Resident Evil Review

8.3

Format PC

Developer Capcom

Publisher Virgin Interactive

Genre Unknown

'Scary? Yeah, right!' Richie Shoemaker eats humble pie while sitting atop his gaming commode.

Games never seem to travel well. OK, a game may sell shitloads on one format (which is exactly what this one did on the PlayStation), but that doesn't mean it's going to fare as well on another. However, we have a slightly different kettle of fish here because Resident Evil's closest relative is Alone In The Dark, and Resident Evil has thankfully inherited its best features.

The storyline is so corny you could melt butter on it. Basically, things have gone badly wrong in some top secret installation and bespectacled scientists with bad breath have turned into flesh-eating zombies with halitosis intact. Even the household bugs have mutated. Contact was lost with the first team who went to investigate, so you and your crew have volunteered to get to the bottom of things.

You can control either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Chris is pumped so full of steroids, his manhood must be severely compromised, and seeing as he likes a challenge, he starts off with just a knife, whereas Jill is armed with a pistol although Chris does rescue her at choice intervals. Jill can also pick locks, which inevitably makes gameplay much easier.

Pure Primula

Kicking off in a deserted hallway, you begin by looking for your missing team member, and it isn't long before you come across your first zombie. Killing them is one of the game's gory glories. The pistol does the job well enough, but the shotgun you find later will take a zombie's head clean off at close range.

The characters are superbly animated: zombies shuffle along with arms outstretched, while slavering dogs with gnashing teeth pounce through the air. The camera angles keep the atmosphere tense without being disorientating, and the neat cut-scenes ensure that the cheesy storyline oozes along nicely. However, although the pre-rendered backdrops don't actually detract from the gameplay, they are a bit fuzzy, especially when set against the sharp 3D characters. We were also promised some groovy lighting effects, a promise that has been barely realised.

Touching cloth

There's a cracking good adventure to be had as well. Staying alive and exploring aside, there's always something to do, whether it's searching for keys and ammo, solving puzzles or shuffling items in your little satchel. Alright, so the puzzles are fairly easy and the adventure pretty linear, but you don't really notice it. In fact, not being a hardcore adventuring fan, I found that the difficulty level was set just right.

Sound-wise, the orchestral music is excellent. Ominous violins keep the heart pumping at a healthy 100bpm while the full cardiac arrest-inducing orchestral stabs should maintain regular bowel movement.

Sounds licky so far, eh? Well, I'm sorry to say there are a few nuggets at the bottom of the pan that just won't flush away. Yes, the graphics have been improved and the slow access times have been minimised, but the awful sequence where you're treated to a creaking 3D door when you enter a room hangs heavy very quickly. Not only that, but the inventory system is awkward and the developers really should have made more use of the mouse control and the Save Game feature common to the PC.

A bit more tweaking could have made this game a classic. It demands a hefty wedge of disk space for what it is, but that said, Resident Evil is generally a triumphant conversion of an excellent game. You won't be disappointed.