After thirteen long years, The Resident Evil remake fans have waited for has returned on next-gen consoles. The beloved classic has been considered one of the last great survival horror experiences to date and the last of the Resident Evil series to represent what made it great generations ago.
Taking place all the way back in 1998, Resident Evil begins as Raccoon City’s under attack from groups of flesh eating cannibals. The S.T.A.R.S. team (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) are sent into forest outside the city to investigate the gruesome crime-scene and locate the missing.
In the process, they make contact with a gathering of monstrous fiends – and by contact, I mean someone’s eaten and the rest have to bolt it through the darkened forest. After a chase through the woods, the S.T.A.R.S. team take shelter in a mansion they think is safe, but only new nightmares wait inside for them to face. Now they must find a way to escape and return safely to the city.
There’s nothing here in terms of strong storytelling, but considering the original game came out in 1996, the writing’s forgivable given the period. Its not even a bad story, but a timeless retelling of the classic haunted house tale and one that’ll always find a place in any era of horror gaming. It doesn’t force meaningless subject matter down your throat and offers some hilarious and frightening twists in the process. By twists, I mean showing you the real bad guy. Never trust people who wear sunglasses at night.
Taking place entirely in one location, the infamous Spencer Estate’s a labyrinth of death is a complex and unique world compared to most games nowadays. The mansion’s open for you to explore and finding key items will help you progress further. Like the older Castlevanias, Resident Evil doesn’t tell you where to go, but lets you figure out what needs to be done through your own deduction. There’s no compass, no tips, and no map to point you in the right direction, leaving you to wonder and fear in the unknown, like a true horror game should.
Resident Evil focuses a great deal of its gameplay on exploring on your own, with most resources are so well hidden that only keen eyes will spot them. Moving large objects like dressers or searching desks and side cabinets will reward the player with ammo and health. Along with finding new areas or completing certain puzzles, the game offers satisfying rewards such as new weapons. Having to rely on your instincts creates an intense feeling of isolation that suite the survivalist challenge of making your way alone.
The graphics this time around are simply beautifully. Even after a decade, Resident Evil look stunning in high definition and its dynamic lighting, sound design, and animation help bring the mansion to life. Sadly, some of the flat and lifeless textures of its objects are unbecoming even for last-gen consoles. These lackluster visuals, however infrequent, are nonetheless a let down compared to the rest of the game, even more so on Xbox One than it would on Playstation 3 or 360.
To this day, Resident Evil offers the simplest, most brutal gameplay. Resource management is challenging, but with some patience, you’ll adapt soon enough through trial and error. Keeping an eye to your surroundings adds an additional layer of intensity to the game. The beginner difficulty is also great for “newcomers,” whereas “experienced players” will best be advised to head straight for the hardest difficulty. After all this time, Resident Evil’s still able unnerve players with simple methods of horror and tension. The fixed camera view’s as effective as ever in creating a heart-pounding intensity and door animations never tell you what’s on the other side. Those and your character’s limited skill set mean that you aren’t doing any fancy Call of Duty maneuvers here.
The awkward controls are slightly annoying to handle, especially when the fixed cameras change position and the puzzle elements are limited as a result. They’re fairly simple to complete and arguably show the game’s age in the worst fashion. Your arsenal delivers devastating attacks along with a new feature not present in the original 1996 release. Defense weapons from tasers to knives act as a very personal last resort if you’re grabbed by an enemy, all of which help you feel like you’re not totally helpless, including my favorite: a grenade to the mouth.
Compared to The Evil Within, bosses are quite simple, but a couple of clever features make your bigger encounters more exhilarating. Certain tasks available to you before a fight even allow you to avoid confrontations altogether. Like The Evil Within, the greatest of these enemies are the ones that resurrect. Shot dead, some zombies will only come back stronger and faster than before, in which case players have to torch them in a beautifully destructive fire.
Considering it originally came out over a decade ago, Resident Evil’s still a great game. Its design and gameplay’s still timeless and it’s a joyous gift for a younger generation to appreciate. It’s only more refreshing in a genre geared towards action games and it’s nice to see the return of the kind of heart-stopping survival horror we knew and loved.