Story & Playability
Firstly I am going to review Resident Evil 1 - 4 and Code Veronica X cause I don`t have a Gamecube and the only contact
I have had with the remake of 1 and Resident Evil 0 is by watching my Biohazard the Catalyst DVD. Plus while Outbreak,
Gaiden and the Gun Survivor games do fit into the storyline somewhat overall they are not essential to the
series.
Resident Evil 1
24th July 1998
Raccoon City`s elite police unit known as S.T.A.R.S (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) are sent to investigate a handful
of murders that have recently taken place in the Arclay Mountains. After communication was lost with BRAVO team, ALPHA
team (consisting of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton and Albert Wesker) went in to find out what had
happened. When they arrived, they were confronted with some of the members from BRAVO, more like parts of the members as
most of them were horrendous butchered. Confronting what seemed to have killed the members of BRAVO, the ALPHA team
become overwhelmed with the threat that opposed them and with their transport leaving them behind, the only chance they
have for survival is to take shelter in a mansion that is off in the distance, Spencer Mansion.
Resident Evil 2
29th September 1998
Two people`s lives cross as they arrive in Raccoon City both with their own agendas. Firstly Leon S Kennedy, a rookie
cop who got assigned to work in Raccoon City and Claire Redfield, the younger sister of Chris who came to see him after
she hadn`t heard from him in a while. As the two entered the quiet town everything seemed fine until the town people
started advancing towards them. Leon and Claire tried to escape from the clutches of the crazed people when they by
chance bumped into each other. Knowing that they had to find a way to escape they teamed up but before they really had a
chance to get away they are separated. In the last communication to each other they both agree to meet up at the Police
Station.
Resident Evil 3
29th September 1998
The virus that the S.T.A.R.S members encountered in Spencer Mansion has been leaked into the city infecting most of the
population. While local authorities as well as Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) try to get the situation
under control they realize that they are fighting a losing battle. Former S.T.A.R.S member Jill Valentine too can tell
that this is the time to leave the fallen city and tries to make her escape. During her way she meets up with UBCS
member Carlos Oliveira to which together they must escape Raccoon City before it is annihilated.
Resident Evil Code Veronica X
17th December 1998
Following her brothers and the rest of the S.T.A.R.S members lead, Claire Redfield heads off to Europe to attack
Umbrella head on at their main headquarters. Her attempts were crushed as she is captured and taken to the Umbrella
prison on Rockfort Island. Not long after she arrived, she is set free by the Umbrella Security Operative that
originally captured her, leaving Claire to discover on her own that the virus had escaped into the prison. Stuck in the
horror with her is Steve Burnside, another prisoner of the island who suggests that she should call in her brother Chris
for help. With that completed the two of them escape the island only to get trapped inside another base in
Alaska.
Resident Evil 4
2004
6 years have passed since the incident at Raccoon City, then rookie cop Leon is now working under the President and was
given the task to protecting the Presidents family. Before he could undertake the task, the Presidents daughter Ashley
is kidnapped. With his mission set, Leon travels to a remote village in Europe to search for Ashley but instead of it
being an in and out mission like he expected he is faced with bizarre villagers lead by an insane cult leader.
Rating: 8
Graphics
Since you cant really judge like an anime I will talk about the character designs and FMV sequences.
Resident Evil 1
Ok you start the game up, waiting, waiting yep Capcom logo. You select new game, by this time you are getting excited
and then boom you are hit with the worst acting you have ever seen in your entire life. The opening sequence makes B
grade movies look good with tacky lines and off key yelling as `Jooooooooseph` and `No don`t go` Yep someone should have
definitely hired George Romano. The in-game sequences are lot better thankfully, the first time you see that zombie
sitting on the ground chewing on a former team mate and he turns around you start to wonder if you are going to be able
to handle going any further. Back in the days that was scary (no seriously it was).
There isnt too much to be said about the character designs since they were real life actors for the opening and closing
sequences, the Gamecube remake did a good job on them. The in-game characters are as good looking to the standards of
the time (apparently pixilated characters were an `in` thing at one time)
Resident Evil 2
After the bad acting of RE1 it was great to see that Resi 2 made a few changes. The big one being they are CG. The 2nd
thing being there was two different FMV sequences, ones from Claire`s side and the other from Leon`s plus the bonus of 2
different opening Eye Catches depending on who`s scenario you play. The opening sequence is stunning, setting the mood
perfectly for the game.
Yep you are already being stalked by crazed zombies but as soon as you get in the Police Station...WTF IS THAT!! In a
terrifying sequence they look up to see something pink, skinless and drooling drop down on the floor. Now we are back at
the same situation wishing that there were only zombies to take care of. The in-game sequences however hmm lacking
facial features. I would be more convinced if you could actually make out their eyes, nose and face better but that is
more compared to these days standards. Back then I still thought Leon was hot even thou he was faceless.
Resident Evil 3
This is short basically everything looks pretty much the same as Resident Evil 2 except a bit more detail and only 1 set
of FMV sequences.
