Resident Evil is a 1996 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation.
Explore a 90's CG mansion as either Man-Tank or Woman-Tank. Launch bullets into old walls and furniture as you attempt to intimidate zombies. Spend hours coming to the conclusion that the guy who always wears dark sunglasses is the bad guy.
Last Halloween I was looking for something spooky to play. Paired with my recent desire to play old, outdated games, I landed on Resident Evil. You should know first that I'm a big wimp when it comes to horror. I love scary things, but I don't like being scared. I can't explain it. I thought the dated graphics of Resident Evil 1 would be enough to dull the scares, but I was pretty quickly mistaken. That first zombie encounter was a proper shock, even with the shitty graphics. The way it lumbered up towards me, and FOLLOWED ME TO A DIFFERENT ROOM really messed with me. I think it was the only time that happens in the game, but it was enough to make me consider whether or not I could actually handle this game... from 1996. I told you I was a pussy.
Eventually I got used to it, but the creepy sheen never wore off. Something about the 90's graphics and slow crawling game-play make literally every frame of this game... Ominous. I loved it. It's no surprise this style is becoming more common among indie horror games, it works.
My history with the Resident Evil is pretty weird. The first RE game I ever played was on-rails arcade shooter 'The Umbrella Chronicles' on the Wii. I've found that most fans of the franchise hate that game. It's a completely different game than most Resident Evils, so I get it, but holy cow I loved it. I had a good friend who had a copy of it, and I'd go over to their house to play 2 player with them for hours. After that I picked up Resident Evil 5. Another one that I really enjoyed, but was bemoaned by fans at the time. From what I see online it's got a better following these days, thankfully. This was all about 17 years ago give or take, and I hadn't really played any other Resident Evil games since then.
But I've gotta say... Throughout both of those two games, there was one character that got stuck in my brain for the rest of my life:
Mr. Albert Wesker.
The resident evil franchise has it's own set of recurring characters, and it's fun to see where they began here. Albert Wesker (The antagonist in this and many Resident Evil Games) is ridiculous. He has a creepy name. He says creepy things. This dude walks around dressed like he just entered the Matrix, exuding a cocktail of soft-core goth and psycho stalker energy 24/7. The eternal black shades (even indoors) are just icing on the cake with this guy. It's nice to have a villain like this, even if he's goofy. It adds some fun to the otherwise bleak atmospheres that the RE games are known for.
I really enjoyed all the characters, cheesy voice lines and all. I played as Jill (a.k.a. Woman-Tank). Almost all of her lines held copious amounts of shock and awe. I guess I would be surprised all the time as well if I was in her boots, but I couldn't keep the chuckles down any time she opened her mouth. Same goes for the rest of the cast. It's nice though, it's surprisingly cohesive with the dated CG backdrops and live action cut scenes. I know they re-made this game in the early 00's to be much more proper and serious, but this original version really has such a special charm to it.
It's been discussed to death already on countless Youtube videos and gaming sites, but it's my blog and I'll talk about it if I want to. No strafing in this game, just turn left and right and walk forward and backward. It's like driving an RC car or something. Yeah it was bad at first, but I actually picked up the movement way faster than I thought I would. Actually, while I hated it initially, I became fond of it by the end. It really adds to the anxiety, making the simple act of running away slightly more difficult, but not too difficult. It gives you that sluggish feeling you sometimes get in a nightmare, where you just can't seem to open that door. Do other people get those dreams? Even though it seems out-dated, I think it still works nowadays. It's a good way to navigate the pre-rendered scenes, which are still cool in their own regard. There are some modern indie games that use this navigation style, I think I'll dabble in them at some point.
I really loved this game. I'm glad I waited until now to play it, I don't think I would've appreciated it back when I was a little kid playing nintendo games. The monsters are awesome, the characters are entertaining. I can't wait to see all of them return in later games. There are many more ahead of me, and I'm excited to look for Wesker in each one. Hopefully I'll be a little less of a wimp going forward, but I'm not counting on it.
The real T-Virus was the friends we made along the way...
Eight saves... Not counting the hundreds of saves and rewinds I used in Duckstation. Details, details..
