Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Release: 04/01/96 Genre: Horror
Resident Evil is one of the first PlayStation games that truly made me realize the next generation had arrived. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of games that were a cut above the 16-bit platforms like Wipeout, Virtua Fighter, and near perfect ports of Mortal Kombat 3 and Street Fighter Alpha. But Resident Evil was something I had never seen before, a genuine horror game that was legitimately scary in ways not possible before and it had me hooked. Even though I rented the game many times I was still more than happy to eventually buy it and replay it many times. Resident Evil is a fantastic game and helped establish the PlayStation as a legitimate contender in the console war.
In the summer of 1998 a series of bizarre murders begin to occur near Raccoon City. The Raccoon City’s S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team is sent to investigate the grizzly reports. But Bravo team soon goes missing and the Alpha team is sent in. No sooner do they find the wreckage of Bravo team’s helicopter are they attacked by mutated dogs and seek refuge in a seemingly abandoned mansion. But this mansion is not what it seems as they will soon discover….
The plot in Resident Evil is incredibly elaborate for its time. As you uncover the mystery surrounding the events in Raccoon City and the missing Bravo team members you will learn of a larger conspiracy at foot. There are many research papers and other documents that spell out what is truly going on and it is paced well. Capcom put a lot of thought in to the story and I found myself wanting to find everything to put the pieces together. The story has full voice acting which was new for the time and unfortunately it shows in the quality. The voice acting is bad but that is because it was recorded in Japan and the actors were told to speak slowly as the international versions would not have subtitles. It was a nice sentiment but the end result is awful.
The closest comparison to Resident Evil would be Alone in the Dark. But RE takes the gameplay to the next level with better combat and puzzles. This is essentially an adventure game as you collect items to solve simple puzzles. However the pacing, theme, and atmosphere take it far above most titles in the genre. While it is not the main focus there is a healthy dose of combat to break up searching the prerendered backgrounds for items. But fighting is not always the best option. Resources like bullets and healing items are sparse and if you waste them you might go awhile before finding more. The mansion is massive with many secrets and also expands to a few surrounding areas for variety. And when the slow zombies get tiring they introduce newer, faster enemies. But above all the game never loses sight of its horror theme.
Resident Evil creates a sense of dread in a number of ways. The opening premise sets it up beautifully. You are alone in a haunted mansion with limited resources and no knowledge of what is happening. Most games would eventually arm you with an arsenal of weapons to give the power back to the player. But in Resident Evil resources are always finite. Up until the game’s conclusion you must always weigh whether it is worth fighting or running away. It says a lot that even with a magnum or bazooka you are probably better off ducking and weaving enemies. The camera angles mean a zombie or other creature is possibly always lurking around the corner. It is always creepy entering a room and hearing footsteps with no idea who or where it is coming from. They nail this aspect of the game expertly with such limited tech.
The biggest flaw with Resident Evil is the inventory system. Both Chris and Jill can only carry a limited number of items, six and eight respectively. There are a large number of key items you need to carry, be it keys or emblems and such. But this is in addition to your weapons, ammo, and healing items. They to try alleviate this with storage boxes that have infinite capacity. But these are few and far between. Trudging across half the map to find the nearest box to then return for a single item becomes tedious fast. By the endgame there are so many keys, slides, and passcodes you will have to forego something critical to manage it all. I can see what they were going for but it was frustrating then and remains so now. I honestly do not know how anyone tolerates playing as Chris.
Resident Evil is a hard game. Beyond juggling items resource management is absolutely critical. There are only so many clips for the various weapons and it is entirely possible to reach the end game with no ammo and have to rely on the knife which is suicide. The international version is harder because of more resilient enemies and a reduction in the number of ink ribbons for saving. That last point is completely asinine in my opinion. The game is tough as is. Making players choose between saving after a few hours or not for fear of wasting a precious resource is stupid. I suppose it adds another layer of tension but it goes about it the wrong way. Once you learn where all items are you can breeze through the game quickly. But the journey to get that point has frustrating elements that are unnecessary.
In Closing
Resident Evil is one of the best PlayStation games of all time and one of the defining experiences of that generation. It defined the survival horror genre and persists to this day for a reason. The engaging plot and genuine horror moments are still just as thrilling as the day of release. A part of me was dreading revisiting this one; would it still hold up? I can easily say yes it does. Capcom knocked it out of the park with this one and the best was yet to come.
