Resident Evil

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

October 2016

Resident Evil was released in the 90s on the PlayStation 1, but was remade on the Nintendo Gamecube. I played that version and thought it was great. That Gamecube game was slightly upgraded and released on the PS4. Resident Evil has come a long way since the first one (mostly for the worse, but things are starting to turn around with #7), but the original still has a charm and is basically a great game.

I remember playing this game with my friend and trying to solve all of the puzzles, as well as trying to beat the game in various ways. For example, there is a mode where you play through the entire game with invisible enemies. Only a pro like my friend (not me!) could pull that off!

Resident Evil starts with a special forces squad being called in to investigate strange circumstances at a remote mansion. You play as either a man or a woman member of this team, and each one has different strengths. Upon arriving at the Mansion you discover that there are zombies! There is an evil in the residence! You further investigate what's going on, where the zombies came from, and figure out how to end the zombie menace.

The game relies on classic survival horror game mechanics, and arguably started some of the mechanics. There is very limited ammunition. Only a few hits kill you. While there are jump scares, the real tension comes from the slow and inevitable outcomes of each zombie encounter. For example, a zombie might take ten bullets to put down, but you only have four and are in a narrow hallway with the zombie. What do you do? It's these types of encounters that build tension and make the game "scary." Unfortunately the series has moved towards being action heavy and featuring jump scares and visuals designed to shock the viewer, but as I mentioned it's recently taken a turn towards its roots.

Maybe I like this game for nostalgic reasons but I really do think that it's a much-better-than-average game that holds up even twenty years after it was originally released.

(This is the opening cinematic and the graphics don't look this good.)	Those dogs don't . . . look right. . .	"Chris let's go"
This zombie has me cornered!	The game uses fixed camera angles, which can be frustrating at times but I think it adds to the tension. Each view is chosen deliberately.	Soon into the game you realize that the zombies don't actually die if you shoot them! They get up and run faster than ever. The only way to put them down for good is to blow up their head or burn their corpse after you've put them down.

	That gas can holds five lighters worth of kerosine. Huh?
Snake? SNAAAAAKE!	Trevor needs to trim those fingernails.
This room was so creepy when I was younger. And now.	Medias first zombie shark?
	It's almost as if he was stung to death . . .
	Wesker you RANCID SWINE!
"Crank you for bein' a crank."
		This is a cool room. You enter and your only view is via a mirror. It's disorienting for a few seconds and if you can't get yourself together fast the zombie will get you.
These giants spiders are perhaps only surpassed by the ones in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.		A mysterious passage to which I finally have access.
There was this old AT&T commercial featuring an un-funny comedian, Carrot Top. But in the add he's around a campfire with some people and pulls out these disconnected payphone receivers and while saying "Did I ever tell you the one about PHONE HANDS!! Grglgleglgl!" Me and my friend though it was funny and named this monster (actually a little girl) after it. So whenever this monster appeared we'd yell out "PHONE HANDS!"	Phone hands looking for certain bones . . .	Phone Hands takes a dive.

	I'm impressed with myself that I got a screenshot of this.	That gun is bigger than his head.
	?!	Wesker, you grade-A Poo Brain.
	The Tyrant!
		In the year 2016 why am I getting a message like this in a video game? Just make a save file automatically! Obviously!