Resident Evil was one of the best titles the Playstation had. At the time of it's release it was beautiful,campy, and had plenty of scares and thrills. It's also the game that started the whole survival horror genre. Although, there have been many sequels released the original still holds a special spot in the memories of the fans. Apparently Capcom knows this as they have decided to remake the original game to kick off their new plan for having Resident Evil become a Gamecube exclusive property. Of course Capcom has gone the extra mile to redo the game by taking advantage of the new hardwares graphic capabilities and fixing some of the problems that the original had (like the horrible translation and voice acting) all of this add up to quite a game but some things that should have been fixed haven't been which I'll talk about further on in the review. For those new to the world of Resident Evil (and how was your stay inside a cave?) the game starts out in a small town called Raccoon City where a bizarre rash of murders has started occuring in the forest outside of the city. So the police send out their Special Tactics And Rescue Squad better known as S.T.A.R.S to investigate. They send in half the unit, the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team to begin the investigation but on the way there their helicopter crashes in the middle of the forest and all contact with them is lost. The Alpha team consisting of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker, Joseph Frost ,Barry Burton, and Brad Vickers (Alpha Teams helicopter pilot) are sent in next to find out what is going on and to rescue their compatriots. As soon as they land they find the other teams helicopter a derelict with the Bravo team missing except for the the pilot of the chopper who's dead inside. Moments later, Joseph Frost is attacked and killed by strange dogs covered in maggots with their innards showing the dogs then set after the rest of the Alpha Team as they run towards a mysterious mansion in the forest which they think is a safe haven but is actually the beginning of a horrible nightmare. You will play the game as one of two of the Alpha team members Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine with Jill being the easier game of the two and try to uncover the mystery behind this mansion and to survive the horrible monsters lurking around every corner. The opening intro is set up much better then the originals as it is all pre-rendered instead of using live actors like the original which is something i'm extremely glad they changed as the originals was extremely cheesy to the brink of laughter which with the creepy tone the game tries to set is not the best thing to do. The next major thing you will notice of course is the graphics. Capcom pulled out quite a few tricks with the graphics this time from bump-mapping on the characters to lighting and even reflective surfaces like the original it does have pre-rendered backgrounds but they have added special effects to all of them and bumped up the resolution. The backgrounds are so much better it's unbelievable the original games mansion looks cheery and very well lit compared to the new one (trust me I've compared the two) each of the backgrounds has been given enhancements like lightning coming in through the windows, candles blowing in the wind,and seeing the reflection of your characters in water and on windows. Add in the beautiful new character models which look better then even the prerendered characters in cinemas of previous Resident Evils and you have a very beautiful game and the characters looks just as good in and out of cinematics in this one. The best part is that the new models and the background go together seamlessly and unlike the original games it doesn't look like a blocky little model out of place in a 2-1/2D world. All of the character models have gotten upgrades from the main characters to the horrible beings that fill the mansion. Which while the main characters will drop your draw to the floor the new zombies might make you drop your lunch no longer are they blocky albino bald men with brown dirty suits on the new zombies look eerily real with bite marks on their body that looked ripped out, tattered bump mapped clothing, and moving eyes and jaws these guys will creep you out to the max just wait till one jumps out a door at you. The graphics in this game are a showpiece for your Gamecube and I'm betting a lot of people will buy the game for the graphics alone Resident Evil Code Veronica has been dethroned as the best looking in the series. While the games graphics are the first thing you'll notice the second thing you'll notice is the gameplay and if your a veteran of the series then the controls are old hat for you everything here is just like the originals controls except for the addition of two things one of which is the 180 degree turn we've come to know since RE Nemesis hit the market. The other is quite new to the series and a very good idea special items known as defense items which when equipped if you are grabbed by a monster your character can then use the item to escape and not take damage the items are quite useful and each character has two types of weapons Chris has a Knife and a Grenade the more fun of the two is the grenade which when grabbed Chris will pull the pin shove it in the monsters mouth and then either wait for his head to explode or shoot the grenade and detonate it himself. Jill gets the Knife and a Stun Gun the stun gun is rather cool too as when a zombie grabs Jill she will electrocute them. (Note : These are held in a different manner then inventory and don't take up space like weapons but they do have to be selected in their own screen if you wanna use a defense weapon other then the knife). There are also a select few new creatures in the game along with the creatures of the original one is the new Crimson Head Zombie and you'll find them to be the bane of your existence while playing as they are zombies that you have already killed the bodies will remain and if you do not do 1 of 2 things