Video Games : Resident Evil (GameCube)

Rating: - RESI EVIL
This is a brilliant remake of the psone horror game. The graphics have been improved and the spencer mansion has a lot more detail.
You have the option to play as one of two S.T.A.R.S members (jill or chris) a virus has been realesed and has turned the scientists into blood thirsty zombies...

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Rating: - Good update
This game has 2 plus points and 2 negative over the original:

Positive:
Excellent extra features.
The grahics look even better than HALO!

Negative:
Made up weapons.
The 'jump' factor is gone!- Still eerie though

Still, because it is my kind of game I give it 4 stars

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Rating: - Resident Evil.
There was some good extra features in this remake of the original Resident Evil. For example there was defance weapons which did help a lot and there was new and extra rooms in this one, more depth into the story and more detailed. there were new puzzles that were more challanging then the original. There was also new parts added into the original story to make it longer and more intersting, If you have played the original Resdient Evil and plan on having a go at this one just remeber that to just forget about what you know on the original game and think it of a new game because it is changed a lot in my point of veiw but this is a game a Resident Evil fan should not miss.

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Rating: - resident evil back with a vengance
i started playin this in the night, and boy was that a bad idea! i was terrified, had 2 take my dog out and kept lookin over my shoulder! the graphics and atmosphere are awsome! i havent completed it yet but its shaping up to be an awsome game!!

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Rating: - An Amazing Achievement
It is perhaps a sad testimony to my own lack of common sense that I assumed that Resident Evil wouldn't be very good. A huge fan of the series since the beginning I was however very disappointed with Resident Evil Zero. Although the story - the events leading up to Rebecca Chamber's appearance in the mansion in the original game was a good one, the reality was formulaic, dull and had a slightly careless feel to it. The evidence presented in Zero along with bilge like the Onimusha titles had lead me to believe that pre-rendered backdrops had had their day. Well not so. Resident Evil stands as a testimony to how potent a package an old story can make if it is lovingly realised and expertly executed. This may be hard to believe but despite being familiar territory the thrills and spills in this title are as visceral as when we first experienced them on the PS1 all those years ago.

Firstly, the mansion is enormous. It really is a mansion! And unlike the blandness of Zero every room is a work of art. From the architecture to the puzzles to the sinister and dramatic camera angles it all has the sheen of almost uncanny quality. The way free moving items and characters have been overlayed onto the backdrops gives such a sense of immersion that for the majority of the time you almost forget its not 3D. A zombie banging on a pane of glass trying to get to you, the standard issue movable crates and the items hidden seamlessly amongst the scenery all dissuaded me from criticism. The game designers have also taken real steps to break up some of the linearity of previous titles. Where a strong narrative exists free roaming game elements are not really possible, but here we have the next best thing: a genuine sense of unpredictability. In previous titles there is the overriding feeling that once you have cleared an area of monsters you are safe and can relax. In Resident Evil this sensation does not exist. Zombies burst through doors, windows and out of cupboards and there are even more shocks. As a Resident Evil veteran I am well used to passing rotting corpses lying on the floor. As you pass them, sometimes they stir and shamble after you and sometimes not. Imagine my shock the first time I passed a zombie who leapt to his feet and then ran after me roaring and swiping at me with his claws.

Ultimately survival horror games aim to immerse the gamer in what basically amounts to an interactive movie. For this to work effectively there must be a pacing and distribution of set-pieces to make the whole thing read like a film. Once again Resident Evil cannot be faulted on this score. Aggressively side-stepping that old computer game 'thing' of having all of the impressive stuff at the beginning and a load of repetition and mediocrity thereafter Resident Evil is so well constructed its frightening. After the initial events that take place in the mansion the game will lead you out into the smaller residence in the grounds. Here you will be confronted with a more concise set of puzzles which ultimately lead you into one of the most amazingly exciting set-pieces I've ever seen in a computer game. From their an encounter with series nemesis Wesker will lead you back into the mansion to unlock all those other doors you couldn't wait to open on your last visit. Again there is more to see and do. Things have altered slightly in the mansion and there are more challenges awaiting.

Its always difficult to justify giving a game full marks, however in this case I don't see how I could give it anything less. I try to play through every survival horror game that comes out on the main console formats but not since Resident Evil: Code Veronica X have I been so totally immersed and captivated by a game. In short it's a work of genius. Rehashing a title that was so mind-blowing the first time around is always going to be a risky proposal but here it works perfectly. Essentially the story is (thankfully) exactly the same as the first time around but everything is done bigger, bolder, better and in classic Resident Evil style. And so to those responsible for Resident Evil Zero: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.