Resident Evil 30th Anniversary: Resident Evil Remake
Putting the ‘Resident’ in Resident Evil. The ‘Bio’ in Biohazard.
Evil Remade.
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4 (Gamecube)
Platforms: PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox 1, Nintendo Switch, PC
As part of the Resident Evil’s 30th anniversary, I decided what’s a good to way to celebrate this milestone by reviewing the mainline series. What better place to start than the original, errr remake from ‘02, updated to HD in ‘15.
What began as an expansion of ideas from classic Japanese horror film Sweet Home, turned into into the classic we know today. When the original arrived in ‘96 on the original Playstation, it helped it put Sony in the game ready to take on console vets Nintendo and Sega at the time. Its concept of purposeful friction, that is stay, fixed camera angles so you couldn’t see everything on screen, to limited ammo and saves didn’t sway gamers from stepping into Spencer estate, with over 8 million sold.
In 2002, while development for Resident Evil 4 was underway, and 0 not quite done yet, Capcom released the remake which was essentially the idealized version they wanted make just 6 years prior. Leaps in technology in such a short amount of time meant better visuals, better sound, while keeping the gameplay intact with some intuitive improvements.
In 2015, it was released just to about everything, now in HD and widescreen, with some fun alternate outfits as well. We’ll be reviewing this version as we start the this anniversary as with any good saga, we start at the beginning. Well, not quite, we’ll be getting to 0 next.
Sound: Subtle and Scary.
The original’s hokey voice acting from the full video cutscenes to the in-game parts had its charm and everlasting catch phrases such as Jill’s ‘Master of unlocking’ to ‘Jill Sandwich’ and Chris’ interactions with Rebecca Chambers and Albert Wesker. Capcom admitted they were going for a more serious route, though in many ways, it captured the spirit of the horror films it was initially influenced by: gory but campy.
For the remake, with the help of professional voice actors and an expansion to its haunting, nuanced score, the sound matched the more serious tone they were going for. Zombie groans are more guttural, handgun, shotgun blasts have that extra punch, Lisa Trevor’s dragging chain bring that dread knowing she’s coming and can’t be killed with ammo. The music plays its position from the soothing saving room, to when jump scares happen. With headphones or a decent sound system with a subwoofer will help bring an immersive mood, now supporting surround sound if you have that setup.
Graphics: Stylishly Undead.
While Code Veronica teased how a next-gen Resident Evil would look like with in game facial expressions, more 3d objects, dynamic lighting when holding a lighter for example, the remake was the execution.
Going for stylized photo realism, this meant while it looks like something that could happen in real life, the art style isn’t bound by, or attempting to doggedly stick to reality itself. That means more expressive eyes, fine detail to outfits, weapons and puzzle items. The remake originally took advantage of the Gamecube’s knack for superior lighting effects that the P2 or original Xbox couldn’t match, leaving the artists to capture the mood for each room. Zombies have more identity, returning bosses such as the giant cobra Yawn are now given the intimidating size they deserve, and Plant 42 isn’t just on overgrown bouquet in the center of the room. It still is 3d polygons over 2d backgrounds, but the line is blurred on which is which, almost everything seems interactive.
The HD version brings this to widescreen for modern TVs/monitors and has aged very well to this day. It would take relatively recent entries such as the latest, Requiem where even finer detail such as hair, sweat on skin would be expanded on. In game cutscenes are sharper and are mostly done in-engine. Give Chris’ or Jill’s BSAA outfit a whirl to see what I’m saying on your next playthrough.
Gameplay/Controls: Walking Tank.
For those that may gotten into the series with Resident 4 Classic, 7, the Remakes of 2 or 3, this can be described as purposeful friction as I mentioned at the start. After Special Tactics Rescue Squad or STARS Bravo went missing, its up to STARS Alpha Team to investigate as well as the bizarre murders happening in the Akrlay Mountains outside of Racoon City. The search goes immediately awry forcing Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, and STARS Alpha team leader Albert Wesker into a mansion filled with zombies, zombie dogs, snakes, giant tarantulas and more.
Depending on who you choose, there will be slight changes to how the story progresses, among other things. At its core, the birth of survival horror that that this series made famous put it all together here. You’ll move your character according to the notation of the fixed camera in the room. By default they’ll walk slowly, though there is the run button or the option to us analog like in modern titles. You’ll start in the mansion first to find said Bravo Team as well as what happened to this mansion now populated by the undead and violent animals.
Along the way, you’ll find the way forward is anything by direct, as you’ll be finding keys, solving puzzles to get key items needed to solve other puzzles. You won’t have enough space to carry everything, so you’ll need to either remember or mark down a specific room or hint and come back to it later once you find the key or solution to move forward.
You’ll start off with the knife and handgun (Technically, Chris has to pick his up, though it happens within 10 minutes of starting) though you’ll never have enough to re-kill them all. There are some hardcore faithful that speedrun and only use the knife when absolutely needed though for the rest of us, you’ll quickly figure out which ones are actively in your way and which ones you can outrun. You will get shotguns, grenade launchers with different ammo (Jill only) and the famous magnum and equally rare ammo. New to the remake are defense items so you don’t just block bites and slashes with your clavicle. You’ll get defense daggers and depending who you choose, an exclusive one that will cut down on taking herbs, though its limited to zombies. Don’t wait to counter a hunter for example
New to the remake are crimson heads, which if for some reason you are that trigger happy, are zombies that will revive after 30 or minutes game time after putting them down and you don’t didn’t get a head shot. Unless you burn the bodies with a lighter and fluid, you are living on borrowed time as they are faster, do more damage, thus expending more ammo. For those playing or have played Requiem, consider them as the predecessors to blister heads.
Fun Factor: In the (undead) Eye of the Beholder.
After the main modes, there are plenty of alternative modes to come back to if you so desire. Doing a speed run, getting S rank will unlock special, fun weapons, there’s real survivor mode where auto aim is off, and the item boxes are no longer magical, so you’ll have be judicious in what you take with you. There’s invisible zombie modes which is at it sounds, and zombie mode where there is one that follows you consistently and is strapped with explosives so if you shoot it, its game over.
I’ll admit when I first picked this up, I didn’t really get ‘the rules’ of survival horror, so I ran and gunned, picked everything up and used my ink ribbons up quickly. It too restarting a few times, and ultimately checking a walk through to really get what it was laying down. Though once I got ‘it’, here I am now talking bout it now on its 30th anniversary. . When I put this on, I get back into survivor mode easy enough, plotting and strategizing that next run until the next save. As mentioned near the start, if you’ve started with 4 onward, this will take some adjustment. If you’ve never picked up a Resident Evil title before, while lore wise this is the place to start, just know that this, 0 and Code Veronica are done this way until 4-Revelations 2 do the over-the-shoulder camera view have their own takes on survival horror. Give it a run if you dare.