to completely kill a zombie before it arises as a Crimson you'll be sorry as they are like zombies on steroids they can kill you in just a few hits and are extremely fast. The first thing is to decapitate them (shotgun works best for this) or burn them the second of which is the harder to do as you have to have a lighter & a can of gasoline (which takes up an item slot, holds only enough for two zombie burnings, and has to be refueled at a gas can) or to use Jill's Flame grenade which has the effect to kill and burn on contact. The next creature is a hulking beast that has a backstory to it and is completely new to the series and is one of the only new additions to the original RE story. All the former weapons are here sadly with nothing new but the old standbys still work rather well. The makers of the game claim that most of the puzzles have been changed or completely redone while some have been I made it through the game quite easily as a lot of the puzzles are exactly the same (like using the fertilizer on the plant in the courtyard or the piano room puzzle) but all the new puzzles fit in rather well with the old ones and there are some wonderful new areas to explore that weren't in the original like a cabin in the forest and the incredibly cool redone shark room that contains one of the new puzzles. The biggest problem in the game lies in the gameplay part though and it is what they still need to fix in these games and haven't one is the control which although I have played the RE games long enough I'm use to it, I started playing the series with Resident Evil 2 and the controls were such a pill when I first started I nearly blew off the game completely due to the fact it was so hard to get accustom to(thank goodness I didn't) and that is where the problem lies with me I think a lot of people will continue to be put off by the series controls having a incredibly steep learning curve I'm still not quite sure how they could change it (Devil May Cry worked well but you have unlimited ammo and shooting blindly didn't cost you anything) but there has to be a way to make it more newbie friendly maybe a merger between the RE and Devil May Cry's styles. The other problem I have I've heard is supposed to be remedied in RE 0 but until then we're still stuck with it the problem I speak of any fan of the originals already knows is the inventory system of having to use boxes that are scattered about to simply unload useless items you have with you there are points in this game it's glaringly obvious the change is needed as there will be a specific item that you'll need but you have all your spots filled with something a little less needed like an herb problem is the deposit box is about 5 rooms back and you just dodged 6 hunters on the way here to conserve ammo (with the hard to maneuver controls I might add) so your forced to run all the way back and either waste ammo or take your chances getting attacked again to simply get back drop off an herb then get the item you needed which then gets placed on a stand or something and is no longer needed then after all that you need the herb again because the hunters have ripped you a new one. This could all be remedied by simply letting us drop the herb right next to the character, grabbing the item needed place it wherever it needs to go and picking your herb back up and it's a nuisance in this one that should have not been the remake but it doesn't ruin the game hopefully, RE 0's inventory system will be as promised. Last but not least the sound plays a important role in all the RE's and this one is no different every thing is done to perfection to set just the right mood. The music is somber at one point then goes into a frantic sounding music when a monster is on the attack, zombies moans of hunger and confusion are creepy(and annoying enough you'll wanna help them end the pain), and even the hunters have a little almost chirping growl that you'll hear before you even see them making you leery to turn that next corner without your biggest gun handy. It all sets the tone for the game and will keep you on the edge of you seat coupled with the fact the game has been made to have things jump out at you the combination of loud bursting door, a growl of a hunter, and then the creature itself running towards your character will literally make you want to have heart medicine handy. The voice acting is also a heck of a lot better then the originals which is not surprising considering it's steadily gotten better with each game and fixing this alone could've constituted making a remake all the characters sound like you'd expect them to and the translation is quite a bit better then original versions laughable lines there are still a few left but that's to keep with the campy B-style movie theme that the game was intended to have. Resident Evil has a pretty good length to it although veterans of the original version will defeat the game a little quicker but due to a higher difficulty level your first time through (if you play as Chris, albeit Jill's game is still rough as I spent most of it in caution due to her being more easily injured then Chris) will take you between 10-16 hours or slighlty longer to beat as long as you don't use a guide whichever character you play second will take less time though as the puzzles aren't much different from one another. The game also has pretty good replay value as well unlimited ammo weapons, different endings depending on your actions, new costumes, and even a mode where a zombie will stalk you through the entire game but if you shoot it it's instant game over. The Resident Evil series has been around awhile and while it's not the evolution we're hoping for just yet it's still a great game and a wonderful remake for RE veterans or those new to the series. If your a fan of Resident Evil and have a Gamecube even if you have the Playstation original or simply curious about the world of Resident Evil I definitely recommend it as a purchase for your little purple box as it's definitely one of the best games the system has to offer.















