Retro Reviews -- Resident Evil

The first Resident Evil game ever made came out in 1996 for the original Playstation. Then it got remade for the Gamecube in 2002 getting a complete overhaul of graphics and game play. I remember playing the original back when I was a kid, going to Blockbuster and renting it for the weekend. The game scared the hell out of me and I don't think I ever finished it, but it sparked my interest in all things horror themed. Eventually that turned into a love for the genre that is still with me today and this is the game that started it all, not just for me, but I'm sure for a lot of other like minded people as well.

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The 1996 original was amazing for it's time, but it doesn't really hold up today. That's why in 2002 Capcom did the much needed Remake of it. The comparison is night and day different, the graphics, controls, voice acting, everything from the ground up got remade and it made the game much more accessible for the uninitiated player. I was blown away when the Remake first came out for the Gamecube, and I saw how much work Capcom put into this version of the original game. It quickly became the definitive version of the journey through the Spencer Mansion and I absolutely loved it.
Let's take a quick look at the obvious difference between the two.
Here's Chris.

As you can see video games came a long way in that six year span between the two versions of this game. Not only did the graphics get completely revamped, but the controls were done differently, and that was the main reason most people had a hard time with the old school Resident Evil games. They used what are known as "tank" controls, meaning whatever direction you were facing you pressed up on the control pad to go that way. So even if you were facing down toward the bottom of the screen you would press up to go in that direction. This was confusing at first but I was quickly able to adjust to this style of controls as many games in the 1990's used this configuration. Other people were not as forgiving though and were turned off to games like Resident Evil because of this. Luckily the Remake changed it to the normal 360 degree style where you used a joystick to move and no longer needed to struggle with "tank" controls.

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In addition Capcom also added totally new areas to the game, giving players who had played the original something new to experience. Also, new mechanics like, if you killed a zombie you could burn their body or leave it. You only had a limited number of times you could burn the bodies, but if you didn't the zombie would come back to life eventually, growing huge claws, turning blood red, and running full speed at you. These were called crimson heads and were not a part of the original game. This mechanic added some strategy since you had a limited number of times you could burn the bodies, you had to carefully choose what areas you were going to clear out. Especially since ammo was also very limited in these games, you didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of crimson heads running around the mansion. It made you think ahead and plan your route carefully.

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At the beginning of the game game you see the team of STARS members, a special unit of the police, heading to the Mansion. A group of zombie dogs attack the squad and they scatter in different directions. When you start the game you can choose to play as either Chris or Jill. Both have their strengths and weaknesses but to get the full story of what happens you have to play the game twice, once as each character. This is something I really loved about the original and luckily they kept it for the remake. You get to see what each character goes through on their separate journey through the same story. I'm surprised that more games haven't done this as it adds a huge replay factor and a whole other layer to the story. The sequel, Resident Evil 2, did the same thing using two new characters, Leon and Claire.

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Resident Evil HD Remake was a hugely popular game and has been ported to just about every console after it's original Gamecube release. I've probably bought this game ten times since 2002 and I don't even mind because it's one my favorite games ever. You would think with how well this remake did back in 2002 that Capcom would have immediately gotten to work on a remake of Resident Evil 2, but they never did. Recently though it has been announced that a remake of 2 is in the works and should be out by the end of 2017, or early 2018. This is great news for people like me who love these games and have been waiting for about 15 years for Capcom to finally remake the other original games.
If you haven't played any Resident Evil games or are only familiar with the more action oriented ones like 4,5, and 6, you should at least give the Remake a try as this is where it all started. This is one of my favorite games of all time and I can't wait to get my hands on the second Remake. I have a hard time giving any game a perfect score because nothing is perfect, but this is as close as it gets for me. So my score for Resident Evil HD Remake is:

A+++