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Resident
Evils Compared
Written
By: Siou Choy
Highs: (all): If you
like survival horror, you will enjoy playing the Resident Evil games. Despite
any and all shortcomings in comparison with other, perhaps more interesting
games, each and all remain a fun experience; slightly boneheaded, but thrilling
nonetheless. A few empty headed "BOO!" style scares that may have you
jumping out of your seat (about 2 per game). If not for all the hype (and
slavish regurgitation of Capcom's PR by fanboys worldwide), the series would be
highly recommended per se (if somewhat limited in comparison with some of its
relatively invisible competition).
Resident Evil (Director's
Cut): for the better part of the game, RE1 remembers that the second word of
"survival horror" is "horror", not "science
fiction". Nice, creepy old mansion setting. Funky live-action FMV intro.
The original, and perhaps (despite all the hype) still the best.
Resident Evil 2:
better voice acting. MUCH better voice acting. (But it's still pretty bad, let's
not fool ourselves here). Slight improvements in hand motions, item arrangement,
etc. A few more enemies (but still limited to a very few varieties).
Resident Evil 3
(Nemesis): More improvements in controls, specifically the quick turn and,
at last, removal of the annoying necessity to hit the X button to climb the
stairs. Additionally, just in the interest of "realism" and fairness,
the ZOMBIES have learned to climb stairs at this point in the series. Extended
(and much welcome) emphasis on the city setting RE2 only hinted at. Some
much-vaunted "freedom of movement" in exploration (i.e., event 2 is
not necessarily tied to event 1, and can be accessed independently thereof).
Nicer looking graphics. The Jill Valentine of RE3 boasts the most physically
attractive character design of the series.
Lows (all): Typically
difficult survival horror game controls. A whole hell of a lot of running back
and forth to pick up necessary items (or drop off recently gathered ones, or
pick up extra health and ammo, or to record a much needed save). Limited setting
(particularly in RE2 and RE3) and lack of variety of foes (essentially, zombies
and spiders, with the occasional "mutated plant" boss). All 3 tend to
get monotonous about halfway through the game.
RE1, despite it's
cheesy dialogue, voice acting, and mediocre cinemas, is by far the most fun
(probably due to it's "spooky" feel and setting), at least until the
somewhat rushed and RE2-like sci-fi ending (which, with its dozen or so nearly
continuous cinemas, comes off interminably long and boring by comparison).
Nonetheless, there are a few annoying bugs present that would eventually be
ironed out with successive releases, such as the aforementioned cinema problem.
RE2, despite being
pushed for it's "extended replay value", proves to be exactly the same
game, repeated with some rather slight variations (the biggest of these being
between the A and B games, NOT between "all 4 possible games"; i.e.,
everything you need to see occurs within the "first half" of the RE2
"gaming experience"). WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too sci-fi for my taste.
RE3 is short and
somewhat plotless (even in comparison to RE2)! Health is far too skimpy,
particularly in the beginning of the game, and regular handgun bullets prove
COMPLETELY useless against even your earliest, most basic zombie foes (as
opposed to being somewhat weak, as in RE1, or fairly ineffective, as in RE2).
The disparity between the "hard" and "easy" games is
ridiculous, essentially forcing any gamer over the age of 6 and with any RE
experience whatsoever to have a go at the often ridiculously difficult
"hard" game. And they STILL haven't given an option to bypass those
annoying repeat-play cinemas!
Final Verdict: The
Resident Evil Series is a pleasant (OK, so maybe that's the wrong word for it)
gaming experience, which, overall, demonstrates why it is considered the
granddaddy of all survival horror series. While it is hardly the crème de la
crème of the genre, it is more or less directly responsible for the
increasing popularity of said genre (though that may be due just as much to its
ubiquitous advertising as the quality of its games), and considering how much
enjoyment I personally have derived from both its own and sundry other survival
horror-based games, that fact alone is cause to laud the series'
existence and popular standing. That being said, individual games of the series
(and indeed, the series per se) fall far short of the hype that has arisen
surrounding them, and for the sake of evenhandedness, need to be reappraised as
to their intrinsic value. RE2, the most hyped of the series, proves to be one of
its least in many respects, particularly in light of the competition (both
within the context of the series itself and within the genre as a whole).
Similarly, each individual
game of the series has its own, often distractingly annoying share of glitches
and unnecessary repetition. Controls are often awkward, particularly to the
neophyte, and the level of difficulty (and paucity of health, ammunition and
saves) becomes somewhat extreme at points (the worst offender in this regard
being RE3), lending itself to several frustrating, extended repeat sequences.
The level of cerebral participation, whether in regard to the moronic
"puzzles" of gameplay or in relation to the level of psychological
involvement that a more subdued, dreamlike "horror" scenario would
intrinsically elicit (compare RE to Silent Hill, for example) points to the more
direct and simplistic approach of the RE series, and brings glaringly to the
fore the difference between the more affecting sort of "horror" that
derives from the more primal fear of the unknown and the "cheap shock"
of the more visceral displeasures of modern "horror" cinema. And much
like the transgressively extreme, yet overarchingly banal proclivities of the
modern horror film, in relation to its more cerebral competition, the Resident
Evil series finds itself falling far short by comparison.
Overall Scores:
Resident Evil (Director's
Cut): 8
Resident Evil 2: 5.5
Resident Evil 3 (Nemesis): 6
Posted:
2-20-01
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