It would be a shame to enjoy all this graphic goodness and not have
appropriate sound effect to go with them. The Gamecube's sound chip does an excellent job of reproducing ambient sounds such as your character's feet crossing over a broken floorboards, water dripping from rusting pipes, or the crackling of a wood fireplace. The moaning and shuffling of the zombies would make even the Evil Dead movies proud.
But Is There Anything I Haven't Seen Before?:
If you've played the first Resident Evil, don't expect to waltz through this one. Many of the events or puzzles you remembered have been moved around or redone entirely. New areas have been specifically created for this update to expand the story. A great new addition is the defensive weapons. For example, when Chris is grabbed by a zombie he can pull out a dagger and stab a zombie in the head to be set free or shove a grenade in his mouth which give Chris a few seconds to run before it explodes. Sometimes the living dead just don't know when to stay dead. This is the case with the Crimson Heads. After you've killed a zombie you need to finish it off by burning the remains, otherwise about an hour later it will re-animate back to life. This zombie form is alot faster and has huge dagger-like nails which can cause some major damage.
The Bad:
The controls are typical Resident Evil, meaning your character must spin to the direction you want to go to and then push forward to move. This can make quickly avoiding an enemy a chore. Many were hoping for Devil May Cry type controls, meaning you push in the direction you want to go and you move in that direction.
However, I believe the current control scheme is more appropriate for a slower moving games such as this. If you could quickly navigate easily around your enemies then the game looses that "oh shit oh shit" factor , meaning you don't experience that panicked feeling trying to get around or run away from a zombie.The game's puzzles are not terribly difficult. Only one or two might stump you. But if you do get stuck you won't be going anywhere till you run to your local video game store and find the guide book.
Conclusion:
Fans of the survival horror genre will be well rewarded with this title. This game combines breathtaking graphics with proven Resident Evil scares to propel you into a world of mystery and dread. When I first played this game I did it with the lights off and the stereo cranked up. About an hour later I got up and turned the lights on....a testiment to how freaked out you'll get when you get your hands on this slice of survival horror heaven (or would that be hell?).
9.0