Resident Evil Code Veronica X
*queue drum roll* here we go Playstation 2 first Resident Evil offering, oh this has got to be good. *wipes away drool
in anticipation* After finally finishing the opening while the action is great the animation however was average. Its ok
you can deal with average hoping it will get better until you get into the game. After turning away from the TV a couple
of times you realized that your eyes aren`t deceiving you and Claire hair does in fact change colour between game play
and FMV. Being PS2 you think Capcom would add a couple more colour pigments to make them match. Even with the slight
problems there are many more FMV`s and the in-game videos look great compared to the PSX predecessors. Claire`s sudden
weight loss seemed a bit of a problem thou, the girl needs to eat.
Resident Evil 4
Capcoms newest offering and with the standards of today`s games FMV`s being so high quality they needed to make sure
they kept up and they did. The videos are breath taking, the in-game characters are just as good. No more faceless
people, no more non moving mouths, mind you any of the game sequences cut to a full FMV anyway. And if that was not
enough the game comes in true widescreen as well if you TV supports it 480p Progressive Scan adding a new element of
terror to the game. Trust me it makes it look like your boxed in.
Now while playing the game you hit an FMV, great time for a toilet break maybe get a snack. When you come back your like
aaaaaaargh I`m dead O_o. Yep that`s right no time for toilet breaks FMV`s can be interactive so keep your fingers on the
buttons cause you will need it.
Background
This one needed it own section because they play a major role throughout all the games. Elemental lighting plays a big
part especially when you are walking through a narrow hallway, there is minimal lighting and next thing you know a dog
jumps through the window making you need to change your underwear. Bordered up windows, random blood splatters that lay
around the place, the look of chaos and destruction, everything enhancing the mood of the games. And now with Resident
Evil 4 they are now more disturbing with lightning, rain, paths so dark that even your trusty flashlight wont light the
way causing you to dive for your remote control to turn up the brightness on the TV and if that wasn`t enough you now
have to look around to find objects. Plus the bonus of being able to shoot the scenery is cool. *salutes the brave cows
that become target practise*
Rating: 7
Sound
With all the games the music plays a huge part of the atmosphere. The eerie orchestral music brings your adrenaline
level up two notches as you walk through a building where before it was dead quiet but now the music starts. You panic,
bad things are about to happen. Time to kiss your family members goodbye you are going in to see what monster you have
to fight this time. But at times there is a sense of relief as you hear a certain tune, it makes you cheer wooohoo save
room...SAVE!! But for the previous games the deep pounding of creepy music warned you that something was about to
happen, now to add more tension in Resident Evil 4 the music can start up and nothing will happen. You run around in a
frenzy trying to find what would be around to make the music start up. Damn it nothing. Is Capcom trying to toy with my
fragile life?
On top of that, Resident Evil 4 now supports Dolby Pro Logic II and to quote the Official UK PS2 Magazine `You might as
well just wet your pants now and save yourself some time` The experience is absolutely horrifying. Sitting in the middle
of the room with the lights off and you can hear everything around you makes you want to jump under the covers and hide
from whatever is around the corner.
Lastly is the voice acting. Generally overall a good job was done with the voices with the exception of Resi 1 since
they seem so off-key but you can just ignore that. There is always some kind of witting one liners and those heroic
moments where they declare war on Umbrella. At times they seem a bit lame but you got to love it for that. Not only
dialogue but also the shuffling, growling, crazy Spanish yelling, all that plus the fact that you cant see where they
are make you want to go and grab another set of underwear because you know you are going to need it.
Rating: 9
Fun
This will now become gameplay and bonus extras to keep you wanting more.
Resident Evil 1
When you start off you look in your inventory and see ohhh a gun and a trusty knife. After the panic when you first met
the zombie snacking on the guy on the floor you`re like arrrrrgh and pump the undead creature full of your precious
bullet supply. Happy that its dead you keep moving on to find more zombies. Panic sets in now all you have left is your
knife, you start swiping at it and realises that soon you will be dead because the knife isn`t inflicting that much
damage. Instead it seems to have more fun snacking on your body. The first rule you learn is to conserve bullets and
then running around the zombies comes after that. After a few times of You Are Dead you learn to catch onto this theory
and progress further in the game. Then comes the puzzles. Puzzles are fun and sometimes really frustrating, specially
when you have obtained a key to open a door that`s seems like 10 miles away from you but of course they weren`t going to
make it easy for you. After running back and forward to find where that stupid crests are meant to go you finally opened
a new way. Yay back on the trail again.
After completing the game if you are lucky you get the bonus of extra clothes and with Resident Evil 1 Directors Cut
making it more challenging with moving some of the objects so if you are like oh yeah I know where that is, most likely
it ain`t gonna be there. Plus there was the change in some camera angles, not like that`s a big thing to worry about but
you can always use a different look.
Resident Evil 2
Yay Resident Evil 2 is time to open up the pretty cover with the evil zombie on it to get ready for our first taste of
new zombie killing. Hey that`s pretty cool there are 2 discs inside with a picture of a guy and girl on each one. Hmm oh
well lets just play the one with the guy cause he looks hot. After dying a few times you get bored and swap the discs
over hoping that you will have a better chance of surviving, you then realises that you`re now playing the role of the
girl. Talk about a bonus you get two games for the price of one. This is one of the major features that extends
playability for the game.
