Resident Evil HD Remaster (2002) for Nintendo Gamecube

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween last week, I know I did, and since it was the spookiest month of the year, I thought it was only fitting that I play one of the greatest horror franchises of all time, Resident Evil.

History

Resident Evil HD is a remastered version of the original Resident Evil, which released on the PlayStation 1 in 1996. Both were developed by Capcom, with the original designer Shinji Mikami working on both versions. Development began when a deal was struck between Capcom and Nintendo to bring past and future Resident Evil releases to Nintendo consoles. The original Resident Evil 2, 3 and spin-off title Code Veronica had all received ports for the Gamecube, however Mikami decided to remaster the original, as he believed the graphics were too aged.

He also believed that the additional power of the Gamecube would help Resident Evil become closer to the original vision he had for the game as well as make it more scary and genre fitting.

One of the most praised elements of the remaster is its graphical presentation, both in terms of how it looks but how it functions from a game design perspective. In most games, 3D environments are generated using polygons, which work alongside 3D models of the characters to give the impression you're moving them around in a real place with things to run into and interact with. Resident Evil innovated on this idea by having the areas you move around be 2D pictures, allowing for higher amounts of detail without compromising on the performance or graphics.

This works in conjunction with the classic Resident Evil mechanic of fixed camera angles. The angle changes as you make your way through a room, typically giving you the best view of what's around you at the time, encouraging exploration while also keeping things hidden from you until you get near enough.

This combination led to beautiful visuals as well as keeping gameplay suspenseful and spooky.

Other differences the developers made from the original is improving the inventory system, switching up some puzzles, adding an entirely new area and new control methods for moving the characters.

Resident Evil HD Remake was an absolute success, being praised for being a suitable reimagining of the original while also making it more accessible to new players. It's been re-released on a number of platforms including modern systems like the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Story

The story of the first Resident Evil takes place in a classic horror location trope, a creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere. You play as either Jill Valentine, or Chris Redfield, members of a specialist police task force called S.T.A.R.S. Bizarre murders have been reported on the outskirts of Raccoon City, with additional reports of signs of cannibalism on the remains. Raccoon City Police send two S.T.A.R.S teams in to investigate, but when the first goes radio-silent, the second team head in to find them.

This is where Jill and/or Chris come in. After being attacked by a gang of rabid and wild dogs, the team retreats to an undiscovered mansion, where they are trapped and forced to figure out the mystery of what's really happening outside Raccoon City.

What follows can only be described as a series of horrific events, which truly sets the scene of the survival horror, as the player navigates the mansion and comes across truly disturbing discoveries along the way.

Gameplay

Outmatched, helpless, on edge. These are typical feelings upon initial first time play sessions of Resident Evil. The developers truly wanted players to feel like their onscreen characters and this is shown through the controls.

Now since this version is an updated HD remaster, it actually has two control methods, the original and an updated version. The original is called 'Tank-Controls' which mean you can move forwards and backwards, but have to rotate to face wherever you're trying to go. Updated controls change this and give players multi-directional movement like other games. For the sake of this review, I'll be talking about the original controls.

Having a decreased sense of mobility adds greatly to the tension of the game as it's paired beautifully with the changing camera angles. Combined with limited ammo, health and items to save your game with (yes even the amount of times you can save are finite) it creates a horror experience like no other.

When you enter a new room you're greeted with an animation of a door opening every time. This does get tedious as there's no way to skip it, but when it's a door to a room you haven't entered yet, it builds tension. This is because you're initially perspective of the room can be narrow due to the camera angle. Moving forward could lead to a surprise enemy encounter, leaving it up to the player to decide if they want to take a few steps back and attack, or take the time to turn around and run away. Fast moving enemies make this even more challenging as they can pursue you through the room unlike the slow moving zombies which you can usually manoeuvre around with some good timing.

As I mentioned before, resources are limited, which leads to more of a challenge when deciding what to carry. Inventory management is a huge factor in this game, and you need to be savvy if you want to progress at a decent speed. Playing as Jill gives you eight inventory slots, whereas Chris has six. In these inventory slots you'll carry weapons, healing items, ammunition, key items (used for puzzles/general progression such as physical door keys) and ink ribbons, which you can spend on typewriters to save the game. Storage boxes found in Safe rooms are where most of this will reside, which means there can be a lot of back and forth depending on how you want to play. Carrying a bunch of weapons is useful, but you need to carry ammo separately, meaning you might not have room for key items. At the same time, you'll need a weapon on you otherwise there's no way to fight back, especially bosses, and don't forget healing items in case you do get hurt.

All of this together makes Resident Evil a truly unique experience, and finishing the game by yourself without assistance from online guides is certainly an accomplishment. Unfortunately this is where the game falls apart. Most players, unless they've played before or played the original, will likely feel lost for large portions of the game. I definitely did and while there's nothing wrong with this as a lot of the game is figuring out puzzles and what could be useful for what, it can get frustrating. Then when you use a guide it doesn't feel like you're playing anymore, it feels like you're taking a tour. It doesn't make Resident Evil a bad game, far from it, it just makes it less approachable to more casual gamers.

Conclusion

Resident Evil deserves its spot as one of the most influential horror franchises in gaming and the fact that it's upto the 8th instalment, not counting spin-offs, as well as having a film series including an upcoming reboot, cements its place in gaming history. Resident Evil 1 started it and Resident Evil HD perfected it, with ahead of the time graphics, a killer story, and gameplay that keeps the player thinking and provides a truly remarkable horror experience, even if it falters at times into tedium or confusion.