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:: Resident Evil for GCN Review |
Overview
You can't get any scarier then Resident Evil. It's without a doubt one of the most realistic, scariest games in the history of Nintendo. And it shakes the GameCube's current kiddy image rather nicely. In Resident Evil, you take control of either Chris or Jill, both in different stories. The voice acting is actually for once well done, and the movements of the characters are very realistic. The movements are great, not a single jagged image, nor pixilated image. Capcom spent a lot of time of Resident Evil, I can tell you that much.
Now, let us get a little deeper into the game. You can pick and choose from Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, both whom have their own quests. With Jill, you get eight item slots, with Chris you only get a mere six. Needless to say, you should always start the game with Jill, if you're a beginner or not. Alright, time to start 'er up.
With Jill Valentine, the story is much different. Yet in some of her cutscenes, the animation jumps a little bit, making it actually hard on the eyes. It's a lot easier when you start out with Jill, she gets a handgun while Chris gets a mere knife. Her story is perfectly disgusting, and that's what makes it Resident Evil at heart. Jill is perfectly animated, it's almost as this is the Resident Evil movie, that's how nice it looks. The one thing that I didn't like, would be the control. It's horrible, very horrible. Eventually, you'll get used to it, it gets much easier as you go on, but still it seems horrible. Another bad point of the game would be the time clock that you never see. Under certain conditions, you can get secret weapons by beating the game under a certain amount of time. The thing is, it's ALWAYS ticking. When you're watching a cutscene, when you're paused, even when you're viewing the inventory. Which means no bathroom breaks. You drink anything before playing and it'll cost you your life!
With Chris, it's virtually the same. Except a lot harder. You only start out with a knife, and the old "Slash-at-the-legs" routine doesn't work anymore. It's horribly slow to slash. If you beat the game with Jill withen a certain amount of time, the unlimited ammo replaces the knife. Which makes things a lot easier. Of course, also, the zombies will wail on Chris if he doesn't have a weapon with him. Note to all players of this game:
THE KNIFE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Throw it away as soon as possible, it's usless. With that public service message out of the way, we shall continue on!
Resident Evil is perfectly sickening, and scary, and usually makes you think. You can't think very long or else you'll usually be eaten. And c'mon, no one wants to see that. Resident Evil's camera is horrible. Did I mention that? Without the sound on your TV on, or you're deaf, there is just about no way to tell if you're about to be killed. The camera always swings around, away from the zombie, so you'll walk right into its arms most the time. However, that can usually be a good thing, as it leads to scarier intrudes. Just a friendly warning, watch out glass windows, and the downstairs kitchen.
With yet another public service message out of the way, let's discuss the controls. It's pretty simple. R raises your arms, ready to attack, while A Fires/Slashes. You walk with the control stick, and if you hold down B you run. A is also your action button, it opens doors, opens chests, or just checks items. The C Stick gives you a 180 turn in the direction you're facing. Start pauses (Whoa, who woulda thought that??), the Z button displays the current map, and Y gives you your inventory. And, if on manual, L is your defense item button.
One more rant. The control stick. I mean, it's bad enough that the movement is so wacky, but if you press left or right on the control stick, it only rotates you, slowly. Which means there's only one direction, and it's forward. Another thing I hated, pushing objects. You have to keep walking into it before it eventually starts pushing. And that can get annoying most of the time.
Alright, now on to defense items. With both Chris and Jill you can use the dagger. With Jill, however, you can use an ultimately sweet taser. Another thing I'm gonna rant about. You can only use a defense item ONCE, and once you do you can't get that item back until you find another one. Save them for when you're really in danger. Often you'll find yourself on caution, with a Zombie grabbing your shoulders. Then you'll think to yourself "I Should of done what Chad said! D'oh!". Well, everyone should listen to me sometime. =)
With one last rant, the death screen. A giant red screen promoting "YOU ARE DEAD." Gee, thanks, I didn't notice my character is laying on the floor without any life. Yeesh.
Final Rating
Graphics: 9/10
Wow. The graphics are amazingly lifelike. It's almost as if it IS real. Never play with the lights out. Yet another service message! From the gunshots, you can actually see smoke, and the bullet cases falling to the floor. The lighting effects are also great. Including the shadowing, the lightning, and just about everything else.
Sound: 9/10
The footsteps, the music, the lightning. Everything's very well done. Even the voices, for once. And everyone knows that the scariest part of the first Resident Evil were the voices.
Control: 6/10
The control bothered me. It might not you, but it annoyed me to hell and back..most the time
Overall: 8/10
Resident Evil is good. At least worth a try ONCE! Close the doors. Turn off the lights, live the nightmare..
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| Reviewed by Chad ::
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