Ok now we are veterans of playing the game, we know that you need to save bullets. This time dodging zombies seems a bit
easier but you wish that there was someway you didn`t need to push up and then turn then up just to turn a corner. But
that`s a minor detail remember we are skilled Resi game players now. While we are still all happy that we have 2
scenarios to play the further we get along we find out ohh more characters to control. Each person has an extra
character to play with (even thou its from a brief period of time) but you still get the excitement of ohhh ahhh they
are passing me grenade rounds/ shotgun shells and a club key.
Now that the game is finally finished and you have played both scenarios to find the true end, you then realised that
you can start with the persons disc that you finished the game off with to find out it changes the storyline again.
Capcom thought of everything this time. And if you were lucky enough to fight Brad the super zombie you get a nice key
to open up a locker to get extra clothes. So we have new outfits, a great want to keep on playing so much as 6 times
over and over again to find out hey I`ve unlocked a mini game. Concealed in the game are two separate missions that
involve Hunk, a UBCS agent and Tofu, a stick umm chunk umm something of tofu that comes complete with that so popular
killer knife.
Resident Evil 3
New game yay evil scary bad guy on cover awww only one disc but I liked the 2 discs. Quickly we get over the fact that
there is only one game mode in it and move on. During a way through the game you realise that you are overwhelmed by
zombies coming at you. As they start to lunge at you, you panic randomly smashing buttons hoping that you will make it
out alive. Success you did O_o Welcome to the introduction of the dodge command. At the right time you have a zombie
lunge at you if you press the square button at the right time you will push them away. And even better the 180 degree
turn command to quickly retreat from those evil men who want to take your brains. Unfortunately the control system
hasn`t really changed much thou still that same up, left up corner turn.
One you have finished the game, you know that you and sexy Carlos are going to make sweet sweet love on a deserted beach
somewhere, you decide to go and play the game again...WTF the items have moved. To keep the playability alive certain
items have been moved from their previous locations and even worse, the puzzles have changed. After all that hard time
trying to work out what cog to move and you think you got it down in your head, nope sorry move along try again. This
system was also adapted for Resident Evil 2 on the Nintendo 64.
Since we are lacking the extra disc which we wish would come back we are surprised to learn about an extra feature. The
introductions of The Mercenaries, a mini game which you play as 1 of 4 UBCS agents and earn money to which you can buy
items that you can use in the game after. The usual clothes changes come into play too with one of the outfits is
Regina`s, the heroine from Capcom`s Dino Crisis.
Resident Evil Code Veronica X
Yay PS2 Resi, finally the up turn up controls are gone...Nope. The first play was WTF it plays like a PSX game, there is
still no great sense of control to it. *cries* why did Capcom do that. So now you are back to the old style zombie
controls, you have to dodge and run past scouters that are looking for you and you have to pause to make your turn.
Since you have now by this point been playing Metal Gear Solid over and over again you are starting to wonder how could
they not incorporate the moving system into it. Heck even Capcom`s own Devil May Cry has a better moving system than
this. Even worse the great dodge command from Resi 3 has gone *cries*
Unfortunately I can`t say if there is anything good about the game, maybe more clothes, maybe a mini game I don`t know I
didn`t finish the final battle out of boredom. If there is maybe just maybe it might make up for the faults.
Resident Evil 4
After the deep depression you suffered from the hands of Code Veronica you wonder if you should give 4 a go. Remember we
are now diehard fans and our tiny little spirits have been crushed. Bravely you start the game up, blown away by the
opening sequence but for a good luck measure you run around in circles. SUCCESS! Capcom finally did it. We can now run
around like a normal person plus the camera angle is now fixed lower and behind your back, now we are really in the
game. Not only that when you realise a crazy villager has got too close to you so you try to fire off more bullets to
find out that the command at the bottom has changed so instead of firing a bullet at the guy, Leon shows some of his
leet government training and kicks him. After a bit of cheering and oh so cool you keep going hoping that you can do it
again. By this time you are also cheering that no longer are you stuck with the same fixed shooting position but now you
can aim. Take that villagers throat.
The dodge system too has been upgraded with 2 different types, one that includes pressing buttons together when prompted
to escape the hold and the other one being furiously shake the analog stick around. Not to good for your poor controller
thou.
Besides the great new commands there is a bunch of fun mini games to play. In game you have one task were you shoot
targets to get a new gun for free and the other a shooting gallery where you collect cute little bottle tops. Its always
good to take time away from the killing to blow away cardboard cut outs. The next set come after you completed the game.
We have a movie browser to look at all the pretty FMV`s over and over again, 2 side missions with returning Resi 2
character Ada and the ever loveable Mercenaries where you get to play as 1 of 5 characters.
Overall
An excellent game series, always things to keep you entertained until the next game and with the plot and secrets
involved in Resident Evil 4 hopefully old diehard fans and new ones will enjoy playing the series once again.
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
8.0000 (good)
Reviewed by EvoIIICE9A, Dec 16, 2005