Hey I didn't know the MGS 2 Demo came with a game!

Zone Of The Enders  had quite a bit of hype before it's release and largely because it's one of the first major releases that had video game genius Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear fame) as one of the producers as well as being the game that would give us the first glimpse into Metal Gear Solid 2 (which as we all know turned out to to be quite "Solid") by having a demo disk packed inside.Unfortunately, the finished product did not quite make it to the standards of the Metal Gear line although  I wouldn't say it's a bad game it's definately not one of  the best I've played in recent years.  Zone of the Enders is about a young boy named Leo Stenbuck who watches his friends get killed and then accidently stumbles upon one of the military's most powerful weapons  an orbital frame with a computer AI known as Jehuty during  a raid on his colony on Jupiter known as Antilia.  With all hell breaking lose on the planet the actual pilot  of the orbital frame cannot come and claim it thus Leo is told that he must fly the Orbital Frame in and keep it from falling into enemy hands. As well as battling different human enemies in their own personal frames.  The story is the usual Japanimation/Anime fluff you see in almost all shows  about big robots and wars going on except the story here doesn't  work very well and sadly, even by the end  you still don't care much for any of the characters. The characters are hard to warm up to due highly to the poor voice acting.  Leo is the major offender here and it may not be completely the fault of the actor because the lines aren't that great for Leo but the voice actors shrill high pitched voice will literally drive you nuts and make you wish you were in the enemy frame walloping him and not the other way around. Leo will pick up a female passenger Celvice during the game which will be one his main sources of conversation during the game but the true relationship during the game ends up being between him and Orbital Frames Artificial Intelligence ADA, which despite the fact it's supposed to be a machine it turns out to the most well voiced character in the game.  The main enemy of the game is a female pilot called Viola  she's a veteran of fighting wars in her Orbital frame and has one true goal during battle and it is to die in combat she's not seen very much in the game and turns out to be more interesting then the main characters.  The art design of the game is rather neat though and the Graphics are quite good for a game of this type although there are quite a few jaggies. Most of the Orbital Frames are very cool to look at although I don't know why for the life of me they put the cockpit of Jehuty on the crotch and then when the frame uses it's boosters to fly out of an area the cockpit moves upward all by itself looks like Jehuty and Bob Dole don't share the same affliction. 


