAL. While I know that ought not be any small wonder, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in a game. The attention to detail is simply breathtaking. Even back to the first game, the series always felt a little ahead of its time. For freaks that absolutely craved a challenge, RE gleefully rewarded them with tons of cool secret bonuses and unlockable characters when you go through the game playing a certain way and/or beating it within a certain time. The ways to go through included using ONLY the knife, not using healing items or saving. With RE3 we saw the arrival of hardcore mini-games with “The Mercenaries”, a game where you can choose one of the 3 Mercenary characters from the game and use them and their extremely limited supplies to go through time trials placed in various parts of Raccoon City where they must get to the finish line before the time bomb around their neck explodes. I don’t think they did anything like that for Code Veronica though, save for some visual upgrades the PS2 version doesn’t have a whole lot to separate it from the Dreamcast version. There were also all the Dreamcast exclusive remakes of RE games, which had all sorts of cool bonuses like a super easy mode with extra weapons and all the bells and whistles of the originals, not to mention a dramatic visual upgrade from the PS One games.
I smell tie-in: RE has spawned a huge amount of swag in the USA. Shirts, posters, and such are actually kind of rare and used mostly as tie-ins or preorder incentives. Speaking of incentives there’s a DVD called the Wesker Files that some places were actually just giving out! Naturally, it’s a brief bio on the man we know as Albert Wesker, the one time STARS Captain and Umbrella turncoat. Haven’t watched it myself, but will poke around for it when I have time. Toycom has some awesome RACCOON CITY POLICE and STARS badges for sale, I picked up one of the STARS ones myself and it’s quite nice. Action figures are quite abundant, there’s the less than thrilling figures that Toybiz sold as part of their “Videogame Superstars” line which also included Marvel VS Capcom and Street Fighter VS X-men. Luckily someone at Capcom listened and licensed another line of RE figures from Palisades, which are awesome! With painfully accurate details and suh-weet accessories, these figures rock. It’s definitely a line worth picking up. Besides toys, there’s the motion picture that was released about a year ago, loosely based on the game it stars the heroine from Run Lola, Run as she plays an amnesiac who happens to be the equivalent of a super spy (a la The Bourne Identity). The movie features Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, T-virus, Zombies and a Lickers and… That’s about where the similarities end between it and the game. There’s also a series of Paperback books out now, I think they’re up to 7 or 8 now, I finished the first book awhile back. It was quite good and accurate enough for my personal tastes, it also added some much needed depth to the main characters. Last but not least is RE Survivor~! Imagine resident evil as a first person shooter… There ya go! I believe there are one or two more in Japan, but it’s unlikely that they’ll be imported anytime soon. There’s also a GBA game, RE Gaiden either coming or already out in Japan. If you’re willing to import, and pay the extra cash it requires then I highly recommend looking into the statues, Kubricks and other Japan-exclusive swag. There’s even a controller designed specifically for the RE series (Biohazard in Japan)!!! There’s a lot of great merchandise associated with this game, so if you’re a fan and you’ve got to feed that zombie killer in you with RE stuff beyond the game, stop by you local game or video store as well as your local comic shop to check up on what’s available. Also, if you like Resident Evil you ought to give it’s offspring a try: Dino Crisis 1 & 2, Onimusha 1 & 2, and Devil May Cry. And check out Capcom’s website for updates, sales and cool swag straight from the filthy source of zombies itself!
Overall: While I really can’t say RE brought anything new into this world, it put on awesome twist on the idea of scary games making for an engrossing story. In fact, the series itself is more or less single handedly responsible for (and in fact NAMED) the Survival Horror Genre! While it often feels tired in that Capcom simply ignores the annoyance of camera angles and less save points, they treat you to some seriously cool scares and gameplay. Puzzles and traps test your mental mettle, while there’s always something moaning and groaning around the corner to feed that itchy trigger finger! RE put the face of horror into gaming and gave the idea over to other games companies like Konami to produce the psychologically damaging Silent Hill. And there you have RE’s only real competition, as a general rule RE keeps luring you into a false sense of security and startling you when you least expect it. But when you get tired of being shocked and pop in Silent Hill, you’ll think twice before turning off the lights. It’s more scary than shocking, like RE is. Silent hill is not quite as challenging when it comes to fighting monsters or doing puzzles, but it’s more than ten times the fear factor that RE has.
It’s a simple matter of opinion as to which is a better game. I nod towards Silent Hill a lot more because I prefer a game that doesn’t scare halfway, while when I feel ready for a challenge I go for RE. Resident Evil is a good series and I will stand by it until the end, but I wish Capcom would address the issues at hand with regard to camera angles and add something new to the gameplay to at least make the game FEEL fresh as opposed to have a different character who can for the most part do the same things all the other characters could do. Not to mention that Capcom handled this much like they did the Street Fighter series, tons of different versions of the same games! Once the remake comes out for RE2 that will give that one alone 4 versions!!! And remaking Code Veronica so soon? Instead of making Fresh new genre changing games or adding new stuff , Capcom simply went with what worked before and to this day you can play RE on one system and instantly pick on any of the sequels on any system. Cookie Cutter sequels are what brings in the gold since they require little or no innovation or new engine design, they simply work out the broad details, think up some puzzles, draw up some new enemies, pull some new characters out of the air and spew up some story that goes along with the environment. It’s great that they’ve done a lot for these games, but after RE2 the series kind of went downhill. However, Since Devil May Cry and Onimusha are both flukes that came out of developing the super secret RE4, I’m eager to see what Capcom cooked up for it and I’m dying to know how it will end the story. A great series, easily worth renting or owning a gamecube for, if Survival horror appeals to you that is. Then there’s RE Online for the PS2!!! It’s a fantastic time to like RE with sequels and alternate versions coming out it’s nose, Capcom will definitely be looking out for gamers in the next few years when it comes to their flagship Horror Series.