Quit chewing on my 3D enhanced foot! Review

Quit chewing on my 3D enhanced foot!

When Resident Evil first came out for the Playstation, awesome would have been an understatement. Never had such a game debuted on a console machine like the Playstation. It had everything a player could ask for and then some: original story, beautiful graphics, realistic sounds, bad acting (have we ever seen good acting?), the whole 9 yards. It made any player feel as if he/she were in an old horror movie. As the game progressed, the plot thickened, leaving the player equally interested in how the plot would unfold as in playing the game. That’s how games SHOULD be.

Players of the PC port of

Resident Evil will get this same experience…and then some. The PC version

has more, yes even more blood in the already gruesome cut scenes, re-rendered

levels along with the original sounds and story.

Anyone not familiar with the original Playstation version will definitely appreciate the intriguing story presented by Resident Evil. For years a secluded mansion has been the grounds of top-secret biological experiments. Its seems that something has gone seriously wrong. Complaints have arisen around a secluded mansion about gory attacks involving unnatural canines near the mansion. Two Special Tactics and Rescue Squads (S.T.A.R.S.) have been sent to investigate these reports. After the disappearance of the Bravo team, you must play either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine and lead the Alpha team, find out what the hell is going on and, most importantly, how to stay alive. You won’t be alone on this mission. Depending on who is being played, Barry Burton (Jill) or Rebecca Chambers (Chris) will assist you in this mission. Figure out the cause of these genetic experiments that led to hideous creatures like human zombies, giant spiders and snakes, and the “hunter”. The best aspect of the story is how it develops as the game progresses. Players will acquire books, notes, and files that advance the plot, giving players more information as to what, exactly, is happening. Eventually, this will lead up to one of the greatest conspiracies of all time (I don’t want to give it away).

The only major improvement since its Playstation predecesor would be in the area of graphics. Fortunately, Resident Evil will support 3D accelerators (3Dfx, Rendition, and Matrox Mystique). Unfortunately, anybody without access to 3D acceleration will be, in one word, shafted. Yup, that’s right. Resident Evil will ONLY work with a 3D accelerator, nothing else. On the good side, the re-rendered levels and 3D objects look even better than before and, because of the power of a modern 3D accelerated PC (as compared to the Playstation engine), players will experience a higher polygon count along with smooth game play.

Sounds are kept the same as

the original. Everything from the ominous violin music to the “actor’s” corny

conversations keeps a constant tension and lead to the overall good experience.

Tensions build, keeping the player on the edge of his/her seat at all times.

Playing the game is simple. The game is played with fixed camera angles, which means that backgrounds, floors, etc. are pre-rendered. All players, enemies and objects rendered in real-time have a decent polygon count as well as fluid movements. This can lead to awkward angles, but is easy to get used to. The game controls are incredibly basic. Other than directional keys, four keys/buttons are used: one runs, the other aims a gun, another fires guns/opens door, and last, go to status screen. The game incorporates a number of challenging, but not impossible, puzzles that work the mind as well as the reflexes. In other words, ammo is VERY limited so don’t expect to fire off a thousand rounds-a-minute, the strategy behind most 3D-shooters today. More time will be spent figures out puzzles than fighting enemies. Also, a player does not have 9 guns to carry around. Each person, either Chris or Jill, can get a baretta, shotgun, flame-thrower and rocket launcher. Chris can also obtain a magnum, while Jill can get a bazooka and different types of ammo (acid rounds, flame rounds). Also, each person has a limited amount of space, also adding to the strategic aspect. In other words, Resident Evil takes a more realistic approach to items and, unlike many games where players have 9 weapons and 200 units of ammo for each, characters are GREATLY limited in their carrying capacity.

Resident Evil, whether it is on the Playstation or PC, is just a damn good game. With minute improvements over the Playstation predecessor, any PC owners who own a 3D accelerator should get their money’s worth. One important thing: This game is NOT for those with a weak stomach. If you can’t handle gore, you can’t handle Resident Evil.