When theResident Evilremake was released forNintendo GameCubein 2002, fans and critics alike saw it as one of the best-looking games ever made. And rightfully so with its photorealistic pre-rendered backgrounds that popped with startling detail even on classic CRT displays of the time. Realistic character models, haunting music, and stunning visuals combine to create one of the finest survival games ever made.
It was simultaneously a relic of the past, representative of the future, and years ahead of its time.Capcomwas right to be confident about this sprawling descent into terror because the remaster released in 2015 ensured that it hadn’t aged a day. Even when playing with its tank controls, instead of the updated movement style, it still felt like you were navigating a maze of unknown terrors ready and waiting to jump around every corner. It was campy and creepy in the best possible ways, ripe with so many of the tropes and clichés the series would make routine.
As the remaster celebrates its 10th anniversary, let’s look back at one of the finest survival horror experiences this medium has ever seen.
The Spencer Mansion Is A Character All Its Own
I will forever admire the simplicity of Resident Evil. After a brief opening cutscene where we see the S.T.A.R.S unit ascend the Arklay Mountains to investigate a series of grisly murders, only to be attacked by a pack of infected dogs and forced to take shelter wherever they can. Unfortunately, this place ends up being the Spencer Mansion, a sprawling estate belonging to a family with a deep, dark history that will gradually unveil itself in the hours to come.
You can’t go back outside where wild animals are waiting to rip you apart, while this strange building is mysterious enough that splitting up and searching for clues is the best course of action. So, with only a few magazines of pistol ammunition in your inventory, you set forth on an adventure that will go down in history. It’s worth noting that the game has you pick to play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Chris is stronger and capable of taking more damage, while Jill is in possession of a lockpick that allows her to enter new areas. The story diverges at certain points too, meaning a playthrough as both are essential to get the whole picture.
Like most Resident Evil games, this one is so fun to speedrun once you’ve played through it a couple of times. There are even achievements and trophies for it.
What begins as a series of rooms in a superbly decorated mansion evolves into a lab buried deep underground, gardens and billiard rooms filled with giant spiders and snakes, and betrayals from fellow officers you thought would stand by you for life.
Resident Evil is filled with so many iconic moments and images that it’s hard to recall them all, but I adore how a remaster like this was able to capture them on modern hardware in ways which are still available to this day. The gameplay formula of exploration, combat, and puzzles seen here pioneered an entire genre, and in recent years we’ve seen the likes ofCrow Country,Signalis,Fear the Spotlight, and several others reinvent it again and again.
A Survival Horror Gameplay Formula For The Ages
Determining exactly what makes this game so scary despite its campy dialogue has long been a point of fascination for me. The line delivery is abhorrent, but also a charming part of its timeless appeal that has carried across the series since its inception. The controls which aim to restrict and disorientate, combined with pre-rendered backgrounds help to establish a sense of constant paranoia.
You are never safe, and even a single zombie will be enough to take you down for good. Fail to set them alight once defeated, and they’ll come back with an even greater hunger. Level design that constantly evolves as you revisit it only solidifies this further, ensuring there are always new things to learn and discover amidst the horror.
I will never forget stepping into the billiards room for the first time and seeing a giant tarantula looming above me as the camera angle shifts. Thanks for the lifelong phobia…
Despite its fixed camera angles and limited resources, the moment-to-moment gameplay of fighting enemies and solving puzzles has remained ever since, even as the series has begun to embrace high-octane action more and more. You could argue the modern interpretation of this began with Resident Evil, as did so many of the character and enemy designs we adore all these years later. They would be nothing without this remake that sought to reinvent what it meant to be a Resident Evil game. As the remaster turns ten, it’s still the best way to play it.
Resident Evil
Racoon City. A secluded mountain community, plagued by a storm of vicious attacks, is completely overrun. Mutant beasts and blood thirsty zombies infest the landscape. You are S.T.A.R.S. - Special Tactics and Rescue Squad. Your mission; investigate the ominous mansion at the core of the horrific disaster. Uncover secrets behind a radical genetics research facility. With all new graphics, new puzzles, extra features, anfd zombies lurking around every corner, the ultimate test may just be to make it out alive!
