Resident Evil 1: Review

Finished Resident Evil today but itchy.

Felt productive so wrote review.

Itchy itchy Barry Burton came. Silly dialogue so kill him. Tasty.

…

Itchy, tasty.

Time has not been kind to Resident Evil, the game responsible for survival horror’s popularity throughout the last thirteen years. While the first entry in the Silent Hill franchise has held up remarkably well, it’s widely acknowledged that the first Resident Evil has not. In fact, Capcom saw fit to remake it in 2002 to the delight of gamers and critics alike. But the original Resident Evil, with its wooden characters, inane dialogue, and downright absurd puzzles (was a dada artist the mansion’s architect?), is almost impossible to take seriously by today’s standards. Grizzled old schoolers still insist it’s a scary game, but I can’t help but view it under a different lens. Despite the game being an unquestionable classic, it is also unquestionably hilarious.

Every cut scene brings a new laugh (especially if Barry Burton is involved), and the voice acting may very well be amongst the worst in video game history. If there were a video game version of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Resident Evil would surely be one of the first games featured on it. After a live action intro with cheesy camera cuts and hammy acting that has inspired a multitude of fan parodies, we find the characters in the foyer of a huge mansion. “What a mansion!” Wesker exclaims bluntly. A mystery soon becomes apparent, and it’s up to the player to figure out what created all the freaky deeky zombies running around the place. But do the mutants themselves still provide a good scare or two?

The zombies, perhaps once considered scary, now hold a certain degree of hilarity themselves; holding out their arms like scarecrows as they haphazardly stumble towards you, their shoes apparently filled with mashed potatoes. The game becomes more intense indeed when the reptilian Hunters come into play, who are capable of performing decapitations with one swipe of their claws. However they end up being more frustrating to deal with as opposed to being scary, as every single hallway is populated by at least two of the nasty buggers. There are also zombie dogs prowling the gardens and a few abnormally large critters here and there, but none of them are quite as effective as they might have been a decade ago.

Now, is there not a single genuine scare to still be found? Not exactly. The atmosphere of the game is still very much intact, first of all. The mansion is mostly a dreary place; many of its corridors show signs of dilapidation, and its maze-like layout causes many a headache, even with a map. The ever so effective jump scares have always played a role in Resident Evil’s fear factor, and they are well used even within the first game. Although, the formula quickly becomes obvious…whenever a key item is obtained, brace yourself, for a jump scare is soon to come your way. And although I poked fun at the always lovable brain-munchin’ zombies, their quiet groans of agony are still chilling. Some of them, anyway.

Perhaps it’s unfair to say a game is “dated” when its sequels are so much improved. Resident Evil 2 still stands as one of the greatest survival horror titles, and Resident Evil 3 improved the action/horror gameplay style to near perfection without going overboard, like Resident Evil 4 has so oft been accused of (and rightly so). In all fairness, Resident Evil did a lot of inventive things at the time. It took the blueprints left by games like Alone in the Dark and Clock Tower, and created an entirely different creature. The notion that more action-oriented video games can truly scare us was brought to mainstream developers by this title; before, horror in video games had been mostly limited to the tired point and click format of PC adventure games. By emphasizing survival not only as a plot point but as a gameplay point, while still keeping a 3rd person action based interface, Resident Evil effectively invented the survival/horror genre. What would survival/horror look like today without Resident Evil’s influence? Would there be an acknowledged genre for horror games without Resident Evil? Who knows, but it must be appreciated in that sense.

Dated, yes. Still significant? Absolutely.

Screenshots provided by forum member Samael