Resident Evil was one of the best selling titles
for the Playstation. It was released and became and instant
classic. A milestone in gaming that made everyone sit up
in their futons from start to finish, and dump empty soda
cans all over the place with every scare. It was an engaging
game with a cinematic feel, and attractive graphics. It
was the beginning of a new wave in gaming: the Survival
Horror genre. Resident Evil sparked a golden age
in horror gaming and was ripped of by nearly every production
company at one time or another.
Some time in spring of 1997, Capcom made the decision to
pull their hit game Resident Evil off the shelves
to make room for the sequel, Resident Evil 2. The
problem was, the sequel was more than a year away from finished.
Some people wondered just what the hell they were thinking,
but Capcom had a plan. They were going to release a game
to bridge the gap between the original and the follow-up.
That bridge would be Resident Evil: Director’s
Cut. It’s a mix of the U.S. version, the Japanese
version, and a new Arrange mode of play. All packaged with
a demo of Resident Evil 2 as incentive to people
that had already purchased a copy of the first game. The
plan was obviously successful, since Director’s
Cut is the game a lot of horror gamers cut their teeth
on.
This game was an improvement on an instant classic, and
so replaced the classic itself. The problem is, how can
you be critical of a classic? It’s easy to look back
now and point out all the flaws. Hindsight is 20/20, after
all. In order to give the game it’s due credit; you
have to think back to when it was first released. Except
for Alone in the Dark and a few others, the only
thing resembling a good horror game was still in the age
of “choose your own path” style text adventures,
or side scrolling Ghosts N’ Goblins type games.
What made this stand out far beyond those that game before
it? Well, I’m sure the realistic graphics and zombie-shredding
violence helped.
Resident Evil takes place in a mansion, of course.
After a group of S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue
Squad) goes missing, another bunch is sent in to find them.
It’s this second group that the main characters belong
to, and they are immediately driven into the mansion by
a pack of strange creatures. From there the story takes
off, and the discovery of zombies comes fast and hard. The
game leads you all through the mansion and beyond, as an
evil plot by the Umbrella Corporation begins to unfold.
Namely the mysterious T-Virus and it’s impact on less-than-living
people.
If you need and introduction to horror gaming, this is it.
I don’t mean that it’s a simple game to start
out on. I mean, once you play through this you’ll
be hooked on the genre. It’s got it’s problems,
like any game (like the horrible voice-acting and unrealistic
save and storage functions). But they can easily be forgotten
when you’re jumping out of your seat. It looks like
a horror movie, it plays like a horror movie, and it’s
as classic as a horror movie.
RATING
(Out of 5)
WORST QUOTE
Just about everything they say. The prize has to
go to the opening sequence when the team is waving
at the helicopter, though.
ZOMBIE
LESSON LEARNED
Never underestimate the terror of a foam-rubber
dog puppet and cheap lightning effects.
