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10 years ago
the video game world was changed by a game that brought about
a new genre. Survival horror, as it is called, was introduced
to video game fans on the PlayStation 1. With its classic story,
unique creatures, and excellent graphics (for the time) the video
game world was drawn into this game as it showed what the new
kids on the block, Sony, could do. So, as I look back at a game
that came out when I was far too young to enjoy it I have to take
my mind back to that time and compare it with what was the standard
then. So let's take a look back at the beginning.
 Story
Resident Evil is not just a mindless zombie game that deals with
the raising of the dead by ungodly powers. No. It has the back
story of a huge publicly loved, corporation called Umbrella experimenting
with a virus to create B.O.W. (Bio-organic Weapons). The virus
somehow gets released in their secret research facility, covered
by a mansion, and begins to mutate the researchers and creatures
within. Soon after, hikers and campers turn up dead in the Arklay
Mountain Forest located just outside of the mid-western town of
Raccoon City. A special task force known as S.T.A.R.S. (Special
Tactics and Rescue Squad) is sent in to investigate. The Bravo
Team goes first but contact is lost and the Alpha Team is sent
in next. The Alpha Team finds the Bravo Team's helicopter crashed
in the woods. No one is around. They land to investigate and get
attacked by viciously mutated dogs. The members run into a nearby
mansion. In the mansion they find that Umbrella has created something
called the "T-Virus" which mutates humans, animals,
and even plants. Making there way through the mansion, gardens,
and research facility they fight off zombies and other creatures.
Eventually, the team finds that someone in their group has led
them to the mansion to be slaughtered. I won't say who as to not
spoiler it if you haven't played (yes, even 10 years after). Also,
helping out the story are several files and documents found throughout
the game. These provide an excellent back-story to what happened
and who is behind it all. These documents are also useful with
puzzles as they provide key information. The story of Resident
Evil had a nice change to a typical zombie type movie or game.
It was definitely a new start for games.
Gameplay
You begin the game either in control of Chris Redfield or Jill
Valentine. Depending on who you choose the game story and experiences
vary only slightly. Using several weapons players make their way
through the game collecting keys, emblems, herbs, first aid sprays,
and weapons. Problem is that players only have 6 slots to store
items so you must continually unload items into storage boxes
located in save rooms. The task is tedious and sometimes forgetting
1 key item will force you to backtrack several rooms. Part way
through the game you get a side pack to increase your case to
8 slots but it doesn't change much. The game allows you to pretty
much hit the Action button on most things and you'll either find
an item or at least get a description. This does help because
it provides clues sometimes to puzzles. And you’re going
to need help with the amount of puzzles in this game. There are
alot. They range from medium difficulty to hard. But don't worry,
in the rooms where there are puzzles you don't have to stay on
guard for enemies there are none in those rooms.
 The
enemies in this game are very creative and all have their own
strengths and weaknesses. Zombies will be the most common. Their
strengths are in numbers and the amount of ammo it takes to take
them out. A Handgun can take you 8 shots while the shotgun can
kill them with 1 or 2. Zombies are seen in every area and large
groups should be avoided unless you have the ammo. There are dogs
and birds as well. The birds are just a pain in the rear but the
dogs pose a big threat. They are fast and agile and with more
than 1 you will find it hard to not get hurt while trying to fight
them off. Larger creatures called Chimera (an experiment involving
the T-Virus, a human, and fly DNA) which swing around rooms and
are very deadly. Hunters (an experiment involving the T-Virus,
a human, and reptile DNA) are the most deadly besides the bosses
as they have long, medium, and short range attacks. Giant spiders,
overgrown plants, bees, and other creatures also appear. Bosses
I will leave for you to find out but they are all unique and tough.
To fight off
these creatures you have several weapons. You start with a basic
knife and handgun. Most will toss the knife and forget it but
when the game came out several Japanese gamers mailed in videos
to Capcom to prove they could beat the game in under 2 hours with
only the knife. Most of us will focus on the handgun first. You
then obtain a shotgun, a grenade launcher, and a wicked Magnum
(you can blow up zombie’s heads!). The Magnum would be the
strongest weapon in the gun aside from the Rocket Launcher. But
even with all these powerful weapons you will get hurt every once
in a while. Therefore, there are herbs to heal you. There are
3 types of herbs in the game: green, red, and blue. Green herbs
are used for healing and can be combined with up to 2 other green
herbs to make a 100% health cure. Red herbs are useless on there
own but combine 1 red herb and 1 green and you get a 100% health
cure. Blue herbs are for curing poison. Spiders are the enemies
that will probably poison you the most. Once you are poisoned
your life drains until you cure yourself with a green herb.
The lock on system is pretty good and can go from manual to automatic
which helps with fighting. The main problem is the camera angles.
The backgrounds are all prerendered and the camera is usually
fixed in 1 location. This hurts when the camera may only show
your character and 2 feet in front of him. You basically have
to go by sound sometimes and hope for the best. A free movement
3rd person camera or over the shoulder view would help greatly.
 Sound
Ok, let's get this out first: the voice acting
is horrible. It sounds like each actor is reading in syllables.
It's is nice that they tried with it but this is beyond bad. One
example from the beginning. "Barry..........where's..........Barry?"
Chris says this and you have to hear it to understand how brutal
it is. Same goes for the videos. The videos are done with actual
"actors" and is pretty bad as well (well Chris Redfield
and Wesker's are ok acting but Jill's actress sucks). However,
to counteract this horrible acting is the great music and atmosphere.
The music sets the mood for each scene and even when you know
you are safe the music will put that little bit of doubt in your
mind. It has really been beautifully done and works very well
here. The atmosphere is also a great addition. The sound of glass
breaking or the slow dragging of zombie feet will keep you from
relaxing. Each enemy has a distinct sound and hearing it as you
enter a room will put you on guard right away. Areas such as outside
will freak you out as well. The garden has sounds of dogs howling
and night time noise (crickets and such). This really helps to
keep the mood of the game going even after the unintentional comedic
relief of the voice acting.
Graphics
For an early PlayStation 1 game, Resident Evil had great graphics.
The environments were prerendered which provides players with
some beautifully detailed areas. Every drawer, shower, couch,
etc... has great detail to add to the game's appearance. Then
we have the character models. You can certainly notice them on
the prerendered backgrounds but they are still very well done.
The character's are a little on the stiff side but the enemies
move very fluently. Dogs and Hunters would stand out as the best
on my mind here. I won't rate the video sequences in between as
they are done in live action with real people so it would be unfair
to rate these.
 Extras
Well there aren't too many extras in the game by today's standards
but there are some nice touches that make you want to run through
the game another time. Beating the game in under a certain amount
of time with a certain record will get you an Infinite ammo Magnum
or Rocket Launcher. These powerful tools can really help when
you run through the game again. Also, there are multiple endings
to the game. These are mainly dependent on who you choose to start
the game. And that leads to the next point of 2 playable characters
with slightly different stories. Play through both and enjoy.
Other than that there isn't much else in the game. At a length
of around 3-5 hours it isn't the longest game but finding every
item, searching every room, discovering all the items and files
will take up alot of your time.
Overall
The combination of great atmosphere, good graphics, great creature
design, horrible acting and voices, and average controls gives
this game an above average feel. It is the mother of survival
horror in video games and has led the way for dozens of imitations
to follow over the years. Thanks to its great story this is a
wonderful game. You should definitely check this one out and see
how survival horror was born.
Story - 5/5
Gameplay - 3/5
Sound - 3.5/5
Graphics - 3/5
Extras - 3/5
Overall - 3.5/5
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