Favorite Video Game # 4- Resident Evil(REmake)

Year Released: 2002, 2015(Remaster HD)

Developer: Capcom

Platform: GameCube, Wii, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows

Review:

Game Design- 10/10

Resident Evil boasts one of the most tightly and meticulously designed environments in any game I’ve played- it is a game that, through its events and scenarios, forces you to get incredibly familiar with the mansion’s layout and the movement patterns of every single enemy. You either reach that point of familiarity or you’re as good as dead. It’s a tough enough game with the very limited resources your player is given, but if one is observant enough, they can go through the vast majority of the game without firing a single bullet. The fixed camera angles and tank controls make the horror of the experience all the more stressful, but are tightly designed controls so as not to elicit feelings of frustration.

Graphics- 10/10

This remake of the 1996 classic was great case for pre-rendered graphics- the highly detailed and photo real backgrounds gave an amazing and terribly palpable sense of foreboding dread, and their pre-rendered method allowed for the character models to be equally real- resulting in a game that looked 15 years or more ahead of the curve. The character modeling is subtle- a rare quality compared to the over-rendered over-sculpted models that are commonplace in most triple a games.

Sound and Music – 9/10

Remake’s score is haunting and subtle, and sparingly used to elicit very earned feelings of tension and mounting terror.

Story- 5/10

Resident Evil’s haunting aesthetic doesn’t always match its story- one that’s firmly rooted in b-movie cliché’s. However, the story and characters are hokey enough to be charming while retaining enough tact to be taken seriously (at least in this version).