The gameplay is broken up into primarily two parts searching out items or objectives  and combat.  The combat is the real focus of the game and as it should be flying a gigantic robotic weapon of destruction screams for such a thing. There are problems with this though and it causes problems throughout the game. The battles are brought upon you in almost a turn based RPG style the combat of course is still in real-time but the problem lies in the fact that when flying through a level the instant you come close enough to an enemy the game automatically locks onto them and forces you into combat mode  leaving you forced into a battle even if you were trying to avoid an enemy and pick up an item such as health you've been trying to get. Now unlike most games with battles like this you can leave the battle pretty easily but the game has a way of penalizing you for it as there is a ranking system in place and  if  you are in an area with homes and civilians where if you try to run from the enemy they will keep firing on you and miss destroying the homes and civilians almost always in one shot thus giving you a bad rank and making it darn near impossible to get a good rank and this problem even happens when your not trying to avoid the battle so if you try not to get hit and avoid the shots being fired at you once again the buildings are destroyed and your rank is lowered.  Not to mention the fact that the combat gets old the same sword attacks will almost kill whatever your fighting you have other attacks like cluster missiles and laser shots but they take time to charge and fire or are so weak that your just best using Jehuty's sword attacks I can tell you right now I barely even used the powerup weapons you find during the game due to the fact they just weren't required for most of the game . Your first few fights are fun but play through to the end and you'll find that the combat gets old and zipping around trying to take out the enemy isn't what it use to be. Although, the combat can get old the controls are right on the mark and it actually is one of the best done things in the game it's just some of the ideas surrounding the combat weren't implemented as well you do get the feeling that your fighting in a super powered robot suit. 

The control when not in combat are a bit touchy and not near as tight or as  easy to use you never actually touch the ground just constantly fly or hover and trying to shoot things while in this mode (which you will have to) is darn near impossible which makes the normal controls seem like an afterthought compared to the combat controls. The objectives in the game range from find item to open doors to seek and destroy missions none are overly memorable but they aren't horrible. You'll also destroy satellites to turn off force fields, blow up generators, and even control an enemy robot frame at one point but all are rather dull and uninspired.  During the game you'll have your current objective like get a powerup for Jehuty to enter the next area but at times there will be towns of people being attacked and you will be forced to choose between going to the next mission or going back to save the town. I liked the fact that since you were in a weapon that was supposed to help the colony you had the choice to play hero or not and I still think it was a good idea but the missions that you play don't seem to have much relevance other then it helps decide a happy ending or bad ending and doesn't  seem to give you much of a reputation as a hero or villian like the game was originally intended to do other then Celvice saying you were a good or bad boy for helping or not. The best part of the game has to be the boss battles some very cool enemy frames come at you during the game  and their design is quite different then what most have seen in anime's some have a almost organic look to them and all have a pattern during combat that you yourself must figure out to defeat them which is quite fun  although the difficulty is not that high they are quite fun battles and will be the few times some of your distance weapons actually come into play although I found the onboard attacks you start out the game with worked best.  There also isn't  a whole lot of game here most people playing through for the first time can beat this game in 4-6 hours after you beat the game you get a VS mode where you can fight another
player as any  common Orbital Frame in the game (Unfortunately not the big bosses frames.)
which isn't half bad but it doesn't really make up for such a short adventure either.


The sound in the game is ranges from okay to plain flat awful which as I said  the voice acting is the low         point of the game it's sad really that the game didn't get the same treatment in the voice acting department  as Metal Gear Solid  did. The game would have been much more enjoyable had the characters at least been interesting but they aren't and I think that hurts the game a lot. The music is done pretty well the opening themes not too bad but the rest of it is not overly memorable but not grating to listen to either. The sounds in the game sound pretty good the usual zaps and bangs expected from a Anime type game like this but once again nothing spectacular.  I really had hoped this one would turn out to be a great game but instead it merely turned out okay some good ideas mixed with too many bad ones leave this as a rental at best but if you do happen to buy it you better hope they are still shipping the Metal Gear Solid  2 demo with it because it's more fun......and maybe a little longer.

-Review By Preston Kilday

                                             RATED: 6.9 OUT OF 10
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          Zone Of The Enders
                             (Playstation 2)
                                      Review by Preston Kilday  on 7/14/2002
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